Jobs

ABOUT KHAN ACADEMY

Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization on a mission to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. We already reach millions of students every month and are growing rapidly, and right now we’re hard at work helping learners address any unfinished learning that the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused. We also know that not all communities have been impacted equally by this pandemic, which makes our work focusing on providing equitable solutions to historically under-resourced communities even more important.

WE ARE DRIVEN BY OUR COMMUNITY

Our students, teachers, and parents come from all walks of life and so do we. We are fun, diverse, quirky people that come from a variety of backgrounds. Our team includes people from academia and from high tech companies and tiny startups. We hire great people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. Valuing diversity, equity and inclusion is necessary for us to actualize our mission and truly impact the communities we serve. We believe that the best way to provide impactful education is to create a diverse team of people from different backgrounds, races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and experiences. We’re a hardworking team that’s passionate about helping learners and teachers around the globe! We strive to be world class in investing in our people and commit to developing you as a professional.

THE ROLE

Imagine being a teacher in Sarasota, Florida, three years after the pandemic started, with a classroom full of 6th graders who haven’t had a normal year of school or learning since 2019. It’s the reality of so many educators and students who use Khan Academy – and our team is uniquely positioned to help them when they need it most.

We have no end of fascinating challenges that can only be solved with a deep empathy for our users, diligent product & UX thinking, and a strong drive to make a positive impact. Some questions we’re working on answering right now are:

• How do we empower teachers who are dealing with the impact that the pandemic had on learning?
• How do we help students with learning gaps catch up to their grade level?
• How do we center schools serving historically under-resourced communities in our product design and development?
• How do we reach more school districts so our learning experience gets used in more classrooms?
• …and more

The best part? Our work matters: catch Sal talking to CNBC about low math and reading test scores.

We’re looking for a Research Coordinator to support the UX Research team’s operations and processes. You will help manage the end-to-end research participant recruitment process for studies happening remotely or in person. You will also help us populate and maintain our research repository, so we can distribute insights effectively across the organization and empower teams to make data-informed decisions.

You’ll work most closely with our UX Researchers and meet occasionally with cross-functional product teams. The work requires an exceptional attention to detail, quick turnaround, and some strategic thinking. This position will be 40 hours per week for 9 months for $48/hr.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

• Collaborate with Districts, Marketing, and external groups to expand and maintain our participant database.
• Screen and schedule participants for user research sessions, communicate with them throughout the study.
• Assist User Experience Researchers with research plans and activities, for example creating materials for research sessions, or taking notes.
• Ensure participants are compensated for their time.
• Ensure the recruiting process is compliant by working with our Legal counsel and school district partners.
• Catalog and maintain a database of past research projects (including participants, plans, and findings) to avoid duplication of efforts.
• Help maintain and improve the DIY Research Toolkit for product teams to perform their own research / investigations.
• Become an expert with Dovetail, help maintain our research repository, and proactively find ways to make it more accessible and useful for the org.
• Collaborate with the Field Testing Coordinator and Researcher on ways to build and maintain appropriate relationships, recruiting and communication with partners and customers across different types of research plans and projects.
• Schedule, facilitate, and document UX Research team meetings.
• Other related responsibilities as needed.

WHAT YOU BRING:

• You have 4+ years of relevant experience in an operational, recruiting, or service-oriented role.
• You are passionate about user research, customer service, project management, and fostering a positive experience for our students, teachers and school leaders.
• You excel at clear written/verbal communication with a diverse group of internal stakeholders and external research participants.
• You have a strong attention to detail and are skilled at organizing information.
• You are proactive in solving problems that might come up in the logistical planning and execution of a research plan.
• You can coordinate several projects in parallel with different timelines, stakeholders, and deliverables.
• You are scrappy, have a bias toward action, and can move quickly.
• You are comfortable in ambiguous situations and dynamic environments that run similar to a startup.
• You bring a lean approach to projects and regularly ask yourself: how do we learn from how recent projects have gone and improve the next project? How can we tightly scope research plans and timelines while still providing valuable insights and recommendations?
• Bonus: you have experience working in K-12 education or in education technology.

Qualities we value in ourselves, and those who join our team:

• Introspective, mature, and emotionally intelligent.
• Invested in your own growth and the growth of our Design team.
• Proactively seek out the people/information you need to move work forward and unblock yourself.
• High comfort level working within a strong product and pedagogical vision.
• Able to balance the immediate tactical needs of helping deliver and ship features with scouting ahead for what’s next.
• Willing to roll your sleeves up and pitch in when a project goes off-script.
• Passionate about education and designing engaging learning experiences, deeply curious about how and why people learn.

MORE ABOUT US

• Sal’s TED talk from 2011
• Sal’s TED talk from 2015
• Sal's TED talk from 2023
• Our team: http://www.khanacademy.org/about/the-team

OUR COMPANY VALUES

Live & breathe learners

We deeply understand and empathize with our users. We leverage user insights, research, and experience to build content, products, services, and experiences that our users trust and love. Our success is defined by the success of our learners and educators.

Take a stand

As a company, we have conviction in our aspirational point of view of how education will evolve. The work we do is in service to moving towards that point of view. However, we also listen, learn and flex in the face of new data, and commit to evolving this point of view as the industry and our users evolve.

Embrace diverse perspectives

We are a diverse community. We seek out and embrace a diversity of voices, perspectives and life experiences leading to stronger, more inclusive teams and better outcomes. As individuals, we are committed to bringing up tough topics and leaning into different points of view with curiosity. We actively listen, learn and collaborate to gain a shared understanding. When a decision is made, we commit to moving forward as a united team.

Work responsibly and sustainably

We understand that achieving our audacious mission is a marathon, so we set realistic timelines and we focus on delivery that also links to the bigger picture. As a non-profit, we are supported by the generosity of donors as well as strategic partners, and understand our responsibility to our finite resources. We spend every dollar as though it were our own. We are responsible for the impact we have on the world and to each other. We ensure our team and company stay healthy and financially sustainable.

Bring out the joy

We are committed to making learning a joyful process. This informs what we build for our users and the culture we co-create with our teammates, partners and donors.

Cultivate learning mindset

We believe in the power of growth for learners and for ourselves. We constantly learn and teach to improve our offerings, ourselves, and our organization. We learn from our mistakes and aren’t afraid to fail. We don't let past failures or successes stop us from taking future bold action and achieving our goals.

Deliver wow

We insist on high standards and deliver delightful, effective end-to-end experiences that our users can rely on. We choose to focus on fewer things — each of which aligns to our ambitious vision — so we can deliver high-quality experiences that accelerate positive measurable learning with our strategic partners.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or Veteran status. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we encourage candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply.