Design Lead, Data.CMS.gov – Remote

Bixal; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flex hours

401K matching

Parental Leave

Medical/dental/vision benefits

Flexible Spending Account

Disability & Life Insurance

Commuter benefits

PTO

11 Paid holidays

Job summary

Bixal is seeking a Design Lead to serve as the primary UX research and design authority on the CMS Data.CMS.gov program. You will lead human-centered design across the full lifecycle, overseeing research, interaction and visual design, and design system governance for audiences from first-time users to policy analysts.

A portfolio of relevant design work is required. You will present design vision to CMS stakeholders and participate in proposal presentations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HCD or related field.
• At least 5 years of HCD and user research for public-facing data websites.
• Experience leading design on a public-facing federal government digital platform with a portfolio.
• Experience leading and synthesizing user research using qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Expertise in Figma for interaction design, prototyping, design system management, and design-to-development collaboration.
• Strong knowledge of Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
• Experience designing for audiences with varying levels of technical expertise.
• Proven ability to design and improve content management interfaces and backend editorial workflows.
• Experience participating in Agile delivery, including sprint ceremonies and PI planning.
• Experience with cross-functional teams including engineers, product managers, content strategists, and government product owners.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to present design rationale to varied audiences.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead all human-centered design activities across the data.CMS.gov program.
• Plan and facilitate user research activities (interviews, usability tests, surveys) per Program Increment.
• Coordinate with CMS on PRA clearance timelines for research.
• Translate research into personas, journey maps, user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs.
• Own and evolve the data.CMS.gov design system with reusable components and accessibility compliance.
• Lead visual QA to maintain design-to-development parity and WCAG 2.1 AA conformance.
• Collaborate with engineering to translate Figma designs into implementation; participate in reviews.
• Develop and present design rationale and research findings to CMS stakeholders.
• Support content strategy and information architecture decisions.
• Other relevant duties as assigned and trained.

Skills

Human-centered design

User research

Communication

Stakeholder presentations

Agile delivery

Education

Bachelor's degree in HCD or related field

Tools

Figma

Job description

Bixal is seeking a Design Lead to serve as the primary UX research and design authority on the CMS Data.CMS.gov program. You will lead human-centered design across the full lifecycle, overseeing research, interaction and visual design, and design system governance for audiences from first-time users to policy analysts.

A portfolio of relevant design work is required. You will present design vision to CMS stakeholders and participate in proposal presentations.