Manager, UX & Digital Optimization

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Management_Executive 609

Pay Range: $113,200.00 - $203,800.00

Job Description

The Manager of UX & Digital Optimization leads strategy and execution across key digital experience initiatives within marketing, including personalization, conversion rate optimization (CRO), audience segmentation, digital asset management, and user experience design. This role ensures alignment across departments, champions a data-driven testing culture, and drives adoption of tools and practices that enhance the prospective student journey.

This role collaborates with Analytics, Research, Ed Tech, Media, and Website Operations teams to ensure user experiences are guided by insights, measurable, and optimized for engagement and performance.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Team Leadership & Management
  • Directly manage team members responsible for website personalization, CRO, segmentation audiences, digital asset management, and UX/UI design.
  • Provide mentorship, prioritization, and strategic guidance to ensure alignment with departmental and organizational goals.
• Personalization & Optimization Strategy
  • Define and advance the personalization strategy, ensuring alignment throughout marketing.
  • Champion a culture of testing and experimentation, promoting data-driven decision-making to optimize website and marketing performance.
• Segmentation & Audience Management
  • Oversee development and use of segmented audiences, ensuring accurate capture of attributes and effective audience definition within the Customer Data Platform (CDP).
  • Collaborate with cross-functional partners to leverage audience insights for personalization and campaign targeting.
• Digital Asset Management (DAM)
  • Support the expansion and adoption of the digital asset management system and dynamic templates, ensuring efficient organization, governance, and utilization of digital assets across the university.
• UX & Design Strategy
  • Lead strategy, prioritization, and execution of UX and design initiatives for marketing digital properties.
  • Partner with research and analytics to ensure user-centered, accessible, and data-informed designs.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner with analytics to ensure accurate tracking of key performance metrics that measure the performance of personalization, CRO, and audience engagement.
  • Partner with research teams to integrate user insights into design and personalization strategies.
  • Collaborate with Website Operations to support maintenance, optimization, and overall site health.
  • Develop and maintain user journey maps to inform strategic planning and decision-making.
  • Work with Ed Tech and Enrollment Operations on critical initiatives that impact Marketing KPIs.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Proven leadership abilities in managing multi-disciplinary teams in digital marketing, UX, or related fields.
• Strong expertise in personalization strategy, A/B testing/CRO, audience segmentation, and digital asset management.
• Deep understanding of user-centered design principles and digital experience best practices.
• Strong collaboration skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally with analytics, research, Ed Tech, and operations teams.
• Proficiency in leveraging customer data platforms (CDPs), analytics tools, and testing platforms to drive decisions.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to advocate for the user while aligning with business goals.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to translate user insights and business objectives into actionable plans.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and deliver results across multiple simultaneous, often unrelated, initiatives

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Understanding of platforms critical web platforms (Content Management Systems, Forms, A/B Testing Solutions, Databases, Analytics, etc.)
• 5 years of experience in web operations, user-centered design, or data analysis
• Experience leading teams or mentoring. May be substituted for experience leading cross-functional or cross-departmental large projects.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree
• Experience with AEM, Adobe Analytics, VWO, Figma, Tealium, and Canto is plus
• Experience using AI or LLMs is a plus

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.