User Experience Digital Designer

Digital Student Experience

Full-time, Exempt Regular, Pay Grade 3.1

Location: Stateside Remote

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) seeks a User Experience Digital Designer to join the Digital Student Experience (DSE) team. Reporting to the Director, Digital Student Experience Operations, this role is responsible for designing intuitive, accessible, and student-centered digital experiences across websites, applications, and student journey touchpoints. The User Experience Digital Designer will translate experience strategy, research insights, and business requirements into clear visual and interaction designs including wireframes, mockups, and prototypes used to align stakeholders, test with students, and inform technical implementation. The designer will work closely with Experience Designers, UX Researchers, IT partners, and university stakeholders to ensure that future-state student experiences are well defined, validated, and ready for build.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Experience & Interface Design

• Advance the quality of current digital experiences, as well as design innovative, “first‑of‑their‑kind” experiences for students.

• Synthesize experience requirements, journey maps, and research insights into clear visual and interaction designs

• Create wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, and interactive prototypes for websites, applications, and end-to-end student journey experiences

• Ensure designs align with usability best practices, accessibility standards, and UMGC brand guidelines

Collaboration with Experience Designers & UX Research

• Partner closely with Experience Designers to validate experience intent, business goals, and functional requirements

• Collaborate with UX Researchers to design research-ready artifacts and iterate designs based on student feedback

• Support rapid, same-day or short-cycle iteration based on research findings and stakeholder input

Stakeholder Alignment & Communication

• Present designs to university stakeholders to build shared understanding and alignment across teams

• Use design artifacts to facilitate decision-making and resolve competing needs across departments

• Incorporate feedback while maintaining a cohesive, student-centered experience vision

Design System & Visual Consistency

• Contribute to and apply shared design patterns, components, and visual systems

• Ensure consistency across experiences, including portals, tools, and supporting materials

• Support the evolution of visual standards as new experiences and needs emerge

Design Handoff & IT Partnership

• Prepare design specifications and documentation to support technical implementation

• Partner with IT teams to clarify design intent and answer questions during development

• Participate in design reviews to ensure implementation aligns with validated experience designs

Knowledge and Skills:

• Knowledge of user-centered design principles, usability best practices, and accessibility standards

• Knowledge of design processes across the product or experience lifecycle, from concept through validation and handoff

• Understanding of how research insights, business requirements, and technical constraints inform design decisions

• Ability to translate complex requirements and research findings into clear wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes

• Strong collaboration skills, with experience working closely with experience or product managers, UX researchers, and technical teams

• Strong visual design and interaction design skills, with attention to consistency, clarity, and usability

• Ability to communicate design rationale clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools, specifically Figma

• Ability to work in an iterative, fast-paced environment and support rapid design changes based on feedback

• Ability to balance multiple initiatives while maintaining a cohesive experience vision

• Ability to facilitate alignment and decision-making through design artifacts

• Ability to adapt designs based on user feedback, stakeholder input, and evolving priorities

Required Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in interaction design, graphic design, web development, or a related field from an accredited institution of higher learning

Experience

• 3 to 5 years  designing complex digital experiences in environments that require collaboration across multiple stakeholders and systems. This includes working alongside experience designers and UX researchers to rapidly iterate designs, test concepts with users, and refine solutions before development begins. Experience in higher education, enterprise platforms, or large-scale service ecosystems is a plus but not required

Preferred Qualifications:

• IAAP certified for web accessibility compliance. Learning design or higher education industry experience