Senior Product Designer

Office: National Offices
Location: New York, New York, United States
This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month.

About the role

The ACLU seeks applicants for the full-time position of Senior Product Designer in the Technology Department of the ACLU’s National office. The ACLU Technology Department provides trusted, dependable, and impactful analytics, engineering, product management, and product design expertise for the ACLU. In partnership with experts across the ACLU, the technology team delivers best-in-class solutions, services, and innovation that advance the ACLU mission and organizational priorities.

The tech team strives to ensure the ACLU leads by example in the ethical use of technology by maintaining privacy and security standards, using directional insights to inform programming and business strategy, designing best-in-class products to disseminate the ACLU message and grow the supporter base, and stewarding high standards for algorithmic fairness, accountability, and transparency.

The Product & Engineering division includes engineers, product managers, product designers, and project operations experts who build and maintain engaging digital products and secure technical systems that accelerate the ACLU’s mission as the nationwide guardian of rights and liberties. This position is part of a collective bargaining unit represented by ACLU Staff United (ASU).

Responsibilities

• Fully own and drive the end-to-end design lifecycle for product initiatives across ACLU's National and Affiliate websites.
• Seek out and utilize data (industry standards, quantitative data and A/B testing, and qualitative research) to understand user needs and frictions, evaluate usability, and inform each project’s design direction and future iterations.
• Explore widely different design approaches and patterns to address defined problems using wireframes and lightweight prototypes to efficiently communicate concepts and approaches.
• Request feedback from Design, Product, and stakeholder partners, and incorporate learnings into final designs.
• Create high-fidelity mocks and prototypes of lightweight approaches while exploring and sharing opportunities for future, larger-scale improvements.
• Spec designs for Engineering implementation, collaborating directly with Engineers to achieve the ideal output within the given scope and timeframe.
• Lead on Design and web accessibility UAT/QA for assigned projects.
• Receive project assignments from Product Design Manager and provide your design strategy per project based on scope, timeline, and priority.
• Serve as the Product Design representative partner to Product Managers and Engineering Leads, translating requirements and constraints into user-centric experiences that meet user needs and address business goals.
• Collaborate with Product Managers to communicate complex ideas skillfully and with nuance to achieve non-technical stakeholder buy-in and support.
• Participate in brainstorms and provide constructive feedback on fellow Product Designers’ projects.
• Facilitate product and design decision-making by articulating a strong rationale on benefits and risks for solutions, clearly tying design decisions to user needs and behaviors that drive product outcomes.
• Collaboratively use and contribute to the developing Design System with the rest of the Product Design team.
• Balance raising the product design bar with realistic considerations towards timeline, scope, and feasibility.
• Thoughtfully determine when to use the existing design system and when to innovate to garner wider-spread visibility and adoption.
• Mentor and/or manage Product Design interns as assigned.
• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Example work reflecting 5+ years (or equivalent experience) creating and shipping digital product designs with your role clearly defined in each project. Applications that do not include relevant example work will not be considered.
• Expert proficiency in digital design tools (the team uses Figma). The ACLU Product Design Team does not currently use AI-powered design or research tools in their processes. Applicants are expected to be proficient in their work without AI support or tooling.
• Strong foundation in UX/UI standards and best practices, including experience designing for web across device types, sizes, and browsers.
• Experience working within and contributing to evolving design systems and brand guidelines.
• Commitment to following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) criteria in all designs, documentation, and acceptance testing.
• Strategic problem-solving skills and the capacity to distill complex information into meaningful concepts, ideas, and designs.
• Experience presenting and defending design decisions, industry standards, and process approaches to stakeholders of various levels of seniority and technical fluency.
• Openness to giving and accepting constructive feedback and collaborating with fellow Designers, Product Managers, and Engineers.
• Ability to operate independently within all phases of the design lifecycle while remaining adaptable to ambiguous and shifting requirements and timelines.
• Commitment to advancing the ACLU’s mission and embedding the principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in your work by respecting and valuing multiple perspectives.
• Commitment to working collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts.

Pay

The annual salary for this position is $167,568 (Level E), reflecting the salary of a position based in New York, NY. Salaries are subject to a regional pay adjustment if authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting. For details on the pay structure, visit: ACLU Geographic Pay Structure.

Benefits

• Generous paid time-off policy.
• Comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental, and vision coverage).
• Parental leave, gender affirming care, and fertility treatment.
• 401k plan with employer match.
• Annual professional development funds.
• Internal professional development programs and workshops.