Prototyping Lead, Elections

Change.org is searching for a Product Prototyping Lead to accelerate the development of a new product focused on US elections as we venture to bring functional prototypes to real users throughout the 2025 local elections cycle. 

The successful functioning of democracy relies on informed citizens, yet many voters lack the information they need to make educated decisions in local elections, leaving them to vote uninformed or abstain from voting altogether. Over the next 6-9 months we endeavor to answer the following questions:

• How might we educate voters with a best-in-class mobile-first voting experience?
• How might we build tools for supervoters & endorsers to help inform fellow citizens?
• How might we engage candidates to interact with their potential constituents?

With a masterful understanding of, and passion for prototyping and human-centered design you will lead all aspects of user experience, validation and testing for our product concepts en route to developing a scaled product in 2026 and beyond.  Your foundations in research, design and development paired with a deep energy for the new possibilities enabled by generative AI will enable you to meet the magnitude of this challenge with the urgency and creativity it deserves. 

Key Outcomes:

• Accelerate the research, design and validation of elections products & features through rapid functional prototyping (real data, real experiences)
• Concept, design and iterate the user experience, enabling us to mature the product prior to breaking ground in code, ultimately accelerating development
• Optimize our learning across a schedule of local elections, testing riskiest assumptions, validating the product skeleton and identify the right experience(s) that will meet our users ‘where they are’
• Collaborate with product managers, designers and engineers across the organization to ensure we’re forging clear connections to the current product and leveraging assets and learnings in both direction
• Shape the make-up (and ultimately the culture) of this new team as we hire and onboard engineering and product marketing partners

The most important skills and capabilities for the role are: 

• Functional Prototyping - expertise in building functional prototypes to accelerate the time to market via rapid validation and iteration into scalable products
• UX Research and Design - skilled at synthesizing user insights, getting to the heart of customer problems and turning them practical, delightful user experiences
• Technical Skills & Tools - proficiency in tools like Figma, Framer, Maze, Webflow, technical frameworks like JavaScript, CSS, APIs and an appetite to apply the latest genAI advances into your prototyping toolkit
• Growth Mindset & High EQ - adept at empathizing and collaborating with colleagues and customers; driven by curiosity and insatiable growth mindset
• Idea to Execution - strong bias to action with an ability to take blue sky thinking and turn it  into viable products that deliver impact for customers and the business

Target experience:

• 10+ years of experience in UX design and/or product management
• 5+ years of experience in a functional prototyping or front-end engineering role
• 2+ years of experience applying genAI to customer problems & product solutions 
• Experience managing or mentoring product & UX peers with a capacity and energy to take on management as the team grows
• Bonus: experience in B2C civic tech, edtech or media & publishing

Interested? Great! Here's what you should know:

This is a full time role based in the United States. We’re currently able to hire staff based in the following US locations: AK, AZ, CA, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, IL, KS, MA, MD, MO, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI.  

Our compensation philosophy is based on pay equity. All of our salaries are determined before we launch a role – they are based on a predetermined salary scale, the level on that scale and the cost of labor for that location. The annual salary of a Prototyping Lead is $257,000 USD in San Francisco/New York, is $244,000 USD Austin, Boston, LA and Seattle and is $218,500 USD in all other US locations. 

Benefits and perks also vary based on location. 

Our evaluation process is as follows:

• Recruiter Screen
• Take Home Exercise
• Virtual Team Interviews with our GM Elections, CPO, and VP Design

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting amazing candidates like you, so please don’t hesitate to apply—we’d love to meet you. We also know it’s rare for someone to meet 100% of the qualifications. Please apply anyway!

We actively encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to apply. At Change.org, we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We invest in programs to support our diverse workforce, offer inclusive onboarding experiences and affinity groups, celebrate the heritage of our staff, provide training on working across differences, and maintain fair and transparent salary scales. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, or culture.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for candidates with disabilities. If you need assistance, or an accommodation, please let your recruiter know once you are contacted about a role.

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