Principal UX Designer
About the role:
Nerdy is looking for a Principal UX Designer for the Tutors & Institutions team. As a Principal UX Designer, you will leverage your extensive UX background and high judgment to create innovative experiences that connect tutors with educational institutions, empowering them to help more learners succeed. Operating in an environment of significant ambiguity, you will independently prioritize efforts within and across domains, synthesizing diverse inputs from customers and stakeholders to identify opportunities and propose highly effective, cohesive, and forward-looking solutions. You’ll play a key role in shaping our long-term strategy, guiding and mentoring other designers as needed, while ensuring the delivery of impactful, human-centered design outcomes.
About Nerdy:
Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY) is a leading platform for live online learning, with a mission to transform the way people learn through technology. The Company’s purpose-built proprietary platform leverages technology, including AI, to connect learners of all ages to experts, delivering superior value on both sides of the network. Nerdy’s comprehensive learning destination provides learning experiences across 3,000+ subjects and multiple formats—including one-on-one instruction, small group classes, large format group classes, and adaptive self-study. Their proprietary platform leverages AI to personalize the experience for Learners of all ages —from kindergarten to professional—in academic, test prep, enrichment, and certification subjects. Nerdy’s flagship business, Varsity Tutors, is one of the nation’s largest platforms for live online tutoring and classes. Its solutions are available directly to students and consumers, as well as through schools and other institutions. Learn more about Nerdy at https://www.nerdy.com/.
Nerdy’s shareholder letters below explain the product and strategy and are the most effective way to learn about what the company is building.
Responsibilities:
Lead the overall UX design vision and strategy for your area—Tutors & Institutions— ensuring cohesion across all customer touch points
Maintain and evolve a strong design system that scales across multiple platforms and touchpoints.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product, marketing, and engineering, to deliver cohesive and impactful designs.
Drive high-level strategic initiatives while also being hands-on in executing key design projects.
Indirectly mentor and guide other designers, leading by example through your work, communication and stakeholder management, to fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, and excellence.
Advocate for user-centered design principles and ensure all output enhances the user experience and behavior
Conduct and partner on research, usability testing, and competitive analysis to inform and refine design decisions.
Push the boundaries of design by staying current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices.
Present design concepts and strategies to leadership and stakeholders, clearly articulating rationale and impact.
Understand and appreciate that Nerdy is an apolitical company and that we can have the largest impact if we are united in our focus on helping people learn and not divided or distracted by advancing unrelated causes.
Qualifications:
10+ years of experience in design, with a strong background in digital product, brand, or marketing design.
Proven track record of leading high-impact design projects and influencing strategic decisions and portfolio of high-quality output
Expertise in design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, and prototyping tools.
Strong understanding of UX/UI principles, accessibility standards, and human-centered design.
Experience contributing to and maintaining scalable design systems.
Excellent leadership, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to inspire and influence teams.
Strong problem-solving mindset, balancing creativity with business objectives.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
Experience in consumer-grade digital products, SaaS, or EdTech is a plus.
Leadership Principles & Culture:
Relentlessly Focuses on Customers - Tenaciously strives to earn and keep customer trust by listening for what customers need, carefully considering the context, and honors what we learn.
Comfortable with Ambiguity - Acts with limited information. Acknowledges that we are building a new future and will encounter unknowns, but forges ahead and does not allow progress to get blocked.
Acts as Owner - Acts on behalf of the company and owns decisions and, by extension, those of the team. Ensures that problems are solved correctly, not papered over or moved. Thinks long-term and doesn’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results.
Simplifies - Not bound by how things work today and, when appropriate, seeks or invest alternative ways to solve problems. Has a bias toward simplification and when faced with complexity, identifies the right first step.
Intellectually Curious - Recognizes that continuous learning is a requirement and seeks out new ideas, new ways of thinking, and diverse opinions. Embraces learning from each other’s successes and, just as important, from each other’s failures.
Builds Teams: Leads the work of hiring and promoting bar-raising talent. Responsible for employee development, even when it means moving people to other areas to help them grow.
Thinks Big: Sets ambitious and audacious goals and is willing to consider boldly different solutions to achieve them.
Insists on High Standards: Recognizes that yesterday’s extraordinary is today’s ordinary. Identifies and articulates high standards and pushes themselves and the teams to reach them.
Bias for Action: Recognizes that most decisions are not one-way doors and demonstrates strong bias for speed, but makes decisions and acts with the speed that is appropriate to the circumstances.
Builds Trust: Establishes trust, even with those who think differently. Actively listens, seeks to understand, and is kindly candid in conversation. Humbly owns mistakes, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Goes Deep: Understands the details and audits frequently. When inconsistencies exist between expected results and anecdotes, tenaciously digs into why. Rolls up their sleeves and do what’s needed.
Has Conviction: Insists on having the conversation “in the room” and actively participates, even when it’s exhausting. Does not capitulate for the sake of consensus, nor “pocket vetos” decisions. Fully committed once a decision has been made.
Delivers Results: Leaders identify what needs to be accomplished and deliver quality, timely results. When setbacks occur, leaders persevere and overcome.
Is Right, A Lot: Most decisions and suggestions prove to be correct, given a situation’s context, when judged over time.
Apolitical: Embraces and supports Nerdy as an apolitical company and recognizes that we can have the largest impact if we are united in our focus on helping people learn and not divided or distracted by advancing unrelated causes.
Benefits:
Competitive Salary and Equity (Restricted Stock Units) in the company.
Healthcare Plans (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life).
401k Company Matching Plan (no vesting period!)
Maternity, Paternal, and Adoption Leave.
Remote Position.
Flexible PTO.
Free Learning Membership for you and your household (1-1 tutoring hours, unlimited use of on-demand services, and access to our online classes).
Unique opportunity to help transform how the world learns!
Nerdy is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
