Senior UX Content Designer, Design Operations - EN 762
📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Senior UX Content Designer, Design Operations
Company: Export Development Canada | Exportation et développement Canada
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Job Type: Contract—14 months
Category: Design Operations / UX Content Strategy
Date Posted: September 15, 2026
Experience Level: 7+ Years
Remote Status: Hybrid (3 days in office)
🚀 Role Summary
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Drive the development, maintenance, and governance of enterprise-wide content design standards, guidelines, and best practices to ensure consistency, clarity, and usability across all digital experiences.
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Coordinate and optimize user research operations, including participant recruitment, logistics, documentation, and knowledge management, to enhance the accessibility and impact of research insights.
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Facilitate design operations by supporting the continuous improvement of team standards, repositories, design documentation, and enablement materials to enhance delivery effectiveness.
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Act as a key liaison for vendor and stakeholder coordination, managing external research partners and ensuring smooth execution of projects and administrative processes.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Senior UX Content Designer with a significant focus on Design Operations, indicating a need for strategic thinking in establishing and evolving design processes and standards, rather than purely execution. The "EN 762" likely refers to an internal job code or classification.
📈 Primary Responsibilities
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Develop, maintain, and govern enterprise content design standards, guidelines, patterns, and best practices to promote consistency, accessibility, clarity, and usability across digital experiences.
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Conduct content reviews and provide actionable recommendations to ensure alignment of deliverables with established content standards and guidelines.
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Partner with UX designers, accessibility specialists, product teams, and stakeholders to support the adoption and integration of content design practices.
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Integrate content standards within enterprise design systems, templates, components, and delivery workflows for scalable and consistent user experiences.
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Develop and maintain supporting resources, examples, and documentation to enable teams to consistently apply content standards effectively.
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Contribute to accessibility and inclusive design by incorporating WCAG requirements and plain language principles into content standards and deliverables.
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Coordinate user research activities in collaboration with internal stakeholders and external research partners, managing logistics, documentation, consent, and operational tracking.
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Support user participant recruitment, screening, scheduling, and communications for research initiatives.
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Assist with research synthesis activities, including documenting findings, identifying themes, and preparing actionable insights and recommendations for stakeholders.
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Maintain research repositories, knowledge management practices, templates, and operational processes to improve the accessibility and reuse of research insights.
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Act as a liaison between internal teams and external research vendors and partners, coordinating activities, timelines, deliverables, and communications.
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Support procurement, onboarding, invoicing, and administrative processes related to vendor engagements for research and design services.
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Support the continuous improvement of design operations processes, governance, and ways of working within the Experience Design team.
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Help maintain team standards, templates, repositories, design documentation, and shared resources to ensure operational efficiency.
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Contribute to the management and evolution of design system documentation, content resources, and enablement materials.
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Assist in developing metrics and reporting to measure the adoption, effectiveness, and maturity of design practices and operational programs.
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Support onboarding, knowledge-sharing, training, and team enablement initiatives to foster a culture of continuous learning and best practice adoption.
📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a dual focus: strategic content design leadership and operational execution within the design function. The emphasis on governance, standards, research operations, and design operations enablement suggests a role that bridges strategic planning with practical implementation to drive consistency and efficiency across the organization's digital touchpoints.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's degree in Design, Communications, English, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field is typically expected for a Senior role in this discipline.
Experience: 7+ years of progressive experience in Content Design, UX Writing, Design Operations, or a closely related field.
Required Skills:
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Proven experience creating, maintaining, or governing UX content standards, guidelines, design systems, or content frameworks.
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Strong understanding of user-centered design principles, inclusive design principles, digital content best practices, and information architecture concepts.
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Demonstrated experience conducting content reviews and applying content standards to digital products and experiences.
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Experience supporting enterprise design systems, content systems, or component libraries.
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Experience managing content repositories, taxonomy, terminology, or information architecture assets.
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Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative research methods, synthesis techniques, and insight development.
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Experience coordinating user research activities, participant recruitment, or research operations.
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Solid knowledge of accessibility standards and inclusive content design practices (e.g., WCAG).
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Experience facilitating workshops, training, onboarding, or practice enablement activities for design teams.
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Exceptional organizational, planning, and project coordination skills with meticulous attention to detail.
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Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear, actionable guidance for diverse audiences.
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Experience working within large-scale enterprise digital product environments.
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Proven ability to build strong, collaborative working relationships across multidisciplinary teams, including product, engineering, and research.
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Experience developing governance models, standards, or operating practices for UX content design and UX research.
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Experience measuring the adoption and effectiveness of standards, frameworks, or operational programs. Preferred Skills:
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Prior experience working within a dedicated UX Design Operations or UX Research Operations function.
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Familiarity with design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Miro, Mural, UserTesting, Dovetail, Fable Engage, Azure DevOps, Microsoft 365, or similar platforms.
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Fluency in both English and French, with the ability to review, evaluate, and support content design practices across both official languages.
📝 Enhancement Note: The 7+ years of experience requirement, combined with the emphasis on governance, standards, and operational processes, positions this as a senior-level role demanding strategic contribution and leadership in establishing and maintaining design excellence. The preferred bilingualism is a significant asset for a Canadian Crown corporation.
📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
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A curated portfolio showcasing a minimum of 3-5 significant projects demonstrating expertise in UX Content Design and Design Operations.
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Specific examples of developing and implementing content design standards, guidelines, or style guides, with clear articulation of their impact on consistency and user experience.
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Case studies detailing contributions to enterprise design systems, including how content was integrated and managed within component libraries.
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Evidence of process improvement initiatives within design or research operations, highlighting efficiency gains, better collaboration, or enhanced insight delivery.
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Documentation of user research coordination or operational support, illustrating experience with logistics, participant management, and synthesis.
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Examples of how accessibility and inclusive design principles were applied to content strategies and deliverables.
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Demonstrations of strong information architecture principles applied to content organization and navigation. Process Documentation:
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Showcase examples of creating and maintaining process documentation for design workflows, content governance, or research operations.
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Illustrate how you have documented and communicated best practices for content design, plain language, and accessibility.
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Provide evidence of contributions to knowledge management systems or repositories that house design assets, research findings, or operational procedures.
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Demonstrate experience in developing metrics and reporting frameworks to track the adoption and effectiveness of design standards and operational programs.
📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior UX Content Designer with a Design Operations focus, the portfolio must highlight not only design execution but also the strategic thinking and operational acumen required to scale design practices. Emphasis should be placed on process, governance, and measurable impact.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: Based on the provided information, the salary range for this role is $96,557 to $128,743 CAD annually. This range is defined for the "Customer Experience 18" level, aligning with senior professional roles within Export Development Canada.
Benefits:
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Competitive Compensation Package: Includes the stated annual salary range.
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Comprehensive Health & Wellness: Access to wellness programs, mental health support, and fitness programs.
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Work-Life Balance:
- Hybrid work model with 3 days in the office.
- 3 to 4 weeks of paid vacation annually.
- Corporate closure period.
- Summer early Fridays.
- No meeting Fridays.
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Professional Development: Opportunities for continuous learning through training programs, workshops, and language training.
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Inclusive Culture: Participation in a diverse and inclusive workplace that champions employment equity.
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Community Engagement: Opportunities to participate in volunteer initiatives and social responsibility programs.
Working Hours: The standard working hours are assumed to be 40 hours per week, consistent with a full-time contract role. The "summer early Fridays" and "no meeting Fridays" indicate a structured approach to optimizing work time and promoting work-life balance.
📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific to the "Customer Experience 18" level within EDC. The benefits package is robust, emphasizing work-life balance and professional growth, which are key attractors for senior-level operations and design professionals.
🎯 Team & Company Context
🏢 Company Culture
Industry: Financial Services / Export Finance / Crown Corporation. Export Development Canada (EDC) operates as a Canadian federal Crown corporation, providing financial solutions and expertise to Canadian businesses engaged in international trade. This context implies a stable, mission-driven organization with a focus on economic development and risk mitigation for exporters.
Company Size: Large Enterprise (specific number of employees not provided, but implied by Crown corporation status and broad operational scope). This size suggests well-defined processes, opportunities for cross-functional collaboration, and potential for impact across a large organization.
Founded: Founded in 1944, EDC has a long-standing history of supporting Canadian businesses in global markets. This history implies a mature organization with established operational frameworks and a deep understanding of international trade dynamics.
Team Structure:
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The Experience Design team is part of EDC's Customer Experience Centre of Excellence, indicating a strategic focus on customer journey optimization.
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The team comprises diverse expertise: user experience design, content design, accessibility, user research, service design, and design operations.
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Collaboration is expected with product teams, technology partners, business stakeholders, and customer-facing teams to ensure aligned, evidence-based digital experiences.
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The team acts as a hub for establishing and evolving standards, patterns, research practices, and design capabilities across the organization. Methodology:
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Data Analysis & Insights: Emphasis on understanding customer needs through research and translating these insights into meaningful experiences.
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Workflow Planning & Optimization: Establishing and evolving standards, patterns, and practices to ensure consistent and scalable experiences.
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Automation & Efficiency: Improving experience quality and delivery effectiveness through best practices and operational improvements.
Company Website: https://www.edc.ca
📝 Enhancement Note: As a Crown corporation, EDC likely operates with a strong sense of public service, ethical conduct, and a commitment to economic impact. This influences its culture, emphasizing collaboration, long-term strategy, and a structured approach to operations and design.
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Operations Career Level: This is a Senior-level position within the Design Operations and UX Content Strategy domain. It requires a significant depth of experience (7+ years) and the ability to influence strategic direction, establish governance, and lead operational improvements. The role is not entry-level but rather one that contributes to shaping the practice itself.
Reporting Structure: The Senior UX Content Designer, Design Operations reports into the Experience Design team, which is part of the Customer Experience Centre of Excellence. This suggests reporting to a Manager or Director of Experience Design, with a collaborative structure involving various product teams and business units.
Operations Impact: The role's impact is centered on enhancing the quality, consistency, accessibility, and usability of EDC's digital products and services. By establishing robust content design standards and optimizing design/research operations, this position directly contributes to improved customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and the overall effectiveness of EDC's digital engagement strategies. Success metrics will likely include adoption rates of standards, quality improvements in content, and efficiency gains in research and design processes.
Growth Opportunities:
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Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in design operations, content strategy, accessibility, and research operations through hands-on work and potential training.
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Leadership Potential: Opportunity to lead initiatives in establishing and evolving design standards and operational frameworks, potentially leading to future team lead or management roles within Design Operations or Content Strategy.
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Cross-Functional Influence: Develop strong relationships and influence across product, technology, and business units, broadening understanding of enterprise operations.
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Specialization: Opportunity to become a subject matter expert in areas like content governance, design system content, or research operations best practices.
📝 Enhancement Note: The contract nature (14 months) suggests this role might be to drive specific initiatives or fill a temporary gap. However, the seniority implies significant responsibility and potential for impact, with possibilities for extension or transition to permanent roles, especially if the candidate proves valuable. Growth is framed around deepening expertise and influencing operational strategy.
🌐 Work Environment
Office Type: Hybrid work model. Employees are required to work from the office three days per week. This balances the flexibility of remote work with the benefits of in-person collaboration, team building, and spontaneous idea exchange.
Office Location(s): This role can be performed from EDC’s headquarters in Ottawa or from one of their Community Hubs located in Toronto, Mississauga, Montreal, Brossard, Laval, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, or Vancouver. This offers significant geographic flexibility for candidates within Canada.
Workspace Context:
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Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model and team structure foster collaboration. The Experience Design team, as part of the Customer Experience Centre of Excellence, likely emphasizes cross-functional teamwork.
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Operations Tools & Technology: While specific tools are mentioned as preferred (Figma, Miro, etc.), the environment will likely be equipped with standard enterprise collaboration and design software. Access to research platforms and design systems is implied.
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Team Interaction: Opportunities for regular interaction with UX designers, content strategists, researchers, product managers, and other stakeholders, both virtually and in-person.
Work Schedule: Standard full-time hours (assumed 40 hours/week) with a focus on work-life balance, including benefits like summer early Fridays and no meeting Fridays, suggesting a structured yet flexible approach to daily work.
📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model and multiple hub locations offer considerable flexibility. The "no meeting Fridays" is a notable perk that signals a focus on deep work and efficient workflow management, appealing to professionals who value focused productivity.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Interview Process:
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Initial Screening: Likely a review of applications and resumes to assess alignment with essential qualifications, with a focus on 7+ years of experience and specific skills in content design and design operations.
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First Interview (Hiring Manager/Recruiter): Focus on behavioral questions, past experiences, and understanding of the role's core responsibilities. Discussion of high-level project experience and career motivations.
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Second Interview (Team/Panel Interview): Deeper dive into technical skills, operational processes, and problem-solving abilities. This stage will likely involve discussing specific case studies from the portfolio and assessing how candidates would approach challenges related to content standards, research operations, or design governance.
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Portfolio Review: A dedicated session where candidates present their portfolio, walking through selected projects to demonstrate their expertise, strategic thinking, and operational impact. Emphasis will be on how they established standards, managed processes, and delivered results.
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Final Interview (Senior Leadership): Assessment of cultural fit, strategic alignment with EDC's mission, and overall suitability for a senior role.
Portfolio Review Tips:
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Curate Strategically: Select projects that best showcase your dual expertise in UX Content Design and Design Operations. Highlight initiatives where you established standards, improved processes, or managed operational workflows.
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Quantify Impact: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your approach, and the measurable outcomes. Use metrics to demonstrate improvements in consistency, efficiency, adoption rates, or user satisfaction.
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Process Over Product: While final designs are important, emphasize the processes you followed, the governance models you implemented, and how you facilitated collaboration. Explain your role in operationalizing design practices.
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Tell a Story: Structure your portfolio presentations as narratives. Explain the context, your specific contributions, the challenges faced, and the lessons learned.
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Address Design Ops: Ensure a significant portion of your presentation addresses your experience in Design Operations, including how you've supported research operations, managed documentation, or contributed to team enablement.
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Consider Bilingualism: If you are bilingual, be prepared to discuss your experience working with both English and French content or your ability to support content design practices in both languages.
Challenge Preparation:
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Scenario-Based Questions: Be prepared for questions asking how you would approach developing content standards for a new product, improving research participant recruitment, or establishing a governance model for a design system.
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Process Design: You may be asked to outline a process for content review, research synthesis, or design enablement. Focus on clarity, efficiency, and stakeholder buy-in.
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Stakeholder Management: Practice articulating how you would collaborate with diverse teams (product, tech, legal, marketing) and manage differing priorities or feedback.
📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is expected to be rigorous, given the senior level and specialized nature of the role. A strong portfolio that clearly demonstrates both content design expertise and operational leadership is crucial. Preparing to articulate your strategic approach to establishing and scaling design practices will be key.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Tools:
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Design & Collaboration: Figma (highly probable for design systems and collaboration), Miro, Mural (for workshops, brainstorming, and process mapping).
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Content Management & Documentation: Potential use of content management systems (CMS), documentation platforms (e.g., Confluence, Notion), or specialized content governance tools.
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Project Management & Workflow: Azure DevOps or similar tools for tracking work, managing sprints, and integrating with development workflows. Microsoft 365 suite for general productivity and collaboration.
Analytics & Reporting:
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User Research Platforms: UserTesting, Dovetail, Fable Engage (or similar) for managing user research activities, participant recruitment, and synthesizing findings.
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Analytics Tools: While not explicitly stated, understanding how to interpret data from web analytics (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) to inform content decisions would be beneficial.
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Reporting Tools: Tools for creating dashboards and reports to measure the adoption and effectiveness of design standards and operational programs.
CRM & Automation:
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Internal Systems: EDC likely uses enterprise-level CRM and other business systems. Familiarity with how design and content integrate with these broader systems is advantageous.
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Integration Tools: Understanding of how design and content processes might connect with broader enterprise automation or integration platforms.
📝 Enhancement Note: The preferred tools listed
Application Requirements
Candidates must have 7+ years of experience in Content Design, UX Writing, or Design Operations with a strong understanding of user-centered and inclusive design principles. Proficiency in managing content systems, research operations, and working within large-scale enterprise environments is required.