Product UX Designer at Nova Pioneer

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Product Designer will lead human‑centred design for PSSP’s digital experiences. You will translate insights from students, graduates, parents, deans, and employers into elegant, accessible workflows and UI that ship quickly and measurably improve outcomes. You will partner with the PSSP Lead, product managers, engineers, and programme teams to scope MVPs, run experiments, and evolve the product based on data and feedback.

Key Output: Usable and delightful product experiences that improve learner activation, completion, and progression to next‑step outcomes. Shipped designs and specs that enable high‑quality engineering delivery and measurable impact.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

Discovery and Research

• Co-plan and run lightweight user research, co‑design sessions, and usability tests with learners and potential users across Kenya and South Africa.
• Map end‑to‑end journeys for PSP, TGP, and IP, including offline touchpoints like camps, job shadows, and Graduate Summits.
• Translate findings into clear problem statements, opportunity areas, and hypotheses.

Product and User Experience Design

• Define information architecture, user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes for mobile‑first experiences with offline‑first considerations.
• Design UI that is accessible, device‑agnostic, and low‑bandwidth friendly. Apply or extend the design system in partnership with brand and engineering.
• Write UX copy that is clear, motivating, and appropriate for the different user archetypes.

Delivery and Quality

• Produce developer‑ready specs, states, and edge cases. Partner closely with engineers during implementation and QA to ensure quality.
• Run design reviews, incorporate feedback quickly, and maintain a high bar for craft while shipping iteratively.

Outcomes and Iteration

• Define success metrics with the PSSP Lead and PM team. Instrument flows for analytics and NPS. Use data to prioritise and iterate.
• Scope MVPs and experiments that de‑risk assumptions. Balance user value, feasibility, and speed to learning.

Collaboration and Ways of Working

• Facilitate workshops with educators, deans, and employer partners. Align cross‑functional teams on problems, solutions, and release plans.
• Contribute to a practical design system and component library. Document patterns and guidelines

ABOUT YOU

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, Psychology, Education, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience considered.
• 4+ years in Product Design or UX Design shipping products used by real users. Experience in education, youth development, employability, or marketplaces is an advantage.
• Portfolio with two to three concise case studies showing problem framing, user insight, design decisions, shipped results, and learning.
• Strong interaction and visual design skills with a mobile‑first mindset.
• Proficiency with Figma or equivalent for end‑to‑end work: flows, wireframes, prototypes, specs.
• Practical research skills: planning, running, and synthesising interviews and usability tests.
• Systems thinking across digital and in‑person touchpoints. Comfortable mapping service blueprints.
• Experience designing for low connectivity, shared devices, and accessibility needs.
• Data‑informed decision making. Basic analytics literacy and comfort defining success metrics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English Language. Clear documentation and UX writing.
• Strong collaboration with engineers and programme teams. Ability to give and receive feedback.
• Mission alignment. Experience in youth development, education, employability, or a comparable mission‑driven domain.
• Leadership potential. Able to influence without authority, run workshops, and mentor junior contributors as the team grows.
• You are a strategic thinker and a thought leader but you are also able to translate your ideas into action and execute on them.
• You have strong project management skills. You are able to juggle multiple tasks and meet deadlines and targets.
• You understand best practices for youth safeguarding, data privacy, and responsible AI, ensuring ethical implementation of programmes and technology.
• You are a problem solver - you are proactive in identifying issues and address these thoroughly by making an effort to find appropriate solutions.
• You thrive in start-up or early-stage environments; able to pivot quickly, manage risk, and deliver under tight timelines.
• You have a heart and belief in the African continent and are keen to shape young minds of innovators and leaders.
• You resonate deeply with our mission and culture principles in developing the next generation of innovators and leaders.