UX Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Designer – AI Initiatives

Company: Sanoma Learning

Location: Spain or Poland (Remote)

Job Type: Full time

Category: User Experience (UX) Design / Digital Products

Date Posted: 2026-08-05

Experience Level: 2-5 years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and develop user experiences for innovative AI-powered educational tools, focusing on intuitive and engaging digital learning platforms.

• Lead the end-to-end design process, from ideation and conceptualization to low and high-fidelity prototyping, leveraging modern AI techniques.

• Collaborate extensively with cross-functional international teams, including product managers, developers, user researchers, and fellow UX designers, to drive digital transformation in education.

• Contribute to the development of scalable and impactful learning products that enhance student and teacher interactions with digital educational technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is specifically focused on the application of AI within educational technology, requiring a blend of traditional UX design skills with an understanding of emerging AI functionalities like recommendation systems and adaptive learning. The remote nature and international collaboration emphasize the need for strong communication and asynchronous work capabilities.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Drive discovery and problem-solving initiatives by organizing workshops and employing conceptual thinking to conceptualize and develop innovative AI-driven solutions for educational platforms.

• Design comprehensive user flows, intuitive interfaces, and robust information architecture for web-based digital learning products and services, ensuring a user-centric approach.

• Spearhead the design and prototyping process, creating detailed low and high-fidelity prototypes that effectively visualize and test concepts, adhering to the established design system.

• Proactively manage and communicate with diverse stakeholders, presenting design work and strategic rationale compellingly to foster alignment, gain buy-in, and ensure project success.

• Foster a collaborative and supportive team environment by working seamlessly with UX designers, user researchers, product managers, developers, and other cross-functional partners to achieve shared project objectives.

• Coordinate effectively with global teams and international stakeholders, leveraging international experience and cultural awareness to enhance project outcomes and ensure global applicability of designs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a proactive and leadership-oriented approach to UX design, emphasizing not just execution but also strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and cross-cultural collaboration. The focus on AI initiatives suggests a need for adaptability and a willingness to explore new design paradigms.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating practical application of UX principles and a deep understanding of design methodologies is paramount.

Experience: A minimum of 3 years of professional experience in User Experience (UX) design and user-centric design methodologies is required.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience in user experience (UX) and user-centric design principles.

• Demonstrated ability to design user experiences for educational products and innovative technologies, with a strong interest in the field.

• Experience in facilitating ideation sessions, effectively identifying user needs, and collaborating closely with user researchers.

• Proven ability to create comprehensive product designs with a strategic focus on scalability and understanding the broader product ecosystem.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, essential for international collaboration and stakeholder engagement.

• Working knowledge of key design and collaboration tools: Figma, Miro, and Confluence.

• Aptitude for working within and contributing to an AI agent-enhanced environment, demonstrating an understanding of how AI can augment the design process. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG), ensuring inclusive design practices.

• Familiarity with modern AI techniques such as recommendation systems, adaptive learning, and conversational interfaces.

• Experience in organizing and leading cross-functional workshops and design sprints.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "raw documents" for the portfolio suggests that practical application and problem-solving skills are valued over polished presentation. The inclusion of "AI agent-enhanced environment" indicates a forward-thinking approach to design tools and workflows.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3 years of demonstrable UX design experience, with a focus on user-centric methodologies and educational technology if possible.

• Present case studies that highlight your ability to conduct discovery and problem-solving, including workshop facilitation and conceptualization.

• Include examples of user flows, information architecture, and interface designs for web-based digital products, demonstrating scalability and a "bigger picture" perspective.

• Demonstrate your proficiency in creating both low and high-fidelity prototypes using tools like Figma.

• Provide evidence of your collaborative process, showing how you worked with researchers, product managers, and developers. Process Documentation:

• Detail your approach to user research and needs identification, including methods for gathering insights and translating them into design requirements.

• Illustrate your prototyping process, from initial concept sketches to interactive, high-fidelity prototypes, and how you iterate based on feedback.

• Document your experience in stakeholder management and communication, showcasing how you present design concepts and gain alignment.

• Explain your understanding and application of design systems and accessibility guidelines (e.g., WCAG) in your design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company explicitly requests "raw documents that demonstrate your expertise" rather than "polished portfolios." This implies a preference for showcasing the design process, iterative thinking, and problem-solving capabilities over final aesthetic output. Portfolio should reflect the AI initiatives mentioned in the role.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on the provided information for a UX Designer with 2-5 years of experience in Spain or Poland, the estimated annual salary range is €35,000 - €55,000 (approximately PLN 160,000 - PLN 250,000). This range is derived from industry benchmarks for UX Design roles in Western/Central Europe, considering the remote nature and the specific focus on AI initiatives within the educational technology sector.

Benefits:

• Flexible working environment that supports remote work and asynchronous collaboration.

• Excellent opportunities for professional growth and development within a leading European learning company.

• Exposure to international team collaboration, working with diverse colleagues across multiple European countries.

• Opportunity to contribute to the digital transformation and future of education through innovative AI-powered tools.

• Engaging and challenging tasks within a result-oriented yet collaborative atmosphere.

Working Hours: The role is full-time, typically aligning with a standard 40-hour work week. However, the flexible and remote nature of the position allows for a degree of autonomy in managing work hours, provided project deadlines and collaborative needs are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimates are based on general market data for UX Designers in Spain and Poland. Actual compensation may vary based on specific experience, qualifications, and the candidate's location within these countries. The benefits listed are directly extracted from the "What Sanoma Offers" section.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Educational Technology / Publishing. Sanoma Learning operates within the dynamic European education sector, focusing on creating high-impact learning products and services through a blend of digital technologies and pedagogical expertise. The company is committed to enhancing learning outcomes for over 20 million students across 11 countries.

Company Size: Sanoma Learning has over 3000 employees, indicating a large, established organization with significant resources and a broad operational footprint across Europe. This size suggests opportunities for structured career progression and access to diverse internal expertise.

Founded: Sanoma Learning is a division of Sanoma, a Finnish media and learning company with a long history. While the exact founding date of Sanoma Learning as a distinct entity isn't specified, its parent company's legacy implies a stable and experienced organization.

Team Structure:

• The UX Designer will join the digital products organization and report to the UX Competence Lead, indicating a specialized UX function within a larger technology department.

• Collaboration is emphasized across various European countries, suggesting a distributed and cross-cultural team structure.

• The role involves working closely with product managers, developers, and user researchers, highlighting a cross-functional, agile team approach. Methodology:

• Data-driven decision-making, with a focus on teacher and student insights to develop effective learning materials and platforms.

• Emphasis on educational technologies and pedagogical expertise to create products with the highest learning impact.

• Commitment to digital transformation and leveraging modern AI techniques to innovate learning experiences.

• Agile development methodologies are likely employed, given the collaborative and iterative nature of digital product development.

Company Website: https://www.sanomalearning.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission to shape the future of education and its focus on learning impact are central to its culture. The emphasis on AI initiatives signifies a forward-looking approach to educational technology.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a mid-level UX Designer, requiring at least 3 years of experience. It involves independent design work, leading specific design processes, and collaborating with a variety of stakeholders. The focus on AI initiatives suggests an opportunity to specialize in a cutting-edge area of UX.

Reporting Structure: The UX Designer reports to the UX Competence Lead, indicating a clear line of reporting within a specialized UX function. This structure allows for mentorship and guidance from experienced UX professionals.

Operations Impact: The UX Designer's work directly impacts the learning experience of millions of students and teachers by making digital learning more intuitive and engaging through AI-powered tools. Their contributions are crucial to Sanoma Learning's mission of improving educational outcomes and driving digital transformation.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization in AI UX: Develop deep expertise in designing for AI-driven features like recommendation systems, adaptive learning, and conversational interfaces, a highly sought-after skill.

• Cross-Cultural Leadership: Gain experience leading design initiatives within international teams, enhancing cross-cultural communication and project management skills.

• Mentorship and Skill Development: Benefit from reporting to a UX Competence Lead, providing opportunities for guidance, feedback, and continuous learning in UX best practices and emerging technologies.

• Impactful Projects: Contribute to projects with significant societal impact, shaping the future of education across Europe.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI within this UX role suggests a significant growth path for designers interested in this emerging field. The international scope also offers substantial opportunities for developing global collaboration and project leadership skills.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a fully remote position, requiring international online collaboration. While there isn't a physical office requirement, the company fosters a result-oriented and flexible work environment with a strong focus on collaboration, even across distances.

Office Location(s): The role is open to candidates in Spain or Poland, allowing for remote work from these countries. This offers flexibility in terms of living location while still being part of a European-wide team.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The role necessitates seamless collaboration with a diverse, international team through digital tools, emphasizing strong communication and teamwork skills.

• Tools & Technology: Access to and proficiency in essential design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Miro, and Confluence are expected, supporting remote teamwork and design processes.

• Team Interaction: Regular interaction with UX designers, user researchers, product managers, and developers will occur virtually, fostering a sense of shared purpose and continuous feedback loops.

Work Schedule: The position is full-time, typically around 40 hours per week. The remote and flexible nature allows for some autonomy in scheduling, accommodating different time zones and personal needs, provided project deliverables and team coordination are maintained.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote-first approach with specific country options (Spain/Poland) suggests a focus on talent acquisition across a wider geographical area while maintaining compliance and team cohesion. The emphasis on "international online collaboration" highlights the importance of asynchronous communication skills.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Stage 1: Initial Screening & Portfolio Review: Candidates submit their CV and portfolio. The "raw documents" approach means reviewers will look for demonstrated process, problem-solving, and iterative design thinking, not just polished final products.

• Stage 2: First Interview (UX Team Lead): A video call to assess motivation, cultural fit, and initial alignment with the role's requirements and Sanoma Learning's mission.

• Stage 3: Second Interview (Product Team): This stage involves a practical challenge or case discussion. Expect to demonstrate your thinking and design process, potentially involving a problem-solving exercise related to AI-driven educational tools.

• Stage 4: Final Conversation (Director of UX): A final discussion to evaluate overall fit, strategic alignment, and long-term potential within the UX team.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Process: Prioritize showcasing your design journey: problem identification, research, ideation, prototyping, iteration, and final design. Use "raw documents" like sketches, wireframes, early concepts, and user feedback notes.

• Demonstrate AI Relevance: If possible, include projects or concepts that touch upon AI, adaptive learning, or personalized experiences, even if it's conceptual work. Highlight how you approach designing for these complex technologies.

• Showcase Collaboration: Include examples of how you've worked with cross-functional teams (developers, PMs, researchers) and stakeholders, detailing your communication and feedback integration process.

• Highlight Problem-Solving: Clearly articulate the challenges faced in your projects and how your design solutions effectively addressed them, quantifying impact where possible.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand AI in Education: Familiarize yourself with current trends and challenges in AI for education, such as recommendation systems, personalized learning paths, and ethical considerations.

• Design Thinking for Ambiguity: Prepare to tackle ambiguous problems and demonstrate how you create clarity and structure in complex design scenarios.

• Figma & Miro Proficiency: Be ready to use these tools during the challenge if required, showcasing your ability to quickly prototype and collaborate digitally.

📝 Enhancement Note: The specific request for "raw documents" and the multi-stage interview process with a practical challenge indicate a thorough evaluation of the candidate's practical skills, problem-solving abilities, and collaborative approach.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Expect to create both low and high-fidelity designs and interactive prototypes.

• Miro: Crucial for remote collaboration, including workshop facilitation, brainstorming, user journey mapping, and information architecture visualization.

• Confluence: Likely used for documentation, knowledge sharing, and project management, requiring candidates to contribute to and navigate project documentation.

Analytics & Reporting: While not explicitly listed as primary tools for the UX Designer, understanding how to interpret user data and analytics to inform design decisions will be beneficial. Familiarity with tools that track user engagement and product performance would be a plus.

CRM & Automation: Not directly relevant to the core UX design responsibilities for this role, but awareness of how UX impacts CRM or automated customer journeys might be useful in larger product contexts.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma, Miro, and Confluence indicates these are core tools for daily work. Proficiency in these platforms is critical for effective collaboration and design execution in a remote, international environment.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Learning Impact: A core value is to create products and services that have the highest learning impact, driving continuous improvement and innovation in educational outcomes.

• Teacher & Student Insight: Deep understanding of user needs is fundamental, guiding development and ensuring solutions are practical and effective for educators and learners.

• Collaboration & Openness: An open and informal setting where initiative is expected and rewarded, fostering a collaborative spirit across international teams.

• Digital Transformation: Embracing modern technologies, including AI, to evolve educational practices and create future-ready learning experiences.

• Result-Oriented & Flexible: A balance between achieving ambitious goals and maintaining a flexible work environment that supports employee well-being and autonomy.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Seamless collaboration with UX designers, user researchers, product managers, and developers is a cornerstone of the team's approach.

• International Teamwork: Working effectively across different countries and cultures, requiring strong communication, empathy, and adaptability.

• Feedback & Iteration: An environment that encourages constructive feedback and iterative design processes to refine products and solutions.

• Proactive Initiative: Employees are encouraged to take initiative, propose new ideas, and drive projects forward within a supportive framework.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values emphasize a user-centric, impact-driven, and collaborative approach, with a strong forward-looking perspective on technology in education. The international and remote nature of the team necessitates a high degree of proactive communication and cultural sensitivity.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Designing for AI Ambiguity: Effectively translating complex AI capabilities (e.g., recommendation systems, adaptive learning) into intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, managing user expectations and potential ethical considerations.

• Cross-Cultural Design Consistency: Ensuring designs are effective and culturally appropriate across diverse European markets while maintaining a cohesive user experience.

• Remote Collaboration Dynamics: Navigating the complexities of remote collaboration, ensuring clear communication, alignment, and team cohesion across different time zones and locations.

• Rapid Technological Evolution: Staying abreast of advancements in AI and educational technology to continuously innovate and integrate new functionalities into learning products.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI UX Specialization: Deepen expertise in designing for AI-driven educational tools, a rapidly growing and high-demand field.

• International Project Leadership: Gain valuable experience managing and contributing to projects with a global scope, enhancing cross-cultural competence and leadership skills.

• Mentorship & Skill Enhancement: Benefit from guidance from the UX Competence Lead and opportunities for continuous learning in UX best practices, design systems, and emerging technologies.

• Societal Impact: Contribute directly to improving educational outcomes and shaping the future of learning across Europe, offering a strong sense of purpose.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are framed around the unique aspects of designing for AI in education and working within a distributed international team. The growth opportunities highlight specialization and leadership development within this context.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to design a user experience for a complex technology like AI. How did you approach it, and what were the key challenges?" (Focus on your process, how you simplified complexity, and any user research conducted.)

• "How do you ensure your designs are scalable and consider the 'bigger picture' within a product ecosystem, especially when working with international teams?" (Discuss your approach to design systems, modular design, and stakeholder alignment.)

• "Walk us through a project where you facilitated an ideation session or workshop. What was the objective, how did you structure it, and what was the outcome?" (Highlight your facilitation skills, conceptual thinking, and ability to gather user needs.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you most about Sanoma Learning's mission to shape the future of education?" (Connect your passion for education and technology to the company's goals.)

• "How do you approach working in a remote, international team? What strategies do you use to ensure effective collaboration and communication?" (Emphasize your experience with asynchronous work, digital tools, and cultural sensitivity.)

• "How do you think AI can best be used to enhance the learning experience for students and teachers?" (Showcase your understanding of AI in EdTech and your vision for its application.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• "Raw Document" Showcase: Prepare to walk through 1-2 key projects, highlighting the problem, your process (sketches, wireframes, user flows), iterations, key decisions, and outcomes. Be ready to explain your rationale at each step.

• Focus on Process, Not Perfection: Emphasize how you arrived at your solutions, including any challenges faced and how you overcame them. Show your thought process rather than just final polished screens.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, present metrics or qualitative feedback that demonstrate the effectiveness of your designs.

• Demonstrate Tool Proficiency: Be ready to briefly demonstrate your use of Figma, Miro, or other relevant tools if asked.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating a strong design process, adaptability to AI technologies, effective remote collaboration skills, and a genuine interest in Sanoma Learning's educational mission. The portfolio presentation is key and should lean heavily into process documentation.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UX Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Sanoma Learning careers portal.

• Curate Your "Raw" Portfolio: Select 1-2 projects that best showcase your end-to-end UX process, focusing on problem-solving, ideation, and iteration. Include sketches, wireframes, user flows, and any documentation of your research or feedback loops. Prioritize demonstrating your thinking over polished final designs.

• Optimize Your CV: Ensure your resume clearly highlights your 3+ years of UX design experience, proficiency in Figma, Miro, and Confluence, and any experience with educational technology or AI initiatives. Use keywords from the job description naturally.

• Prepare Your Portfolio Presentation: Practice walking through your selected projects, articulating your design decisions, the challenges you faced, and the outcomes. Be ready to discuss your approach to AI in education and remote collaboration.

• Research Sanoma Learning: Understand the company's mission, values, and its commitment to digital transformation in education. Familiarize yourself with their existing products and the role of AI within their offerings.

⚠️ 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.