User Experience Specialist

The University of Kansas; Lawrence (KS); On-site; USD 62,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation

Sick leave

Holidays

Retirement program

Insurance (medical & dental)

Educational opportunities

State discounts

Job summary

The University of Kansas is seeking a User Experience Specialist to advance KU’s digital ecosystem through UX QA, accessibility, analytics, and information architecture. You will collaborate with UX designers, developers, content teams, marketing, and campus partners to improve accessibility, usability, organization, and consistency across KU websites and applications.

Responsibilities include prelaunch reviews, analytics-driven optimization, and usability consultation, with additional duties as

Qualifications

Responsibilities

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!
KU does not provide H-1B sponsorship for this position.
Job Description
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.

10% - Other Duties as Assigned
Required Qualifications

• 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.
• At least one year of experience applying website accessibility concepts or standards, such as WCAG as shown in application materials.
• At least six months of professional experience performing UX/UI-related tasks as shown in application materials.
• Experience communicating technical findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences, demonstrated through application materials or a writing sample.

Preferred Qualifications

• 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.
• Experience with Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity, DubBot, or similar analytics and website quality tools.
• Experience conducting website QA or UX reviews using established standards or checklists.
• Knowledge of SEO practices, including metadata, content structure, internal linking, and indexing.
• Experience with GEO/AIO concepts and structured content, including schema.org and JSON-LD.
• Experience with a CMS, preferably Drupal, and basic HTML/CSS.
• Experience with accessibility testing tools and document accessibility.
• Knowledge of UX research methods and analytics-based experimentation.
• Experience supporting higher education websites or collaborating with marketing/communications teams.

Additional Candidate Instructions
In addition to the online application, the following documents are required to be considered for this position:

• Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications
• Resume
• List of three (3) professional references

Application review begins Friday, October 30th. For consideration, please apply no later than Thursday, October 29th.
Contact Information to Applicants
Johnathan Grant
[e-mail]
Advertised Salary Range
$61,700 - $68,000
Application Review Begins
Friday October 30, 2026
Anticipated Start Date
Sunday November 8, 2026