The UI/UX Specialist is responsible for shaping, designing, and continuously improving user experiences across KAUST’s IT services and touch points. The role ensures that all interfaces and journeys adopt industry-leading user-centric design principles, accessibility standards, and align with the IT Department’s UI/UX framework. A key responsibility of this role is to establish, document, and communicate clear UI/UX processes and standards to stakeholders, ensuring consistent adoption across teams and projects.

The specialist partners with service owners and user engagement specialists to conduct user research, develop prototypes, perform usability testing, and provide design governance. Through this work, the UI/UX Specialist enables the delivery of intuitive, efficient, and accessible digital experiences that support KAUST’s goals of operational excellence, technology enablement, and customer satisfaction.

Responsibilities:

• Work with team members to define and maintain UI/UX principles, guidelines, and best practices for IT services.
• Review interfaces and service designs for alignment with established UX guidelines and provide feedback for improvement.
• Define and maintain UI/UX principles, guidelines, and best practices for IT services.
• Conduct user research (interviews, surveys, observations) to identify needs and pain points.
• Translate research insights into personas, journey maps, task flows, and actionable recommendations.
• Design intuitive, accessible interfaces, wireframes, prototypes, and interaction flows.
• Conduct usability testing and validate solutions through iterative feedback cycles.
• Collaborate with IT service owners, developers, and business analysts to ensure user-centered design.
• Ensure all designs comply with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG 2.2), branding guidelines, and design systems.
• Provide feedback on interfaces, service designs, and design assets to maintain quality and consistency.
• Advocate for users, ensuring inclusivity, fairness, and accessibility in all design decisions.
• Facilitate workshops, co-design sessions, and collaborative design discussions with stakeholders.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in HCI, Information Systems, Graphic Design, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in UI/UX design, user research, or usability evaluation.
• Strong knowledge of human-centered design principles, usability heuristics, and accessibility standards.
• Proficiency with modern design/prototyping tools such as Figma, Adobe XD, or equivalent.
• Solid understanding of responsive design, interaction design, design systems, and user research methods.
• Demonstrated experience leading end-to-end UX activities in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Attention to detail with a focus on producing high-quality, consistent, and accessible designs.
• Preferred: Experience in higher education or IT service environments, contributing to design systems or institutional branding.
• Preferred Certifications: NN/g UX Certification, IDEO U Design Thinking, CUA, CXA, or similar credentials.