User Experience Specialist

The University of Kansas

Lawrence (KS)

On-site

USD 62,000 - 68,000

Full time

3 days ago
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Job summary

The University of Kansas seeks a User Experience Specialist to enhance KU’s digital ecosystem across websites and applications. You will perform prelaunch reviews, analyze user behavior, and translate findings into concrete improvements in accessibility, usability, and information architecture.

Collaborating with UX designers, developers, content teams, and campus partners, you'll drive usability testing, governance, and ongoing optimization, contributing to a high-quality digital experience for

Qualifications

  • High School Diploma/GED with 5 years relevant professional experience or an Associate’s degree with 3 years relevant professional experience or a Bachelor’s degree with 1 year relevant professional experience.
  • At least one year of experience applying website accessibility concepts or standards, such as WCAG.
  • At least six months of professional experience performing UX/UI-related tasks.
  • Experience communicating technical findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

  • Conduct prelaunch UX/QA reviews of Sunflower CMS and other KU websites using established standards for accessibility, content, information architecture, branding, and SEO.
  • Document findings, track remediation, and validate corrections prior to launch.
  • Maintain and improve review checklists, templates, and procedures.

Skills

UX/UI concepts
Accessibility concepts
Communication skills
Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree + 1 year experience
Associate’s degree + 3 years
High School Diploma/GED + 5 years

Tools

Google Analytics 4
Microsoft Clarity
DubBot
Drupal CMS
HTML/CSS

Job description

Position Overview

The User Experience Specialist supports the quality and continuous improvement of KU’s digital ecosystem. The position provides technical expertise in user experience, website quality assurance, accessibility, analytics, information architecture, and digital optimization across KU websites and applications.

The position conducts prelaunch reviews, analyzes user behavior and website performance, identifies opportunities for improvement, and translates findings into actionable recommendations. The User Experience Specialist collaborates with UX designers, developers, content teams, marketing/communications, and campus partners to improve the accessibility, usability, organization, consistency, and effectiveness of KU’s digital experiences.

If you are looking for a rewarding and dynamic career, look no farther than the University of Kansas. In addition to a competitive salary, KU offers great benefits to employees with up to 176 hours of paid vacation per year, 96 hours of sick leave earned per year, 10 paid holidays plus one discretionary day, a great retirement program, medical and dental insurance, life and disability insurance, other benefit plan options and state of Kansas discounts offered by various vendors. KU also offers employees educational opportunities for employees. KU is a great place to work!

30% - Prelaunch Website Reviews
  • Conduct prelaunch UX/QA reviews of Sunflower CMS and other KU websites using established standards for accessibility, content, information architecture, branding, and SEO.
  • Document findings, track remediation, and validate corrections prior to launch.
  • Maintain and improve review checklists, templates, and procedures.
  • Collaborate with KU IT and campus partners to support launch readiness and risk mitigation.
30% - Analytics & Optimization
  • Use tools such as Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity, and DubBot to analyze website performance and user behavior.
  • Develop reports and dashboards and translate analytics findings into actionable recommendations.
  • Conduct SEO and website quality audits and identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Support emerging practices in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI Optimization (AIO), including structured content and metadata.
  • Partner with UX, development, and content teams to implement and evaluate improvements.
30% - Usability & Information Architecture Consultation
  • Consult with campus partners to improve the usability, accessibility, organization, and consistency of websites and digital experiences.
  • Apply UX, content, information architecture, branding, and SEO best practices to recommend improvements.
  • Assist with usability research, governance, documentation, training, and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Participate in KU IT standards and cross-functional committees as assigned.
Required Qualifications
  1. High School Diploma/GED and five years of relevant professional experience or an Associate’s degree and three years of relevant professional experience or a Bachelor’s degree and one year of relevant professional experience.
  2. At least one year of experience applying website accessibility concepts or standards, such as WCAG as shown in application materials.
  3. At least six months of professional experience performing UX/UI-related tasks as shown in application materials.
  4. Experience communicating technical findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences, demonstrated through application materials or a writing sample.
Preferred Qualifications
  1. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Informatics, Information Technology, Digital Media, Human-Computer Interaction, Marketing Analytics, Interaction Design, User Experience, User Interface, or a related field.
  2. Experience with Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity, DubBot, or similar analytics and website quality tools.
  3. Experience conducting website QA or UX reviews using established standards or checklists.
  4. Knowledge of SEO practices, including metadata, content structure, internal linking, and indexing.
  5. Experience with GEO/AIO concepts and structured content, including schema.org and JSON-LD.
  6. Experience with a CMS, preferably Drupal, and basic HTML/CSS.
  7. Experience with accessibility testing tools and document accessibility.
  8. Knowledge of UX research methods and analytics-based experimentation.
  9. Experience supporting higher education websites or collaborating with marketing/communications teams.
Additional Candidate Instructions
  • Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications
  • Resume
  • List of three (3) professional references
Contact Information to Applicants

Johnathan Grant
Johnathan.Grant@ku.edu

Advertised Salary Range

$61,700 - $68,000

Anticipated Start Date

Sunday November 8, 2026

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