Senior UX Designer, Data Products

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX Designer, Data Products

Company: National Geographic

Location: Washington, DC, United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: UX/Service Design, Operations Strategy

Date Posted: 2026-03-27

Experience Level: 7+ Years

Remote Status: Remote OK

🚀 Role Summary

• This role is a strategic UX and Service Design position focused on enhancing the end-to-end user journey for internal staff and technical users across a portfolio of internal systems, integrations, and third-party platforms.

• It requires a deep understanding of systems thinking and service design methodology to tackle complex operational challenges, with a strong emphasis on Developer Experience (DX) and third-party software implementations like Salesforce.

• The position involves acting as a strategic user advocate to drive high-impact recommendations on resource investment, specifically for "build vs. configure vs. buy" decisions impacting organizational efficiency and value-based product delivery.

• The role will also collaborate with UX designers working on external-facing products, ensuring internal processes and content production workflows are optimized and integrated effectively.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Senior UX Designer," the description clearly shifts the focus from traditional UI design to a more strategic, operations-centric role involving service design, system mapping, and "build vs. configure vs. buy" analysis. This signals a need for candidates with a strong operational mindset and experience in optimizing internal technical ecosystems, particularly within enterprise platforms like Salesforce.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Strategic Investment Decision-Making: Conduct thorough user research and strategic analysis to inform critical "build vs. configure vs. buy" decisions, providing data-backed recommendations to product and engineering leadership on custom solution investments. This includes planning projects using user-centered approaches to understand user contexts and current workflows.

• Service & System Mapping: Lead the development of comprehensive Service Blueprints and System Interaction Diagrams to visualize complex user journeys across multiple integrated systems, identifying key friction points in staff and technical workflows, including those related to content production. Document emergent processes, guidelines, and best practices.

• Developer Experience (DX) Improvement: Partner closely with Engineering teams to research, define, and design enhancements for internal tooling, documentation, APIs, and developer onboarding/usage flows. Collaborate with Product Designers and Engineers on prototypes, web applications, and digital products.

• Third-Party Configuration UX: Deeply analyze the user experience of third-party platforms, particularly Salesforce, to design optimal configurations and leverage existing vendor interfaces, data models, and declarative tools (e.g., Salesforce Flows) for maximum value with minimal friction, especially concerning content management.

• Information Architecture (IA) Strategy: Drive the IA strategy for a portfolio of data products and integrated systems, focusing on governance, discoverability, and accessibility of information and services across the enterprise, with a significant emphasis on content architecture.

• Strategic User Research: Employ a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including interviews and usability testing, to understand the needs of data-focused and technical users, including those in content production. Report on insights and continuously improve UX design excellence through market trend analysis.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic analysis, process mapping, and hands-on design for internal technical systems. The emphasis on "build vs. configure vs. buy" and optimizing third-party platforms like Salesforce directly points to a revenue operations or sales operations adjacent function, even though the title is UX Designer.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in the humanities with a specialization in systems design, UX, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or Information Science.

Experience: 7+ years of experience with a solid understanding of data products and platforms, such as Salesforce.

Required Skills:

• Platform UX/Salesforce Proficiency: Demonstrated experience applying UX and service design principles within enterprise platforms like Salesforce (Service Cloud or Experience Cloud). Understanding of platform constraints, design standards, and the cost/value of customization (declarative vs. custom code) is essential.

• Systems & Service Design: Proven ability to apply service design principles and systems thinking to complex, non-customer-facing operational challenges, with a focus on efficiency and content management workflows. Expertise in balancing consistency, customization, and reusability across multiple systems.

• Technical Empathy & DX: Experience designing for or collaborating closely with developers and technical staff. Familiarity with core technical concepts like APIs, data models, data governance, and their impact on user experience, particularly in content production workflows. Comfort discussing JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

• IA and Diagramming: Expertise in Information Architecture methods and proficiency with tools like Miro, spreadsheets, service blueprints, and cross-functional facilitation for complex content ecosystems.

• Strategic Communication: Exceptional ability to articulate research findings and strategic UX trade-offs to both technical and executive stakeholders, clearly explaining the cost of user friction versus custom development. Strong presentation skills.

• Research Methods: Proficiency in conducting strategic user interviews and assessing success through relevant metrics, including content usability. Experience with A/B testing.

• Prototyping Experience: Experience with prototyping tools such as Figma or similar.

• Portfolio: A comprehensive online portfolio showcasing site maps, user flows, and low- to high-fidelity prototypes.

Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with data visualization and data analytics.

• Experience integrating AI into workflows or as part of UX solutions.

• Experience designing for workflows involving headless Content Management Systems (CMSs).

📝 Enhancement Note: The combination of Salesforce, DX, IA, and "build vs. configure vs. buy" analysis strongly suggests this role interfaces heavily with Sales Operations, Marketing Operations, or Revenue Operations teams. Candidates should highlight experience in optimizing internal processes and systems that support sales, marketing, or data-driven decision-making.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Case Studies on Internal Systems: Showcase detailed case studies of projects that involved optimizing internal systems, third-party platform configurations (especially Salesforce), or developer workflows.

• "Build vs. Configure vs. Buy" Analysis: Include examples where you analyzed the trade-offs between building custom solutions and configuring existing platforms, clearly articulating the rationale and impact of your recommendation.

• Service Blueprints & System Maps: Present visual artifacts like Service Blueprints and System Interaction Diagrams that illustrate complex user journeys and identify operational friction points, particularly for technical or staff users.

• Information Architecture Examples: Demonstrate expertise in IA through examples of sitemaps, navigation structures, or content models designed for complex digital ecosystems.

• Prototyping & User Flows: Include examples of user flows and prototypes (low- to high-fidelity) created using tools like Figma, demonstrating problem-solving for internal tools or processes.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Detail your experience in mapping existing workflows, identifying inefficiencies, and designing optimized processes for internal technical teams or content production.

• Implementation & Automation Methods: Provide examples of how you've influenced the implementation of new systems or configurations, or how you've identified opportunities for automation within existing processes.

• Measurement & Performance Analysis: Showcase how you've defined metrics to measure the success of your UX/service design interventions and how you've analyzed performance data, including A/B testing results.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirements are heavily geared towards demonstrating analytical rigor, strategic decision-making, and the ability to map and optimize complex internal processes and systems, which are core to operations roles.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $114,000 - $120,000 USD per year.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.

• Engaging and comprehensive wellness program.

• 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions after 6 months of employment.

• Flexible paid time off benefits with up to 22 days of paid annual leave per calendar year (prorated for new hires in their first year).

• 10 days of sick leave.

• 12 paid holidays and a paid winter break (December 25-31).

• Paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and fertility benefits.

• Learning and development opportunities.

• Lifestyle Spending Account.

• Pet adoption assistance and insurance.

• Pre-tax transportation benefits with a generous employer subsidy.

• Employer-paid life insurance and disability benefit.

• Various National Geographic discounts and perks.

Working Hours: Standard 40 hours per week.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific and falls within the typical mid-to-senior level range for UX/Service Design roles, especially in a high-cost-of-living area like Washington, D.C., and aligns with operations-focused design roles. The extensive benefits package is typical for a large, established non-profit organization.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Non-profit, Media, Education, Exploration, and Conservation. National Geographic is renowned for its storytelling, scientific exploration, and educational initiatives, often leveraging data and technology to support its mission.

Company Size: Large organization (implied by the extensive benefits and structured hiring process). This suggests a need for navigating larger organizational structures and processes.

Founded: 1888. This long history implies a stable organization with established operational frameworks and a strong brand legacy.

Team Structure:

• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role explicitly mentions collaboration with UX designers working on external products and engineering teams, highlighting a matrixed or project-based team structure.

• Reporting: While not explicitly stated, a "Senior" role typically reports to a Director or Senior Manager of UX, Product, or Engineering. The focus on internal systems suggests potential alignment with IT, Operations, or a dedicated Digital Transformation/Product team.

• Specialization: The role focuses on internal systems, developer experience, and platform configuration, indicating a specialized function within the broader design or technology departments.

Methodology:

• User-Centered Design (UCD): Emphasized through strategic research, user interviews, and usability testing.

• Systems Thinking & Service Design: Core methodologies applied to complex operational challenges.

• Data-Driven Decision-Making: "Build vs. configure vs. buy" analysis relies on clear, data-backed recommendations.

• Agile/Iterative Development: Implied through collaboration with engineering and prototyping.

Company Website: www.nationalgeographic.com

📝 Enhancement Note: Understanding National Geographic's mission is key. Operations roles here will likely be framed around how they support the organization's broader goals of exploration, education, and conservation, often through enabling internal teams and optimizing data-driven initiatives.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior-level individual contributor role, focusing on strategic impact within internal operations and technical systems. It requires significant autonomy in decision-making regarding resource allocation and design strategy for complex problems.

Reporting Structure: Likely reports to a Director or Senior Manager within a Product, Design, or Technology department. The role will involve significant collaboration with Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and potentially stakeholders in Sales, Marketing, or Data Science who rely on these internal systems.

Operations Impact: The role's impact is measured by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of internal staff and technical users, directly contributing to "value-based product delivery," "transformational data services," and "support and infrastructure services." This translates to increased productivity, reduced operational costs, and better data utilization for National Geographic's mission.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership in Internal Systems: Potential to become a subject matter expert and lead initiatives for critical internal platforms like Salesforce or developer tooling.

• Strategic Influence: Grow influence by consistently providing data-driven recommendations that shape investment decisions for technology and operational improvements.

• Cross-Functional Expertise: Develop deeper understanding of various business functions (e.g., Sales, Marketing, Content Production) by optimizing the systems they use.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior UX designers or contribute to establishing best practices for internal system design within the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role represents a significant step for a UX professional looking to pivot into a more operations-focused design domain, emphasizing the strategic application of design thinking to business process optimization rather than purely customer-facing interfaces.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The job designation is "Remote - Our Remote designation includes staff who must work in another location in the U.S. or abroad." This implies that while remote, there might be an expectation of occasional travel or adherence to specific remote work policies within the US.

Office Location(s): While the primary location is listed as Washington, DC, the "Remote" designation suggests candidates can be based elsewhere in the United States.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: Expect collaboration with diverse teams (UX, Engineering, Product, potentially business stakeholders) through digital collaboration tools.

• Tooling: Access to standard design and collaboration software (Figma, Miro, etc.) and internal company systems.

• Operations Focus: The work environment will be geared towards optimizing internal processes and systems, requiring a mindset focused on efficiency, data integrity, and user enablement for staff.

Work Schedule: Standard business hours, with flexibility potentially offered based on team needs and remote work policies. The role requires active participation in research, design sprints, and stakeholder meetings, necessitating consistent availability during core working hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Remote OK" status with a US-wide focus, coupled with the "Washington, DC" primary location, suggests the company has a strong presence in DC but is open to remote talent across the US, likely with some expectation of periodic travel to HQ if feasible.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of resume and cover letter, with a specific focus on portfolio links and relevant experience.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: Candidates will likely present their portfolio, focusing on case studies that demonstrate systems thinking, service design, "build vs. configure vs. buy" analysis, and experience with platforms like Salesforce. Be prepared to discuss your process, decision-making, and the impact of your work.

• Technical & Strategic Interviews: Interviews with hiring managers and cross-functional team members (e.g., Engineering Leads, Product Managers) to assess technical empathy, strategic thinking, research methodology, and problem-solving skills related to internal systems and operations.

• Behavioral & Cultural Fit: Assess alignment with National Geographic's mission and values, and ability to collaborate effectively in a remote/hybrid environment.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Highlight Operations Impact: Structure case studies to clearly articulate the operational problem, your strategic approach, the solutions designed, and the measurable impact on efficiency, cost, or user satisfaction for internal teams.

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Include service blueprints, system maps, and user journey maps that demonstrate your ability to understand and optimize complex, multi-system workflows.

• Detail "Build vs. Configure vs. Buy" Analysis: Present specific examples where you influenced or made such decisions, explaining your research, criteria, and the outcomes.

• Demonstrate Platform Expertise: If you have Salesforce experience, showcase how you've designed UX within its constraints or advised on its configuration.

• Focus on Internal Users: Clearly differentiate your internal-facing work from external customer-facing design, emphasizing the unique challenges and goals of optimizing internal tools and processes.

Challenge Preparation:

• Process Optimization Scenarios: Be prepared for scenarios where you might be asked to analyze a given internal workflow or system challenge and propose solutions using service design or systems thinking principles.

• "Build vs. Configure" Scenarios: Anticipate questions asking you to weigh the pros and cons of customization versus using out-of-the-box features for a hypothetical internal tool.

• Stakeholder Communication: Practice articulating complex technical and design trade-offs clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio review for internal systems and operational impact is crucial. Candidates should tailor their portfolio to showcase these specific skills, moving beyond typical customer-facing UX case studies.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Prototyping & Design: Figma (required), potentially others like Sketch, Adobe XD.

• Diagramming & Collaboration: Miro (required), Lucidchart, Visio, spreadsheets (Excel/Google Sheets).

• Enterprise Platforms: Salesforce (highly preferred, understanding of Service Cloud/Experience Cloud, declarative tools like Flows).

• Content Management: Familiarity with CMS concepts, potentially headless CMS experience.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Research Tools: Tools for conducting interviews, usability testing, surveys.

• A/B Testing Platforms: Experience with platforms for conducting experimental design evaluations.

• Data Visualization: Familiarity with presenting data insights, though not necessarily advanced tool expertise.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: Salesforce is a key platform mentioned.

• Integration Concepts: Understanding of APIs, data models, and how systems connect is crucial.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency with Figma and Miro is standard, but the strong emphasis on Salesforce and understanding its configuration/customization trade-offs is a critical technical requirement for this role, bridging UX design with operational system optimization.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven: A core value is likely aligning operational improvements with National Geographic's mission of exploration, education, and conservation.

• Data-Informed Decisions: Emphasis on research, analytics, and clear, data-backed recommendations for resource allocation.

• Efficiency & Optimization: A drive to continuously improve internal processes, systems, and workflows to maximize organizational effectiveness.

• Collaboration & Empathy: Fostering strong working relationships across diverse teams, understanding the needs of both technical and non-technical staff.

• Excellence & Innovation: Commitment to maintaining high standards in UX design and exploring new approaches to solve complex operational challenges.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Partnership: Expect close collaboration with Engineering, Product Management, and potentially business units (e.g., Sales, Marketing, Content teams) to understand their needs and integrate solutions.

• Iterative Feedback Loops: A culture that encourages continuous feedback on designs and processes to ensure optimal outcomes.

• Knowledge Sharing: Emphasis on documenting processes, sharing insights from research, and building a collective understanding of best practices across teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should emphasize how their work on internal systems directly supports the broader mission and how they foster collaboration to achieve operational excellence.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Internal vs. External Focus: Navigating the needs of internal users and systems while ensuring they don't negatively impact or are misaligned with external-facing products and brand consistency.

• Complexity of Integrated Systems: Managing user experience across multiple interconnected systems, including third-party platforms with their own constraints and update cycles.

• "Build vs. Configure vs. Buy" Decision Complexity: Making high-stakes recommendations that involve significant resource allocation and require strong justification and stakeholder buy-in.

• Evolving Technology Landscape: Staying current with advancements in UX, service design, AI, and enterprise platforms (like Salesforce) to ensure optimal solutions.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into Enterprise Platforms: Opportunity to become an expert in Salesforce configuration and UX best practices within that ecosystem.

• Advanced Service Design & Systems Thinking: Further development in applying these methodologies to large-scale operational problems.

• Data Strategy & Analytics: Potential to deepen understanding and application of data analytics and data visualization in decision-making.

• Leadership in Operational Excellence: Path to leading strategic initiatives that significantly improve organizational efficiency and technological capabilities.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role presents a unique challenge for UX professionals, pushing them beyond traditional UI design into strategic operational problem-solving, offering substantial growth in systems thinking and enterprise platform optimization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to make a 'build vs. configure vs. buy' recommendation for an internal system. What was your process, what factors did you consider, and what was the outcome?"

• "How would you approach mapping the user journey for a complex, multi-system workflow involving content production and data reporting?"

Company & Culture Questions:

• "How does your approach to UX/Service Design align with a mission-driven organization like National Geographic?"

• "Describe your experience working with engineering teams. How do you ensure technical feasibility and build strong partnerships?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with the business/operational problem, detail your strategic approach and research, showcase your design artifacts (blueprints, diagrams, prototypes), and conclude with the measurable impact and lessons learned.

• Quantify Results: Whenever possible, use metrics (e.g., time saved, reduction in errors, increased adoption rates) to demonstrate the ROI of your work.

• Articulate Trade-offs: Clearly explain the rationale behind design decisions, especially those involving customization versus configuration, and how you communicated these trade-offs to stakeholders.

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize projects involving internal systems, developer experience, or enterprise platforms like Salesforce.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interviewers will be looking for strategic thinking, operational acumen, and the ability to apply design principles to complex business challenges, not just aesthetic UI design.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations-focused design position:

• Submit your application via the provided Workday link.

• Craft a compelling cover letter that specifically addresses why you are a strong fit for this unique UX/Service Design role, highlighting your experience with internal systems, Salesforce, and operational optimization.

• Curate your online portfolio to prominently feature case studies demonstrating systems thinking, service design, "build vs. configure vs. buy" analysis, and experience with enterprise platforms. Ensure it clearly showcases your ability to improve internal workflows and developer experiences.

• Prepare to present your portfolio with a focus on articulating the business/operational problem, your strategic approach, the solutions, and the measurable impact of your work.

• Research National Geographic's mission, values, and recent initiatives to demonstrate your understanding of their context and how your role contributes to their broader goals.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

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