Senior User Experience Designer - Software

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Technical 408

Pay Range: $116,000.00 - $174,100.00

Job Description

The Senior User Experience Designer-Software is a key member of the design team and may work on both desktop and mobile platforms (native Android and iOS) and works not only on certain projects but possibly a domain or domains. This is a position of product leadership and partners with Product Managers, PMs, and Engineers, providing insight and solutions to structuring and delivering work.

 

Senior User Experience Designer

Position summary
As a Senior User Experience Designer at Western Governors University (WGU), you will help shape the next generation of our student experience. You will play a key role on the team behind our New Student Platform portal, designing intuitive, data‑informed experiences that make online learning smoother, clearer, and more empowering for working adult learners.

 

You will think strategically about complex problems across the student journey, then translate those insights into practical short‑ and long‑term UX solutions. In this role, you will collaborate closely with product, engineering, research, and stakeholders across the university to set UX “guardrails” and patterns that other teams rely on, while still rolling up your sleeves to design and iterate on high‑impact experiences in our own product space.

About the team

You will join WGU’s User Experience organization, which brings together four disciplines: user experience research, user experience design, user interface design, and accessibility. The team’s mission is to define the standards, guidelines, and design systems that other business units use in their product spaces, while also owning and advancing core experiences like the New Student Platform portal. The team culture is highly collaborative and supportive, with a “work family” feel that emphasizes mentoring, sharing feedback, and helping each other grow while always staying student‑obsessed.

What you’ll do

In this role, you will:

• Lead UX design for high‑impact, multi‑phase initiatives like WGU’s New Student Platform portal, designing experiences that connect multiple platforms into a cohesive student journey.
• Think strategically about ambiguous problems, framing them in terms of student and business outcomes, and proposing clear short‑ and long‑term UX solutions.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, UX researchers, and business stakeholders to define problems, run workshops, explore concepts, and drive alignment on user‑centered solutions.
• Create and evolve holistic design artifacts for product lines (not just single features), including flows, wireframes, prototypes, and annotations that help teams implement with clarity and confidence.
• Use qualitative and quantitative data, including design performance metrics and tools such as Pendo, to evaluate experiences, guide design decisions, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Proactively surface risks and dependencies, manage expectations with partners, and take ownership of end goals across organizational boundaries.
• Mentor and influence other designers and non‑design partners by explaining the “why” behind UX decisions, modeling best practices, and contributing to shared standards and patterns.

What you’ll bring

• In‑depth understanding of modern User Experience (UX) design principles and how to apply them to complex, multi‑system experiences.
• Proven ability to think strategically: you can zoom out to a three‑year vision, understand industry and UX trends, and then translate that vision into practical, phased design work.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to explain design decisions and technical concepts clearly to non‑design audiences, large groups, and senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to balance student and business needs, representing both perspectives in discussions and outcomes.
• Mastery of core UX deliverables (user flows, wireframes, prototypes, design specs, etc.), including when to use each, their dependencies, and their tradeoffs.
• Experience working in cross‑functional teams (product, engineering, research, and business stakeholders) and building strong relationships to move work forward.
• A data‑informed mindset: you are comfortable interpreting product data and research insights to understand what is working, what is not, and where to experiment next.
• High attention to detail, with a strong sense of ownership over the quality, accessibility, and consistency of the experiences you ship.
• Expertise with industry tools such as Figma and Adobe Creative Suite, and proficiency with Microsoft 365.

Bonus points

• Experience working in an Agile development environment.
• Experience using product analytics and research throughout the product lifecycle, incorporating data from multiple sources into UX decision‑making.
• Experience with tools such as Pendo for behavioral analytics.
• Comfort experimenting with AI‑enabled design features (for example, in Figma) and thinking critically about how to use AI responsibly in the design process.
• Background in higher education or highly regulated domains such as finance.
• Agency or consultancy experience working across multiple products or clients.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications, Graphic Design, or a related field.
• 6 years of experience as a UX designer, interaction designer, information architect, UX researcher, or another closely related UX role.
• Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for the education requirement on a year‑for‑year basis, at the hiring manager’s discretion.

Compensation

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

• Grade: Technical 408
• Pay range: 116,000 USD to 174,100 USD annually

What to expect in the hiring process

At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to give qualified candidates the opportunity to show their best work through meaningful conversations, practical problem‑solving, and authentic collaboration.

We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward the candidates whose experience and potential best align with the role and our mission. If selected, candidates will hear from a recruiter or hiring manager who will guide them through the process. We aim to communicate decisions promptly and respectfully.

Interview steps

• Introductory call with a recruiter (30 minutes)
• Conversation with the hiring manager (45 minutes)
• Panel interview with three members of the UX team (60 minutes)

Work location

This is a full‑time, hybrid role based in our Salt Lake City, Utah office.

Visa sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

About WGU

Truly a university without boundaries, Western Governors University (WGU) is a non‑profit, online university founded and supported by 19 U.S. governors nearly 30 years ago. WGU has been named by Fast Company as one of the world's 50 most innovative companies. CNN calls WGU “a school without boundaries,” and major news outlets from NPR to Bloomberg BusinessWeek have highlighted WGU’s potential to transform higher education. 

 

WGU is a mission‑driven organization created to expand access to higher education through innovative, competency‑based, online degree programs. The university focuses on helping hardworking adults meet their educational goals and improve their career opportunities by remaining affordable, flexible, and student‑focused. WGU serves a national student body and is recognized by employers for producing highly competent professionals with real‑world skills

 

 

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.