UX/UI Designer — Pre-Trip Customer Experience

Company Introduction

WorldStrides is the global leader in educational travel and experiential learning. The company was founded in 1967 to provide middle school travel programs to Washington, D.C. and has grown to provide a wide range of programs for more than half a million students annually to over 100 countries around the world. WorldStrides offers experiential learning programs in educational travel, performing arts, language immersion, career exploration, service-learning, study abroad, and sports. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world - and themselves - in new ways.

Job Description:

Pre-trip is where families decide whether to trust us with their kids and where students decide whether they are excited or anxious about the trip ahead. It is one of the highest-leverage digital experiences in the company. We are building a focused in-house UX/UI design capability and this is a founding hire. You will build core components of the WorldStrides interactive design system: the visual language, component library, and interaction patterns to be leverage more broadly across experiences.

You will work across multiple pods in the pre-trip space, partnering closely with product managers and engineers. You will own the look, feel, and design execution of what we ship: clear flows, well-crafted screens, a consistent visual language, and prototypes that help us answer questions quickly. You will also work closely with our Voice of Customer (VoC) team, leveraging their stakeholder research, experience evaluation, and insights infrastructure to answer the “is it usable” question as it relates to UX/UI design craft.

Here is how we are building product. You don't need to lead this - you do need to thrive in it.

Discovery is the moat. AI makes generation cheap. The bottleneck is no longer "what do we build" but "are we solving the right problem." Sharp problem framing beats ten solutions chasing a fuzzy one.

Portfolios over roadmaps. We run broad, lightweight experiments in parallel and double down on what's working. We do not defend a 12-month roadmap; we defend a thesis and a learning velocity.

Prioritize attention, not resources. Human judgment on what's worth testing and what the results mean is the scarce resource. We spend it deliberately.

Generate fast, judge slow. Use AI to produce many candidate problem frames, concepts, and prototypes quickly. Apply rigorous, deliberate user validation and strategic bets before scaling.

Smaller teams, bigger ownership. Autonomous pods own full problem spaces end-to-end. PMs are accountable for outcomes, not feature counts.

Raise the quality bar. Speed-to-generate must not substitute for depth-of-value. We tighten outcome thresholds, not loosen them.

Strategic sequencing. Cheap experiments must compound into defensible architecture, not pile up as disconnected features.

Responsibilities:  

• The UX and UI interaction design for features across the pods you support - flows, screens, component patterns, interaction details, and visual polish.
• Figma work product: clean files, reusable components, sensible naming, ready handoff to engineering.
• Establishing the foundation for the WorldStrides digital interaction design system, including the component library, type scale, color system, spacing rules, and patterns for the pre-trip experience, respecting alignment with existing brand and digital marketing treatments while ensuring what you build is optimized for your use cases.
• Quick, low-fidelity prototypes when we need to test an idea, and high-fidelity screens when we are ready to build.
• Honest, transparent prioritization of your time across the pods you support - in partnership with the PMs.

What you will do

• Turn problems into screens. Take a problem statement or a rough idea from a PM and produce flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity designs that are usable, accessible, and on-brand.
• Use AI to move faster. Use AI tools to generate variations, draft copy, explore visual directions, mock imagery, and speed up the parts of the job that used to take days. You don't need to be an AI expert - you do need to be curious and willing to fold these tools into your workflow.
• Prototype to test. Build clickable Figma prototypes that PMs and researchers can put in front of users. Iterate based on what you hear back.
• Hold the visual bar. Make sure what we ship looks like one product, not five. Type, spacing, color, motion - sweat the details that make the experience feel trustworthy.
• Contribute to the system. When you build a new pattern, add it back to the library so every pod benefits. When something is missing, flag it.
• Participate in research, don't lead it. Observe user sessions run by our VoC team, absorb what surfaces, and apply it to the next design iteration. Partner with VoC to ensure the infrastructure driving digital insights meets your needs for assessing usability and translating into better design.
• Work across pods generously. You will serve multiple PMs and problem spaces. Be transparent about tradeoffs, share work-in-progress early, and treat shared time as a tool for cross-pollination rather than a source of friction.

Qualifications:

• 2-4 years designing digital products. Portfolio shows clean, on-brand UI and clear, usable flows.
• Strong visual and interaction craft. You have a point of view on type, spacing, hierarchy, and motion - and can show your work.
• Figma fluency. Components, variants, auto-layout, prototyping, and tidy handoff files.
• Comfort working from a written problem statement and a PM partner - you don't need a fully-specced ticket to start.
• Curiosity about AI tools and a willingness to use them as part of your daily workflow. Bring an example or two of how you've used them recently.
• Clear written and verbal communication. You can explain a design choice without retreating to taste.
• A collaborative posture. You share early, take feedback well, and lift the people around you.

Nice to have Qualifications:

• Experience designing for consumer or family audiences (travel, education, e-commerce, healthcare).
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and responsive design across web and mobile.
• Light front-end literacy (reading HTML/CSS, understanding component constraints) - not required.
• Experience contributing to a design system.

How we will know you are succeeding:

• The screens you ship are clean, on-brand, and usable - and engineers can build from your files without back-and-forth.
• You produce design variations quickly when a PM needs options to test.
• The design system grows because of your contributions, not in spite of them.
• Customers find the experience easy and trustworthy, not confusing.
• The PMs and engineers you partner with say working with you makes their work better

Work Perks:

• Comprehensive health benefits: medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D, accident, critical illness, disability insurance, FSA/HSA options with employer HSA contributions, and a generous 401(k) match.
• Generous paid time off including 11 paid company holidays, 25 PTO days the first year (prorated), 1 paid volunteer day, 4 mental health days, and bereavement
• Professional development support, including up to $5,250 annually for tuition reimbursement and up to $1,000 for certifications annually
• Opportunities for paid and discounted travel
• Flexible work schedule providing on-site, remote, and hybrid office opportunities
• Encouraged participation in a wide variety of Employee Resource Groups
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellness resources, including fitness centers at select locations
• Paid parental, caregiver, and disability leave
• Team Member Discount Program
• Engaging, collaborative, and fun work environment

The salary range listed for this position represents WorldStrides’ good-faith estimate of the base compensation for the role at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors such as relevant experience, skills and qualifications, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. The range does not include other forms of compensation or benefits that may be offered as part of the total rewards package.

Compensation Range

$100,000—$120,000 USD

WorldStrides, a global organization, is committed to educate and serve communities worldwide. Our commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, WorldStrides is committed to building a diverse workforce, supported by an environment that promotes inclusion and belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

WorldStrides will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1, J-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire. Select seasonal roles may consider students on J-1 or F-1 visas.