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User Interface/Information Architect Designer

CA - Irvine

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Opportunity Snapshot

There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come! While user behaviors, knowledge and expectations have evolved over the last decade, most sites in the auto category have not kept pace. . .

Enter Autobytel! We turned the car-buying process on its ear when we invented the "automotive Internet" in 1995 and we've now ushered in the second phase of automobile search with MyRide.com, our next generation automotive vertical search site. MyRide.com integrates focused content and search results that cover the entire spectrum of automotive experience -- from purchase to ownership, enhancement and enthusiast behaviors. We have big plans in store for this product and have already implemented a number of state-of-the-art technologies -- including Vignette and Chuckwalla. And we're now seeking a forward-thinking UI designer who keeps a "pulse" on the hottest UI trends and can help us capitalize on those trends to help make a good thing even better. . . this is where you come in.

As User Interface/Information Architect Designer, you'll leverage your information architecture background and eye for user-centered design to develop web pages that strategically deliver rich relevant information in an engaging, easy-to-use interface that creates a compelling user experience. We're transitioning to Movable Type technology, and to be a good fit for this position you'll bring a working knowledge of Web 2.0, particularly with hands-on experience in Movable Type, along with a solid understanding of marketing and usability as you infuse fresh energy and ideas into our web operations. What's not working? What would work better instead? These are just a few questions you'll research to ensure our site consistently reflects best practices in strategic thinking and functionality.

What's in It for You

In addition to working for a company ranked by OC Metro magazine as "one of the four great places in Orange County to spend a third of your life", you'll also enjoy a variety of other rewards including:

Influence & impact -- as we mold this flagship product that will ultimately determine the fate of the company, all eyes will be on our UI team to drive the evolution of the user experience.
Driver's seat on the cutting edge -- if UI is your passion, this is the perfect role to feed your passion and stay on the cutting-edge as we're pushing the limits of our systems and garnering a fair amount of industry attention as a result. You will constantly be exploring new technologies, and we'll encourage you to be creative and take calculated risks to see just how far we can go.
Career development -- as you help us grow and develop next generation UI products, you'll be ideally positioned to evolve along multiple career paths in our dynamic organization.
Autonomy -- with plenty of support close at hand, we'll encourage you to think creatively and take ownership of your objectives.
The "best of both worlds" -- while Autobytel offers the stability and resources of an established and successful company, we also enjoy the entrepreneurial energy of a startup like environment as we constantly look to improve our company and maintain our leading edge.
Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary, MBO-based bonus potential, and stock options, we offer a comprehensive benefits package.

What Else You'll Bring to the Table

Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education & experience.
At least 5-6 years of related UI background, including working knowledge in:
- Moveable Type
- Standard Base Development (as set by Firefox's platform)
- Yahoo YUI Grids, CSS and Javascript Libraries
- DOM scripting, including DHTML, Ajax, PHP and JavaScript frameworks
- XML/XSL or a content management system with template scripting capabilities, such as Vignette
- Cross-browser, cross-platform development practices
- Accessibility guidelines that conform to WCAG 10 and WC3
- Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash
- Software design principles, OO concepts, and/or PHP or Java programming
Strong technical acuity, analytical planning, and project development background; experience in reviewing code, delivering constructive criticism, and recommending changes and/or fixes.
Innovative problem-solving skills, with the ability to focus on customers and adjust products that do not meet the needs of the marketplace.
Strong multi-tasking capabilities with the ability to work well under pressure in a fast-paced environment

More About Your Role

Reporting to the Director of User Experience, you will join the Web Operations team at our Irvine office. This is an individual contributor role, but you will provide guidance to two Graphic Designers. You'll primarily be responsible for the user aspects of all electronic media, including website, email programs, navigation flow, site usability/graphics and graphical interface and content of MyRide.com and have limited exposure to our co-branded sites.

As you can imagine, this is a "hit the ground running" position and your initial challenges revolve around scaling the learning curve with respect to our technologies in an evolving environment. You'll be working on as many as 5-10 new projects every two weeks and will be comfortable "wearing many hats" and prioritizing and reprioritizing at a moment's notice. You'll initially focus on the following projects as you come on board:

Leverage your understanding of FAST to enhance our search product.
Play an active role in the transition to Movable Type.
Develop a social networking infrastructure with multiple consumer touch points.

Specifically, your responsibilities are to:

Provide guidance to designers and develop the user experience through strong visual design & user centered design practices.
Build HTML web pages and set up templates using Moveable Type to enhance company websites and the overall user experience
Develop storyboards, wire-frames & design specifications.
Work on design standards & style guides & ensure design consistency throughout the product.
Analyze consumer feedback and make recommendations to optimize performance of the website and email programs.
Create html prototypes for user testing.
Collaborate with various marketing department business owners--including but not limited to working with the SEO Manager, Director of User Experience, designers, product managers, and content personnel--to ensure that the company websites are continually evolving to enhance the overall user experience.
Conduct quality assurance on all front end coding prior to such coding in IE 6, IE7, Firefox and Safari on PCs and Macs.
Keep up on new web technology to enhance the overall user experience through such technology.

Keys to Success

We operate in a dynamic technical environment where new technologies are launching all the time. To excel in this environment, you will be passionate about creating a compelling user experience and not only have the vision to develop creative product interface designs that can "speak" to savvy automotive consumers, but also follow through on the execution. You will be able to bring and inspire new ideas for improvements, challenge the status quo, and motivate diverse stakeholders to embrace these initiatives and achieve UI excellence. Other facets of success are to:

Focus as much on building and managing partnering relationships as on achieving goals; you'll interface with cross-functional groups ranging from engineering and product development to marketing and synthesize varied inputs into cohesive UI recommendations that meet and exceed user requirements.
Demonstrate a strong degree of self-motivation, bringing fresh enthusiasm and creativity to each new design project.
Bring a high level of professionalism, including being open to the opinions of multiple stakeholders and staying flexible as business needs change.
Adopt a proactive approach to learning new technologies and keeping your design skills sharp.
Achieve your goals autonomously, while keeping your supervisor in the loop.

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity, and you meet the required qualifications, we look forward to hearing from you.

Who We Are

Every day consumers choose websites owned and operated by Autobytel -- Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, CarSmart.com, Car.com, AutoSite.com, Autoahorros.com, and CarTV.com -- to facilitate their car-shopping decisions. Autobytel's ability to attract millions of highly qualified, in-market car buyers and connect them with retailers has made it a leader in facilitating the entire customer car-buying lifecycle.

MyRide.com, the flagship site of Autobytel Inc., offers automotive consumers one destination for all their needs from information on buying and owning a car to community and enthusiasm. Consumers can access information on new and used cars for sale, as well as local auto dealers, expert auto reviews, full-screen car photos, and car videos. They can compare car prices, research used car values, shop for car parts and accessories and find local repair and service shops--all in one location. Car enthusiasts and consumers can express their love of cars at the MyRide.com automotive community by posting and sharing car photos, car videos, podcasts and blogs.