Principal Information Architecture Strategist

About the team

The Zillow Experience Design (ZxD) team is a fast-paced, collaborative, and driven design team. We’re a tight-knit, fun-loving, and upbeat group. Meet us and learn more (https://www.zillow.com/careers/design/)!

- We are a multidisciplinary team. Our roles include product design, content design, experience research, design systems, design strategy & service design, and design operations
- We build useful, usable, and innovative experiences for Zillow customers. These experiences live across web, mobile, and internal software platforms.
- Our team cares deeply about solving problems for real people – customers, co-workers, & everyone else. We seek to make everything a little better than we found it.

About the role

As a Principal Information Architecture (IA) Strategist, you’re responsible for discovery, definition, and development of enterprise ontologies in support of Zillow’s Customer Data Strategy, Corporate Strategy and Customer Experience Vision. The Principal IA Strategist will be responsible for working collaboratively across Zillow lines of business and functions to develop domain ontologies in support of enterprise initiatives. The Principal IA Strategist should be capable of standing up and supporting an emerging and evolving IA program at Zillow, and will act as the lead for the program alongside more tactical IA team members. You’ll do this by clearly communicating a vision for IA, advocating for the value of using semantic technology and knowledge organization concepts. In addition, you’ll lead enterprise-wide object mapping as well as identification of OOUX enablement plans for specific lines of business. As a design leader, you develop positive relationships, provide mentorship to other designers, and work with others to elevate experience design quality. Our mission is to make Zillow the most-loved place to discover, buy, sell, or rent a home.

Responsibilities

• Develop and communicate a 6-12 month vision to senior stakeholders and partner teams of a “north star IA” to inform long-term planning, including accurate details and transparency on risks and impediments. Proactively build relationships with those outside of your immediate team resulting in horizontal influence.

• Design enterprise-wide information architecture and integration strategies across multiple platforms, technologies and/or software systems. Articulate the information architecture that will go to the Zillow end user. 

• Define clear and actionable problem statements to help teams deliver results while displaying a comprehensive understanding of ontologies and OOUX

• Define and enable the near-term IA roadmap to deliver on business outcomes, quickly identifying points of leverage in complex problems or systems, and utilizing data effectively to define success metrics and measurable outcomes

• Utilize balanced judgment in decisions about risks of both actions taken and not taken while innovating on ways to iterate faster in a well-managed way for immediate teams you’re working with

• Understand and leverage end-state architecture vision in partnership with Engineering, Data Science, Product, and Design teams to support the development and integration of semantics in Zillow products and services, driving comprehensive design decisions 

• Collaborate with partner teams to articulate use cases, objectives, and architectural designs that support business goals

• Deliver value by creating reusable, extensible and resilient capabilities 

• Contribute to team culture and recruiting by mentoring and developing junior IA associates 

• Communicate and advocate the value of Zillow’s efforts in ontologies, semantics, OOUX, and standardization across the business

• Maintain awareness of competitor and industry developments related to ontology use, knowledge organization, and OOUX

• Develop standards, guidelines, and direction for ontology, semantics, and data standardization in general at Zillow Group.

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

In California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $167,900.00 - $268,100.00 Annually. This base pay range is specific to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC and may not be applicable to other locations.

In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location.

Who you are

• 8+ years as a design strategist, information architect, design lead, or similar role

• Strong communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills

• Possess strong problem-solving skills for helping users navigate complex products

• Can clearly communicate about sitemaps and design choices with other team members, including UX, UI, and service designers

• Able to communicate effectively with senior leadership across multiple disciplines to align on a longer-term IA strategy that’s good for both the customer and business

• Clearly communicate IA conceptual models (and the significance of them) to product and design partners

• Able to communicate and advocate the value of using industry standards, applications, and open source data sets for IA

• Able to analyze and implement knowledge organization & platform strategies using tools capable of semantic enrichment

• Can articulate a point of view for how IA can enable more responsible AI in the future for organizations

Get to know us

Zillow is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.

As the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates help movers find and win their home through digital solutions, first class partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences. Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help make it easier to move. The work we do helps people get home and no matter what job you're in, you will play a critical role in making home a reality for more and more people.

Our efforts to streamline the real estate transaction are supported by a deep-rooted culture of innovation, our passion to redefine the employee experience, a fundamental commitment to Equity and Belonging, and world-class benefits. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverages as well as parental leave, family benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. We’re also setting the standard for work experiences of the future, where our employees are supported in doing their best work and living a flexible, well-balanced life. But don’t just take our word for it. Read recent reviews on Glassdoor and recent recognition from multiple organizations, including: the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equity Index, and TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Applicants who receive job offers from Zillow Group will be asked to sign a Proprietary Rights Agreement which includes confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, customer and employee non-solicitation, and non-competition provisions. If you are contacted for a role at Zillow Group and wish to review a copy of the Proprietary Rights Agreement prior to receiving an offer, you may request a copy from your Recruiter.

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