JOB: Information Architect - Chicago - Sears - Full-time

This full-time position is with Sears Holdings Online Business Unit
User Experience Group. Please submit your application at
http://www.searsholdings.com/careers/
and use the requisition ID: 64061BR to locate this position.

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Job Title: Information Architect

Business: Sears Holdings Management Corporation

Location: Hoffman Estates and Downtown Chicago

Job Description:

Sears Holdings is seeking an experienced Information Architect to
join our User Experience Team. The ideal candidate should be able to
creatively envision, evaluate, and design successful user
experiences. You will work with a team of 3-5 information architects
that take on new design initiatives and platform enhancements across
sears.com, kmart.com and the associated portfolio of brand
properties. You will be responsible for conducting and analyzing
research, gathering business requirements, identifying technology
constraints in order to synthesize intelligent and successful design
solutions. As an integral part of the User Experience team you will
collaborate closely with visual designers, front-end developers, and
business stakeholders on concept generation through final
implementation. This will include collaborating on new design
concepts, working on win/win solutions with primary stakeholders,
consulting with stakeholders on design enhancements, and working on
small/mid-size maintenance projects.

Your responsibilities will include making informed recommendations on
design strategies, leveraging best practices, accurately estimating
and tracking your time across multiple simultaneous projects, as well
as working with the UX staff to develop and document methodologies,
standards and best practices for the group. Currently, we are
interested in candidates with 3+ years of demonstrable experience and
who have had a background involving large scale web initiatives. The
ideal candidate will have exceptional analytical skills, be well
versed in user-centered design practices, and can turn business and
user requirements into elegant user interfaces and compelling
interactive experiences.

All candidates under consideration must be able to present a
comprehensive portfolio.

Education/Skills/Experience Requirements Responsibilities:

• Generate and maintain detailed design specifications
• Develop new and effective design solutions on time and in scope
• Collaborate with stakeholders to deliver on new business
initiatives and platform enhancements
• Adhere to established methodologies, standards and best practices
for the group
• Document content structure, page templates, and interfaces
• Generate and maintain site maps, process flows and interaction
models
• Create detailed page-level wireframes and functional
specifications
• Track and analyze customer site behavior/feedback
• Requirements gathering, documenting and tracking
• Concept generation and modeling
• Low-fidelity and hi-fidelity prototyping techniques
• User research, competitive research, and usability testing
• Project planning and tracking

Core Competencies:
• Deep understanding of user-centered design, usability, information
design, interaction design, and goal-oriented design
• Experience and familiarity in the capabilities of HTML, DHTML, CSS,
Flash and AJAX-based applications.
• Excellent communication skills – in person, written and
presentation.
• Ability to prioritize and track multiple tasks across multiple
projects, under tight deadlines.
• Willingness to switch gears quickly and be flexible to work on
concurrent projects.
• Ability to create clean, precise and detailed IA documentations.
• Proficiency in industry standard UI software such as Visio,
OmniGraffle, Illustrator, Photoshop, PowerPoint and Acrobat.

Desired Qualifications:
• 3+ years experience working as an information architect,
interaction designer, or user experience designer.
• 1+ years experience in retail merchandising/marketing, advertising,
product development, e-commerce or related field.
• 1+ years experience with usability testing including preparation,
execution and analysis.
• Familiarity with current user experience and usability research,
theories, best practices and methodologies.
• Degree in a related field, such as information design,
human-computer interaction, library science, cognitive science,
graphic design, or industrial design a plus.
• Experience with Localization Issues and Web Accessibility Standards
a plus.
• Agency/Design Firm experience a big plus.
• A portfolio of your best recent work will be reviewed.

Scope of Management Influence & Control:
No associates report directly to this position

Requisition ID: 64061BR

Preferred Minimum Education:
Bachelors Level Degree

Years Experience: 2 - 5 Years Experience

Travel Requirements: None