Join our talent network for freelance & full-time employment opportunities with our clients. Enjoy flexible work, amazing opportunities and community without the commute. Work when you want, where you want, on what you want. We put you in control on how you want to engage with us and our clients.
We know recruiters have a bad reputation. We're committed to changing this narrative. At Academy, every candidate matters to us. We ensure transparent, timely, and respectful communication with clear feedback about your candidacy at every step of the hiring process. If you have questions about your candidacy, our business model, or about the role we will be there to answer them for you.
Knowing our field inside out is not just our strength, but also our commitment. Our team consists of industry experts who not only understand the nuances of the UX field, but also speak your language. This expertise enables us to bridge the trust gap often seen in traditional recruitment processes.
We believe that career guidance should not be a privilege, but a standard. That's why we provide all our candidates with feedback at every stage of their journey. Our expert recruiters provide thoughtful feedback and constructive advice to help enhance your skills, boost your confidence, and improve your candidacy.
Traditional recruiting often hinges on a contingency model, which does not incentivize spending quality time with candidates. At Academy, we work in a different model that prioritizes the candidate experience. We invest significant time in understanding each candidate's unique skills, passions, and needs to align them with the most suitable opportunities.
Whether you're seeking freelance or full-time opportunities, we cater to your needs. Be it a fresh full-time role at a company, a chance to be part of our in-house Studio team, or a short/long-term contract assignment, we have a range of options for you.
We believe in fair pay and strive to match industry benchmarks. Contractors compensation will be negotiated based on our client's project budget and we will assist those seeking a full-time role with salary negotiations.
For contractors, partnering with us makes you a temporary (W2) employee of Academy. As an added advantage, our employees are eligible for benefits such as accrued sick leave, state unemployment (if applicable), and workers compensation.
While we strive to provide comprehensive feedback to all candidates, the depth of our feedback is tailored to the stage you reach in our application process. Here's what you can expect:
If you apply without a portfolio or with work that doesn't meet our evaluation criteria, or don't have the requisite work experience we'll direct you to relevant articles to help you improve.
For those with adequate work and experience that falls short in other areas like "i.e visual design ability, storytelling, or organization, lack of specific work experience like B2C, SaaS, 0-1" we'll provide articles along with written feedback to guide your improvement.
Candidates who meet our evaluation criteria and proceed to the interview stage will receive a combination of verbal, written, and article-based feedback for a well-rounded evaluation.
We place talent in both fulltime and freelance roles. In full-time roles, we assist you in negotiating a competitive salary that aligns with your qualifications.
For freelance roles, it's important to us that you're paid fairly, and we strive to match industry averages. We will negotiate your rate depending on what our clients project budget and the market will bear.
Working with us as a freelancer means you'll be a Temporary (W2) Employee of Academy. As a benefit to our temporary employees you will be eligible for the following: accrued sick leave, state unemployment (if applicable), and workers compensation.
Levels
Mid-level
Senior
Leadership
Executive
Roles
Motion Designer
Chief of Staff
Game Designer
AR/VR Designer
Webflow Designer
AI Prompt Engineer
We care deeply about the talent we work with and want to ensure that that each and every person will be setup to succeed with our clients. We promise to be honest, thorough and give you clear next steps or feedback on your candidacy.
We review each application, putting special emphasis on our evaluation criteria.
Successful candidates will be invited to a interview with our recruiting team and have an opportunity to share their work and experience with us.
Once approved by our recruiting team candidates will be invited to present a case study to the Academy hiring manager.
If approved for hire, candidates will be presented with opportunties that align with their passions and skillsets.
Candidates will be presented to our clients hiring manager as a candidate to be interviewed. If accepted they will go through the clients interview process.
If selected, we will onboard the candidate to Academy or help you negotiate your full-time compensation and start date with our clients HR team.
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Learn about opportunties with Academy and our clients.
Academy offers a rare blend of professional growth opportunities alongside mentorship and personalized career support. The team is incredibly knowledgeable and also takes interest in the personal and professional growth of the freelancers that they work with. In a moment of transition in my career from Innovation Strategy to UX Research, Academy helped me articulate my goals and provided me with the opportunities to see them through while working with incredible clients and designers. I would highly recommend Academy to any freelance or full-timers looking to expand their portfolio of work.
Academy presented me with great opportunities that I would not have found otherwise, with a clientele ranging from specialized design boutiques to Big Tech, and with the flexibility of working with different types of engagements for both short and long-term assignments. I cannot recommend it enough to other creatives looking to make their next big career move.
I have been fortunate enough to work with Academy for over 4 years, and through them have worked with some of the best agencies and clients in my career. Academy is able to maintain a high standard for both talent and clients and is a strong advocate for forward-thinking design and processes. As a freelancer, navigating career progression and client relationships is exceptionally difficult but Academy has always advocated for me as a designer and always puts the talent first. They also go above and beyond by providing mentorship and advice that has propelled my career forward. It is a privilege to work with Academy and look forward to continuing our relationship.
Working with Academy has been a phenomenal experience. I was able to grow a lot as a designer working on cool future-facing projects along with an exciting client. I would definitely recommend Academy to other designers looking to hone in on their craft.
The team at Academy paired me with a dream project - a project I probably would never have been matched with otherwise. Academy's infrastructure is as streamlined as a big company but as intimate as a startup. It's really nice to know that there's a team out there really putting in the work to find a great fit both for the freelance side and the client-side.
When I teamed up with Academy, I just started freelancing after burning out from my job. Two years later, I’m now working with the C suite of some of the most influential companies in the world. Academy stuck with me through the highs and the lows along my journey and provided me with opportunities that are second to none.
With Academy, I’ve experienced a proactive, transparent, and supportive agency that provides top-tier opportunities. As a freelancer, Academy played a huge role in not only providing opportunities that are rewarding and satisfying but also supporting me outside of the office. My relationship with Academy has been great, they’re a perfect agency to grow as a freelance designer. I’m looking forward to more opportunities with them and would recommend them to any designer without reservation.
No, we do not charge any fees to our talent for using our services. We are dedicated to connecting talented professionals with exciting opportunities in both freelance and full-time roles. Our business sustains itself through distinct revenue-generating strategies in different sectors.
Staffing Business - Value-Added Pricing: We facilitate mutually beneficial arrangements by negotiating fair compensation for talents while offering competitive pricing to our clients. This strategy allows us to generate revenue by making a margin on the services provided by talents, which helps us maintain and improve our services without charging any fees to the talents and providing them with amazing opportunities they may have trouble finding themselves.
Recruiting Business - Container Model: This model merges the advantages of both retainer and contingency recruitment strategies. A portion of the fee is paid upfront, with the balance payable upon successful candidate placement, which helps to reduce financial risk for our clients and ensure successful partnerships. It also allows us to spend more time and attention on each candidate to ensure their success.
Additionally, we are committed to fostering growth and development through our complimentary coaching services, a gesture of value addition to both our clients and talents, encouraging a prosperous collaborative ecosystem.
Yes, they certainly can. We uphold a policy of fairness and flexibility, which means talents affiliated with our Academy have the liberty to work with other agencies simultaneously. We are confident in the value and opportunities we provide and encourage talents to broaden their horizons and seize diverse opportunities that help them grow professionally.
Absolutely. For full-time roles, our business model drives us to help talents secure the best financial package possible. We provide guidance on salary and benefits, leveraging market trends and our industry expertise. Your success benefits us, so we're committed to ensuring you achieve the best outcome.
Yes, we remain a steadfast resource for you even after placement. Whether it's addressing questions, helping navigate complex client or team member situations, or periodic check-ins, we are always here to support and guide you throughout your professional journey.
No, over the past few years states have passed strict worker classification laws which limit companies ability to classify workers in our trade as 1099 contractors. We serve as a responsible Employer of Record for many professionals in our network. Predominantly, the talent at Academy are brought on board as W-2 employees, minimizing risks associated with worker misclassification while also offering a range of benefits such as paid sick leave, retirement plan contributions, and unemployment insurance, even for those in part-time or short-term assignments. However, we also collaborate with international contractors who may not be classified as W-2 employees and therefore do not have access to the same range of benefits. This allows us to maintain a flexible and diverse talent pool to cater to a wide variety of client needs.
Our talent pool primarily resides in the United States, complemented by a global network spanning Europe, South America, and the Middle East. We prioritize aligning talent with our clients' time zones to facilitate seamless collaboration. While we can engage with professionals in Asia or Australia, such instances are exceptional, given the significant time zone differences which could potentially lead to an impractical work schedule.
Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a defining pillar of our operations, serving as a beacon in the journey toward fostering a richly diverse talent pool. Our multifaceted approach begins with a globally diverse team of recruiters adept at bypassing biases to focus on the inherent value of each candidate, often seeing beyond polished resumes to identify untapped potential. This commitment extends to active community engagement, where we not only participate in key industry dialogues through platforms such as ADPList, Design Leadership Forum, Design Ops Assemble and more but also offer vital resources for career growth and development. Equally important is our role in shaping inclusive job listings, where we work tirelessly to ensure our partners adopt language that underscores a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion. Our sourcing strategy is expansive, giving precedence to candidates from marginalized groups and leveraging a vast international talent pool, facilitated by our remote-first approach. Furthermore, we champion the cause of pay transparency and equity, nurturing an equitable compensation structure upheld through regular audits that consider factors like ethnicity and gender. Stay tuned for further updates as we continually refine our strategies to nurture a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry.
We specialize in UX staffing & recruitment, expertly connecting mid to executive-level professionals with suitable positions in the industry. Our focus lies in placing top-notch Product Designers, UX Designers, UI Designers, UX Researchers, and Product Managers. Additionally, we facilitate roles for DesignOps, Strategists, and UX Writers. Our network also extends to skilled individuals in fields such as illustration, game design, motion graphics, Webflow design, AR/VR, interaction, and service design, making us your one-stop solution for all UX recruitment needs.
We are always up for a chat, just send us a message here and we will get back to you.