Senior Service Designer

Senior Service Designer

College Board - Technology

Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office)

Type: This is a full-time position

About the Team

The College Board is a highly remote organization. We are forming a cross-functional team to drive the transformation of workforce software experiences for all College Board staff. We are reimagining how internal tools empower our people to do their best work.

You will be part of Team Agile, a small team of systems thinkers, user experience and agile advocates, and tool smiths building connective tissue that helps teams do their best work, efficiently, strategically, and in sync. From evolving our product operations practice to managing cost and cloud efficiency, from coaching product and service teams to leading internal communities, we're not just improving process; we're enabling impact. Our work helps College Board deliver better products and services, faster, in service of students and educators everywhere.

About the Opportunity

As a Senior Service Designer, you bring deep user-centered design experience and systems thinking to shape meaningful, end-to-end service experiences. You are confident in leading service design efforts across cross-functional teams, from framing opportunities and conducting research to delivering service blueprints and supporting implementation, primarily focused on internal stakeholder/employee experiences.

You thrive in complex problem spaces, and you know how to turn ambiguity into clarity-guiding teams to focus on what matters and creating solutions that are viable, desirable, and feasible. Your influence is felt on your project team and beyond through your strong execution, collaborative mindset, and strategic design thinking. In this role, you support internal stakeholders by delivering clear frameworks, tools, and experiences that enable employees to do their jobs more effectively.

In this role, you will:

Design Thinking and Strategic Planning (40%)

• Apply design thinking methodologies to understand user needs, reframe problems, and support the creation of intuitive, human-centered solutions.

• Apply systems thinking to help teams understand complex relationships across people, processes, and platforms.

• Facilitate ideation sessions and prototyping exercises.

• Develop service blueprints, journey maps, and ecosystem diagrams to communicate service strategy and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Support roadmap and prioritization conversations by clearly linking user insights to service and product goals.

Research and Insight Translation (30%)

• Translate research insights into clear recommendations to support design and product direction.

• Plan and conduct generative and evaluative research, using a variety of methods to surface user needs and test hypotheses.

• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data into clear, actionable insights that guide design direction and service improvements.

• Create key research artifacts such as personas, experience maps, and affinity diagrams.

• Work with data, research, and product teams to ensure user insights are embedded in decision-making processes.

Collaboration and Communication (20%)

• Work closely and collaboratively with designers, researchers, product managers, and engineers.

• Lead workshops and collaborative sessions with team members and stakeholders.

• Communicate research findings and design strategies through compelling storytelling and documentation tailored to stakeholders at various levels.

• Use plain language to promote clarity, accessibility, and inclusivity.

Growth and Additional Contributions (10%)

• Assist in various aspects of product or visual design when needed to support product or initiative goals.

• Stay current on emerging trends and tools in service and product design.

About You

To qualify for this role, you must have:

• A portfolio of your work included in your application.

• A bachelor's degree in a related field (e.g., interaction design, HCI, information science, industrial design, computer science, social sciences, graphic design) and/or equivalent professional experience designing for complex service ecosystems.

• Significant experience in service design, with a track record of leading end-to-end service projects that connect user needs, business goals, and delivery systems.

• Experience applying systems thinking to identify pain points, map complex relationships, and improve processes across touchpoints.

• The ability to shape and communicate service strategies through tools like service blueprints, ecosystem maps, and journey maps.

• A commitment to designing ethically responsible and inclusive services that consider equity and long-term impact.

• A proven ability to collaborate effectively across functions, working closely with product managers, engineers, researchers, and operational teams.

• Proficiency in generative and evaluative research methods, and the ability to translate insights into design direction and service opportunities.

• Fluency with design and research tools such as Figma, Miro, Dovetail, and blueprinting tools.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to present ideas clearly to both peers and stakeholders.

• A desire and ability to advocate for user-centered design principles.

• A proactive, self-directed mindset, with the confidence to navigate ambiguity and take ownership of outcomes within cross-functional teams.

• Curiosity and a growth mindset-you stay up to date on design trends, tools, and practices, and regularly bring fresh thinking to your team.

• The ability to travel at a minimum of 3-5 times a year to College Board offices or on behalf of College Board business (including but not limited to traveling to client/user sites to engage with stakeholders).

• A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work

• Authorization to work in the United States for any employer

• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.

• Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal

• A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.

• A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.

• A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success.

About Our Process

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.

What We Offer

At College Board, we offer more than just a paycheck-we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We're a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation, grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation

• The hiring range for this role is $112,000 - $147,000

• Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.

• We aim to make our best offer upfront-rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data.

• We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.

You'll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it's like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.

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