User Experience Designer (contract)

UX Designer (Contract: May – July 2025)

Location: Remote

Time Commitment: Estimated 5-10 hrs/week depending on role and availability.

About Cultivating Literacy

Cultivating Literacy is a nonprofit based in San Jose, CA, dedicated to empowering families and young readers through intentional, relationship-driven literacy programs. We are enhancing our work through the integration of AI and edtech tools to improve our programming, operations, and long-term impact. We are seeking a UX Designer to collaborate with our team and help build the technical infrastructure for this transformation, with a focus on improving the usability and accessibility of our family tracking and communication system.

Role Overview

As a UX Designer, you will focus on creating intuitive, user-centered designs for AI-powered tools that enhance our literacy programs and streamline our internal workflows. You will play a key role in improving the user experience for staff, coaches, families, and school partners interacting with our digital tools. You will work closely with the Director of Program Operations and an AI Engineer to ensure the tools we develop are accessible, engaging, and meet the diverse needs of our users.

This is an exciting opportunity for a designer who is passionate about education equity and has experience working on projects that integrate technology in creative, user-friendly ways.

Key Responsibilities

• Design intuitive and accessible user experiences and interfaces for tools used by staff, families, and educators, with a focus on addressing the usability challenges in our current system (Google Sheets, Trello, Google Docs).
• Conduct user research (including interviews and usability testing with staff, coaches, families, and school partners), create wireframes, mockups, and clickable prototypes to illustrate your designs and gather feedback.
• Collaborate closely with the AI Engineer and Director of Program Operations to ensure that the AI-powered tools are both usable and aligned with our programmatic goals and technical feasibility.
• Ensure that designs are accessible to a diverse, multilingual audience, adhering to accessibility standards (WCAG) and that usability is prioritized throughout the design process.
• Develop and maintain a design system and style guide to ensure consistency across all digital touchpoints.
• Contribute to the iterative design process, incorporating feedback and data analysis to continuously improve the user experience.

Who You Are

• Mission-driven and passionate about designing for education equity.
• Comfortable working on a small, agile team, where collaboration is key.
• A great communicator who can work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A creative problem-solver who can iterate quickly and build based on feedback.
• Empathetic and user-focused, with a strong desire to understand and meet user needs.
• Detail-oriented and organized, with excellent time management skills.

Qualifications

• Must Haves:
• 3+ years of experience in UX design, including designing user-centered products.
• Demonstrated experience with user research methodologies.
• Strong collaboration skills, particularly in working with engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience creating wireframes, mockups, and prototypes using design tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD).
• Availability for weekly check-ins with leadership and remote collaboration.
• A strong portfolio showcasing user-centered design solutions and design process.
• Nice to Have:
• Experience working in nonprofit or educational sectors.
• Familiarity with low-code/no-code platforms.
• Bilingual or culturally responsive design experience.
• Understanding of accessibility principles and best practices (WCAG).
• Experience designing for AI-driven applications.
• Experience with data visualization.

Contract Details

• Timeline: May 1 – July 31 (with flexibility possible).
• Location: Remote (U.S.-based preferred but open to international applicants with strong English communication skills).
• Time Commitment: Estimated 5-10 hrs/week depending on role and availability.

To Apply

Please send the following to <saoussen@cultivatingliteracy.org>:

• A brief note about your interest and relevant experience.
• Your portfolio.
• Resume and LinkedIn profile.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.