Senior User Experience Architect- Voted One of the Best Companies to Work for in Country!

Work for a technically advanced company who has consistently been voted one of the best and brightest companies to work for in the country!  Stable work environment and company, great growth opportunity, team oriented, exceptional benefits, great opportunity!  Easily accessable location, just off the Kennedy near Rosemont!  Two positions, one direct hire the other contract for hire!!!!! Senior User Experience Architect / Interaction Designer
Responsible for working with internal and external clients to develop meaningful interactive experiences. This role requires strategic thinking and acute communication with all members of the project team. Experience with activities and deliverables associated with user centered design, software development lifecycle, and functional requirements gathering. Senior Architect/Designers conduct user, stakeholder and competitive research to drive personas and scenarios that will result in concepts, interactive models, prototypes and functional specifications. Plan, coordinate and conduct user research, contextual and ethnographic studies, participatory design and usability testing
Conceptualize and design user interfaces and information architecture using participatory design
Produce personas, scenarios, process flows, annotated wireframes, design prototypes, and functional design specifications for complex and/or transactional web applications and portals
Effectively aggregate and communicate research findings, conceptual ideas, detailed design, and design rationale both verbally and visually
Shepherd the design process, drive decisions, track issues, and assist in estimating resource needs and schedules
Conduct usability testing and incorporate recommendations into the design
Work closely with stakeholders, agencies, development teams, QC and implementation
Participate as a contributor to an interdisciplinary team that includes other user experience designers, project managers, business strategists, agencies, consultants and technical leadership
Creating functional requirements and low to high fidelity prototypes within a rapid development cycle Required : Excellent communication and organizational skills - must be able to function as a thought leader as well as an individual contributor
Required Experience
8-10 years of design experience, with at least 6 years of user interface design experience
Proficiency with software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Visio, InDesign, and Dreamweaver (Prototyping tools such as I-Rise, a plus)
Strong knowledge of user interface design processes and methodology, particularly as applied to web-based applications
Knowledge of capabilities and limitations of web technologies such as CMS, HTML, JavaScript, Flash and CSS
Experience working in an Information Technology department - ranging from specific application functionalities to managing the entire lifecycle