UX Architect
📍 Job Overview
Job Title: UX Architect
Company: SecurityScorecard
Location: Remote
Job Type: Full-Time
Category: Product Design / User Experience
Date Posted: 2026-06-26
Experience Level: Senior (8+ years)
Remote Status: Fully Remote
🚀 Role Summary
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Own and drive the information architecture (IA) and structural User Experience (UX) across SecurityScorecard's entire product suite, from new platform development to legacy systems.
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Establish and champion a "blueprint-first" design methodology, ensuring sound structure and user flow are prioritized before visual aesthetics are applied.
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Act as a quality checkpoint for prototypes, ensuring structural integrity and preventing the introduction of technical debt into new features and AI product integrations.
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Elevate the overall design practice by coaching and modeling strong structural UX thinking, fostering a team culture that builds foundational correctness from the outset.
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Partner closely with Product and Engineering teams, particularly on AI product initiatives, to build scalable and robust UX foundations that support intelligent user experiences.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role is critical for establishing consistency and scalability across SecurityScorecard's product offerings. The emphasis on "architect" and "structural UX" indicates a need for deep expertise in complex systems, information hierarchy, and user flow optimization, rather than purely visual design or interaction design. The focus on "blueprint-first" and "AI product work" highlights a forward-looking approach to design process and technology integration.
📈 Primary Responsibilities
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Information Architecture Ownership: Develop, maintain, and evolve a coherent information architecture across all product surfaces, including new platform areas and existing legacy components.
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Structural UX Auditing & Remediation: Conduct comprehensive audits of existing IA structures, identify fracture points and inconsistencies, and implement solutions with a long-term, scalable foundation in mind.
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Cross-Swimlane Standardization: Operate horizontally across all product design "swimlanes," ensuring consistent application of structural UX principles and IA standards, regardless of team focus or project priority.
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Prototype Quality Assurance: Serve as a critical quality gate for prototypes across all product areas, reviewing them for structural integrity, adherence to IA standards, and absence of structural debt before they progress.
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Blueprint-First Design Advocacy: Champion and enforce the "blueprint-first" design process, ensuring that the fundamental "what" and "how" of features are clearly defined and validated in low-fidelity before high-fidelity design begins.
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Design Practice Elevation: Coach and mentor design team members on effective structural thinking, user experience strategy, and IA best practices, aiming to proactively build correct and scalable solutions.
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AI Product UX Foundation: Collaborate closely with AI product teams to ensure the underlying UX layer is architected for scalability, consistency, and readiness to support advanced AI-driven functionalities.
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Platform Integrity Maintenance: Uphold and progressively improve the structural integrity of the entire platform, ensuring both current and future builds meet high standards for user experience and information organization.
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Knowledge Transfer & Team Enablement: Disseminate expertise in UX architecture and IA throughout the design organization, building a collective capability for robust foundational design.
📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a proactive and foundational approach to UX design. The "quality checkpoint" and "blueprint-first" duties suggest the role is designed to prevent architectural flaws early in the design lifecycle, which is crucial for SaaS platforms, especially those integrating AI. The horizontal scope implies a need for strong influencing and collaboration skills, as direct authority over all design teams is unlikely.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for senior-level UX roles. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.
Experience:
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Minimum of 8+ years of hands-on experience in UX design, with a significant focus on information architecture and structural/systems-level SaaS design.
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Proven track record of successfully owning and managing IA for complex, multi-surface digital products, including experience untangling and resolving fractured or legacy IA structures.
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Demonstrated ability to establish design processes, implement review practices, and develop scalable component/pattern libraries. Required Skills:
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Information Architecture (IA): Deep expertise in structuring complex information, defining navigation systems, and ensuring findability and usability.
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Structural UX Design: Proficient in designing the underlying framework and organization of digital products that support intuitive user flows and efficient interactions.
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Systems-Level SaaS Design: Experience designing for complex Software-as-a-Service platforms with interconnected features and user journeys.
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Blueprint-First Design Methodology: Strong understanding and practical application of defining core functionality and user flows before visual design.
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UX Auditing & Analysis: Ability to critically assess existing UX and IA, identify pain points, and propose data-informed improvements.
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Prototyping & Wireframing: Proficiency in creating low-fidelity prototypes and wireframes to articulate structural concepts.
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Cross-functional Collaboration: Proven ability to partner effectively with Product Management, Engineering, and other design disciplines.
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Leadership Through Influence: Skill in guiding and influencing design direction across teams without direct managerial authority.
Preferred Skills:
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AI Product UX Foundations: Experience designing UX frameworks that can effectively support and integrate AI-driven features.
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Component Library Development: Experience in creating and maintaining reusable design components and patterns at scale.
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Engineering Fundamentals: Familiarity with JSON, CSS, C++, or Python-ML is a significant advantage, enabling deeper collaboration with engineering and a better understanding of technical constraints.
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Design Process Improvement: Experience in defining and refining design workflows and quality assurance processes.
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Mentorship & Coaching: Ability to coach and elevate the skills of other designers.
📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for 8+ years of experience, combined with the emphasis on "structural/systems-level SaaS design" and "information architecture," positions this as a senior individual contributor role requiring deep specialization. The preferred engineering skills suggest a desire for a candidate who can bridge the gap between design and technical implementation, especially for complex platform features and AI integrations.
📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
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Information Architecture Case Studies: Showcase examples where you have significantly improved or established the IA for a complex product or platform, detailing the challenges, your approach, and the measurable impact (e.g., reduced navigation errors, improved task completion rates).
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Structural UX Design Examples: Present projects demonstrating your ability to define the underlying structure of a product, focusing on user flows, system logic, and how the structure supports user goals and business objectives.
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Blueprint-First Process Documentation: Include examples of your work within a blueprint-first methodology, illustrating how you've translated business requirements and user needs into robust, low-fidelity structural blueprints.
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Design System/Component Library Contributions: If applicable, highlight contributions to or leadership in the development of design systems, component libraries, or pattern libraries, emphasizing how they ensure structural consistency and scalability.
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SaaS Product Experience: Showcase experience with complex SaaS applications, demonstrating an understanding of enterprise user needs, scalable architecture, and platform integration challenges.
Process Documentation:
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Demonstrate a clear understanding of how to document and communicate IA and structural UX decisions, including site maps, user flows, wireframes, and architectural blueprints.
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Provide examples of established design review processes where structural integrity and IA were key evaluation criteria.
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Illustrate how you have worked to progressively refactor and improve legacy system structures.
📝 Enhancement Note: For this role, the portfolio should heavily emphasize the candidate's ability to think architecturally and systemically. It's less about polished UI mockups and more about demonstrating a deep understanding of how to organize complex information and user journeys logically and scalably. Case studies that highlight problem-solving for fractured IA or building foundational structures for new features (especially AI) will be highly valued.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: $250,000 - $290,000 annually (base plus bonus).
Explanation of Range: This range is competitive for a Senior UX Architect role with significant responsibilities in a well-funded, growing SaaS company like SecurityScorecard. The upper end reflects the specialized nature of information architecture and structural design expertise, particularly in the context of AI product development and platform-wide influence. The salary is further supplemented by potential stock options and performance-based incentives.
Benefits:
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Competitive Base Salary and Potential Bonus Structure
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Stock Options
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Comprehensive Health Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision)
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Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO)
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Parental Leave
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Tuition Reimbursement Programs
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Employee Assistance Programs
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Potential for other country-specific benefits
Working Hours: The standard working hours are likely aligned with a full-time role, approximately 40 hours per week. Given the "Fully Remote" status, there may be flexibility in daily scheduling, but core collaboration hours will likely be expected.
📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is explicitly stated in the job description. The benefits listed are standard for a growth-stage tech company and are competitive. The "Unlimited PTO" is a notable perk that suggests a culture of trust and results-orientation. The mention of country-specific benefits indicates a global remote workforce.
🎯 Team & Company Context
🏢 Company Culture
Industry: Cybersecurity Ratings and Risk Management. SecurityScorecard operates in the rapidly growing cybersecurity technology sector, providing critical ratings and insights for organizations to manage their own security posture and that of their third-party vendors.
Company Size: The description implies a significant and growing company, with mentions of "over 12 million companies continuously rated," "25,000+ organizations," "founded in 2013," and being "funded by world-class investors." This suggests a scale-up phase with established processes but still retaining agility.
Founded: SecurityScorecard was founded in 2013, indicating a mature startup with established market presence and product maturity.
Team Structure:
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The UX Architect role sits within the Experience Design & Research team, described as having a "unique fabric."
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This is a senior, horizontal role, positioned "just below the leadership tier," implying significant influence and responsibility without direct management of a large team.
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The role will require close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering, particularly with "AI product work."
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The design organization is actively shifting towards a "blueprint-first" approach, with this role acting as a key driver and custodian of this methodology. Methodology:
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Blueprint-First Design: A core methodology being adopted, emphasizing low-fidelity structural planning before high-fidelity visual design.
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Architecture-First Thinking: Prioritizing sound structure and IA as the foundation for effective and scalable UX, with aesthetics being a result of good structure.
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Data-Driven Insights: The company's core business relies on data analytics for cybersecurity ratings, suggesting a data-informed culture across product development.
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Continuous Improvement: The role's responsibilities include progressively bringing legacy areas up to standard, indicating a commitment to ongoing platform evolution and refinement.
Company Website: https://securityscorecard.com/
📝 Enhancement Note: SecurityScorecard's culture is highlighted as innovative and employee-focused, with numerous workplace awards. The shift to a "blueprint-first" approach, championed by this role, is a significant cultural and methodological transition. The company's success in cybersecurity ratings suggests a strong emphasis on data, accuracy, and performance.
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Operations Career Level: This is a Senior Individual Contributor (IC) role, likely at the Principal or Lead Designer level within the UX discipline. It carries significant influence and ownership over the foundational structure of the entire product, acting as a "force-multiplier" rather than a direct manager. The role is designed to scale design leadership expertise horizontally.
Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, a Senior UX Architect of this caliber would typically report into a Director or VP of Product Design or Experience Design. The role's influence is described as "horizontal" and "cross-swimlane," emphasizing collaboration across multiple product teams and stakeholders.
Operations Impact: The role's impact is framed around making the product "effortless" rather than "exhausting," directly affecting customer retention and satisfaction. By ensuring a sound, scalable, and consistent UX architecture, this role will indirectly influence:
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Customer Acquisition & Retention: A well-structured product is easier to learn and use, leading to higher adoption and retention rates.
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Development Efficiency: Preventing structural debt and ensuring clear blueprints can streamline the development process and reduce rework.
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AI Product Success: Providing a solid UX foundation is crucial for the successful integration and user adoption of AI features.
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Design Team Maturity: Elevating the design practice contributes to the overall capability and efficiency of the product development organization.
Growth Opportunities:
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Deep Specialization: Opportunity to become the foremost expert in IA and structural UX for a complex SaaS platform, particularly in the context of AI.
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Strategic Influence: Influence the product roadmap and design strategy at a platform level, shaping how users interact with SecurityScorecard's offerings.
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Mentorship & Coaching: Develop leadership and coaching skills by mentoring other designers and elevating the team's capabilities.
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Cross-Functional Leadership: Gain experience leading initiatives and driving change across multiple product and engineering teams without direct authority.
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Potential for Leadership Roles: Successful performance could lead to opportunities in principal-level IC tracks or management roles within the design organization, depending on career aspirations.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a significant opportunity for a seasoned UX professional to leave a lasting impact on a company's product architecture. The growth path is less about traditional hierarchical promotion and more about deepening expertise, expanding influence, and contributing to strategic direction.
🌐 Work Environment
Office Type: The role is "Fully Remote," meaning there is no requirement to be in a physical office. This offers the flexibility to work from any location.
Office Location(s): SecurityScorecard is headquartered in New York City, but the role is remote, implying candidates can be based anywhere. The company operates globally, with employees in 64 countries.
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Remote Work Context: As a fully remote role, the work environment is dependent on the individual's setup. However, SecurityScorecard's culture, recognized for employee engagement, suggests support for remote work best practices.
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Collaborative Tools: Expect extensive use of digital collaboration tools such as Slack, Zoom, Miro, Figma, and project management software to facilitate communication and teamwork across distributed teams.
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Operations Team Interaction: Interactions will be primarily virtual, requiring proactive communication and engagement to build relationships and ensure alignment with Product, Engineering, and other design teams.
Work Schedule: While the core role is full-time (approx. 40 hours/week), the remote nature likely allows for some flexibility in daily hours, provided that critical meetings and collaborative sessions are attended. The emphasis on "blueprint-first" and structural integrity suggests periods of focused, deep work will be essential.
📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote nature of this position is a key aspect of the work environment. Candidates should be self-motivated, disciplined, and adept at remote collaboration and communication. The company's culture awards suggest a positive and supportive remote work experience.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Interview Process:
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Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your application and resume, looking for alignment with the core requirements, especially IA and structural UX experience.
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Portfolio Review & Discussion: You will likely be asked to present your portfolio, focusing on case studies that demonstrate your expertise in information architecture, structural design, and process improvement. Be prepared to walk through your thought process, challenges, and outcomes.
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Technical/Design Interviews: Expect interviews with design leadership and potentially senior product managers or engineers. These will delve into your approach to IA, systems thinking, blueprint-first methodology, and how you handle complex design challenges.
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Behavioral Interviews: Questions will assess your leadership style, collaboration skills, ability to influence, and how you embody the company's values (growth mindset, humility, care for others).
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Final Round: Potentially a discussion with higher-level leadership to assess strategic fit and overall impact.
Portfolio Review Tips:
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Focus on IA & Structure: Prioritize case studies that clearly highlight your work on information architecture, system design, and foundational UX. Show how you've organized complexity.
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Demonstrate the "Blueprint-First" Process: Include examples of your low-fidelity work, flow diagrams, and IA maps. Explain how this process led to better outcomes.
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Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your work. Think about reductions in rework, improvements in task completion, NPS scores, or efficiency gains.
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Showcase Problem-Solving: Highlight instances where you untangled fractured IA or solved complex structural problems. Explain your analytical approach.
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Tailor to the Role: Emphasize experience with SaaS products and any exposure to AI product development or platform-level initiatives.
Challenge Preparation:
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IA Design Challenge: You may be given a hypothetical product or feature and asked to outline its IA, key user flows, and structural considerations. Focus on your process and rationale.
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Process Document Review: Be prepared to discuss how you would approach establishing or refining design processes, particularly around blueprint-first methodology and quality gates.
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Cross-Functional Collaboration Scenarios: Prepare to discuss how you would collaborate with Product and Engineering on complex platform initiatives, especially those involving AI.
📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "structural integrity," "blueprint-first," and "IA" means your portfolio and interview responses must clearly demonstrate these capabilities. Avoid focusing solely on UI aesthetics; highlight the underlying strategic and architectural thinking.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Tools:
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Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly probable for modern SaaS companies), Sketch, Adobe XD.
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IA & Flow Tools: Miro, Whimsical, Lucidchart, or specialized IA tools.
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Collaboration & Communication: Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams.
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Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello, or similar platforms.
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Documentation: Confluence, Notion, or internal knowledge bases.
Analytics & Reporting:
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While not directly responsible for data analysis, an understanding of how UX performance is measured is key. Familiarity with tools used for tracking user behavior (e.g., Google Analytics, Amplitude, Pendo) and reporting on UX metrics (e.g., NPS, task success rates, conversion rates) would be beneficial. CRM & Automation:
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Not directly specified, but understanding how CRM systems (like Salesforce) or marketing automation platforms integrate with product experiences can be a plus for understanding the broader customer journey.
📝 Enhancement Note: While specific tools aren't listed, Figma is the industry standard for collaborative UI/UX design. The role's emphasis on IA and structural design suggests proficiency with diagramming and low-fidelity prototyping tools is crucial. The preferred engineering skills (JSON, CSS, C++, Python-ML) indicate the company values a technically adept design team.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Operations Values:
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Push for Best Work: A commitment to high standards, particularly in structural design and IA, and an intrinsic motivation to "get the foundation right."
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Growth Mindset: A proactive approach to seeking and incorporating feedback, both for oneself and for fostering a learning environment within the team.
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Care for People: A deep commitment to team elevation and making others better, viewing the role as a "force-multiplier." This implies empathy, collaboration, and a supportive attitude.
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Lead with Humility: Leveraging expertise and experience to influence and coach rather than dictate, fostering an environment of respect and open communication.
Collaboration Style:
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Horizontal Influence: Working across product swimlanes and teams, requiring strong communication, negotiation, and consensus-building skills.
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Blueprint-First Collaboration: A structured approach to design, involving early and frequent collaboration with Product and Engineering to align on IA and functionality before detailed design.
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Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing: Actively sharing expertise and coaching team members to raise the overall quality of UX architecture and IA within the organization.
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Feedback-Driven: Creating an environment where constructive feedback is welcomed and integrated to continuously improve designs and processes.
📝 Enhancement Note: The company emphasizes a collaborative, humble, and growth-oriented culture. This role is positioned to foster these values by elevating the design team's capabilities and ensuring a shared understanding of architectural best practices.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Challenges:
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Shifting Design Paradigms: Transitioning the design organization from an "aesthetic-first" to a "blueprint-first" and "architecture-first" mindset can be challenging, requiring patience, consistent advocacy, and clear demonstration of value.
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Legacy System Refactoring: Auditing, identifying, and implementing improvements to existing legacy IA structures without disrupting current user flows or business operations.
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Horizontal Influence without Direct Authority: Driving consistency and standards across multiple product teams, each potentially with its own priorities and working styles.
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Scalability for AI: Ensuring the current and future UX architecture is robust enough to support the integration and seamless operation of advanced AI features.
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Remote Collaboration Dynamics: Maintaining strong communication, alignment, and team cohesion within a fully remote environment.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
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Deepening AI UX Expertise: Gaining hands-on experience architecting UX for AI-driven products.
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Platform-Wide Strategic Impact: Influencing the core architecture and user experience of a leading cybersecurity platform.
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Leadership Development: Honing coaching, mentorship, and influence skills to elevate a design team.
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Industry Best Practices: Staying at the forefront of IA, structural UX, and design process innovation in the SaaS and cybersecurity sectors.
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Potential for Principal/Fellow Track: Further developing expertise to become a recognized authority within the company and potentially the industry.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant challenges that are also opportunities for growth. Successfully navigating these will depend on strong interpersonal skills, strategic thinking, and a deep command of IA and structural UX principles.
💡 Interview Preparation
Strategy Questions:
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"Describe a time you had to untangle a complex or fractured information architecture. What was your process, and what was the outcome?"
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"How would you champion a 'blueprint-first' design process within a team that currently prioritizes aesthetics? What are the key steps and potential hurdles?"
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"Imagine a new AI feature is being developed. How would you ensure the underlying UX architecture is scalable and ready to support it? What questions would you ask Product and Engineering?"
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"How do you measure the success of information architecture and structural UX improvements?"
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"Describe your approach to establishing cross-functional design standards and ensuring adoption across multiple product teams." Company & Culture Questions:
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"What interests you about SecurityScorecard and our mission?"
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"How do you embody a 'growth mindset' and 'leading with humility' in your work?"
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"Describe a situation where you made a significant impact by elevating the skills of your colleagues."
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"How do you foster collaboration and build relationships within a remote team environment?" Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
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Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your approach (emphasizing IA and structural thinking), the solutions you implemented, and the measurable results.
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Show, Don't Just Tell: Use diagrams, flowcharts, IA maps, and low-fidelity wireframes to visually communicate your architectural decisions.
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Highlight the "Why": Explain the rationale behind your IA choices and structural designs. Why was this approach best?
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Address the Role's Focus: Explicitly connect your portfolio examples to the requirements of the UX Architect role, such as blueprint-first methodology, complex SaaS systems, and AI readiness.
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Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your decision-making process, trade-offs considered, and how you validated your solutions.
📝 Enhancement Note: Prepare specific examples that directly address information architecture, structural design, and process improvement. Be ready to articulate not just what you did, but why you did it and the impact it had.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this operations position:
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Submit your application through the SecurityScorecard careers portal.
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Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your 8+ years of UX experience, specifically emphasizing your expertise in Information Architecture, structural UX design, and experience with complex SaaS platforms. Use keywords from the job description.
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Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 strong case studies that best showcase your IA, structural design, blueprint-first process, and problem-solving skills. Ensure they demonstrate impact and your ability to drive consistency across complex systems.
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Prepare Your Presentation: Practice walking through your portfolio with a focus on architectural thinking and process. Be ready to articulate your approach to challenges and collaborate on solutions.
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Research SecurityScorecard: Understand their product, mission, and recent company news. Consider how your architectural vision aligns with their goals, especially regarding AI integration and platform scalability.
⚠️ 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.
Application Requirements
Requires 8+ years of UX experience with deep expertise in information architecture and complex SaaS products. Ability to influence cross-functional teams and a background in building scalable UX foundations for AI is highly valued.