Brett Grau Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

Head of Design for series B, SaaS tech-for-good platform powering the people changing the world. In partnership with Engineering and Product Leadership, built out a long-term product roadmap, de-risking key decisions through user research and experimentation.As the founding designer played a crucial role in the 0-1 go-to-market strategy for Tax Exemption, Funder, Grantee, and Fundraising lines of businessEstablished and nurtured a high-performing design team from the ground up, achieving consistently high internal satisfaction scoresImplemented CSAT scoring for UX, services, and features through the Voice of the User initiative, leading to actionable insights based on customer sentimentLaunched Birdsong, an internal design system adopted by a greater design team. Coached design and engineering leads through to go-to-market process of design system refresh to improve accessibility and user experience while reducing engineering overhead and quality assuranceLed cross-functional design sprints and workshops to identify new product offerings and enhance internal operations and services

New York, New York

Design lead, directly involved in the end-to-end product development process, defining problem sets, validating proof of concepts, and executing development-ready assets while providing support for MVP launch, and collaborating closely with internal and partner stakeholders, product leads, and engineers throughout the process.• Acted as both individual contributor and design lead, managing and directing both internal and external designers‘ efforts, ensuring the delivery of high-quality work while following best UX practices• Facilitated design sprints, collaborating with partner stakeholders, subject matter experts, engineers and product leads to define our users and their problem space to align on solutions for their unique needs• Managed a team of 2, providing candid feedback and guidance toward their professional goals • Worked closely with leadership to develop internal toolkits, and grow the design team‘s practice

Greater New York City Area

New York City

Design lead on several product launches to expand Newsela’s enterprise offerings, solve specific teacher and student needs, and meet strategic business KPIs.• Collaborated closely with engineers, product managers, community team, and leadership to align on business goals and technology requirements • Led research efforts, conducting competitive analysis of education and consumer products on the market, interviewing current customers, and observing classrooms to help define specific pain points and product offering gaps to create end-solution recommendations • Managed junior members of the design team, providing feedback and, guidance in their individual growth

Collaborated closely with client marketing teams to create innovative design solutions for responsive websites, mobile apps, and social media campaigns

Greater New York City Area

Baltimore, Maryland Area

Assisted in creating wireframes and designs for a new learning management system.

Demarest, New Jersey

As a freelance designer for The Finer Details, I am responsible for designing graphics for apparel giveaways, such as t-shirts, hoodies, and sweat pants, for Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties.

Created a custom Wordpress theme for up and coming musician Sarah Jane Wilson. The site included music demos, photo galleries and a concert calendar for upcoming events.

Created branding and logo work for food blogger Chelsey Green, as well as a custom Wordpress theme for her blog.

Bachelor Of Fine Arts (Bfa), Interaction Design And Art, 3.86

Graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Education record

Spring semester abroad at Temple University's Tokyo Campus in Tokyo, Japan.