Cengage Learning

Principal UX Designer

Cengage Learning$101K — $132K *
Consumer Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of experience in UX, Web Strategy, and product design with a focus on UX, UI, and research.
  • Proven track record of driving transformative changes in web or platform experiences.
  • Ability to influence and shape marketing, product, engineering, and business strategies through design leadership.
  • Strong portfolio showcasing end-to-end web design work and its measurable business impact.
  • Proficient in using data analytics and user research to make informed design decisions.
  • Excellent communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional team influence.
  • Experience in front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and collaborating with engineering teams.
  • Familiarity with innovative design tools and AI workflows for enhancing design efficiency.

Responsibilities

  • Define and drive web experience strategy across product areas, influencing high-impact decisions.
  • Translate complex business and user requirements into scalable, user-friendly experiences.
  • Utilize data, research, and experimentation to iteratively improve user experiences.
  • Leverage modern tools, including AI, to innovate and streamline design processes.
  • Lead end-to-end design efforts, ensuring quality and cohesive user experiences.
  • Balance strategic oversight with hands-on design contributions across projects.
  • Effectively communicate design rationale to influence partners and leadership.

Benefits

  • Participation in the company's discretionary incentive bonus program.
  • Access to a comprehensive Total Rewards package designed to support employee well-being.
Full Job Description
Position Summary

Cengage is seeking a Principal UX Designer to shape and elevate our web and digital experience through strong product thinking, design craft, and a focus on systems thinking and future-oriented experiences.

In this role, you will define Web experience and strategy across complex systems, bringing clarity to ambiguity and translating business and product needs into intuitive, scalable solutions. You will operate across strategy and execution, helping teams move from vision to high-quality outcomes.

You will partner closely with Marketing, Product and Engineering to influence priorities, guide decisions, and ensure what we build delivers meaningful value to our users and the business.

What You'll Do
  • Define and drive Web experience strategy across key product areas, shaping direction and guiding high-impact decisions
  • Translate complex business, marketing and product requirements into clear, scalable, and forward-thinking user experiences
  • Use data, research, and experimentation to inform decisions and continuously innovate and improve experiences
  • Apply modern tools, including AI, to accelerate and reimagine how we design and build
  • Lead end-to-end design work, from discovery through delivery, ensuring quality and cohesion across the experience
  • Operate at both strategic and executional levels, contributing hands-on design while guiding broader direction
  • Influence cross-functional partners and leadership through clear communication, strong rationale, and thoughtful tradeoffs
  • Experience building and scaling experimentation programs, including hypothesis development, success metrics definition, and A/B or multivariate testing frameworks


What You Bring
  • 8+ years of experience in UX, Web Strategy, web and product design with deep expertise across UX, UI, and research
  • Consistent track record of driving ground-breaking change in web or platform experiences
  • Strong ability to influence cross-functional partners and shape marketing, product, engineering, and business roadmaps through design leadership
  • Strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end web design work and measurable business impact
  • Proficiency in demonstrating data, analytics, and user research to inform decisions and optimize outcomes
  • Excellent communication and collaborator management skills, capable of influencing cross-functional teams
  • Experience with front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and strong collaboration with engineering teams
  • Experience using innovative tools and workflows, including AI, to design, prototype, and build more efficiently


Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

In this position, you will be eligible to participate in the company's discretionary incentive bonus program. This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.

15% Annual: Individual Target

$101,900.00 - $132,450.00 USD

About Cengage Learning

Cengage is an American educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education, K-12, professional, and library markets. It operates in more than 20 countries around the world. The company provides print and digital textbooks, instructor supplements, online reference databases, distance learning courses, test preparation materials, corporate training courses, career assessment tools, and other educational materials. Cengage was founded in 2007 as a merger between Thomson Learning and Gale. In 2018, the company filed for bankruptcy and emerged with a new ownership structure. Cengage has approximately 5,000 employees and generates over $1.5 billion in annual revenue.
Learn more about Cengage Learning
Size
5,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1994

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