Remote Design Lead — Data Platform UX & Research

Bixal; Fair Oaks (VA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Bixal, a Fairfax, VA-based consultancy, seeks a Design Lead to own UX research, interaction and visual design for the CMS data.CMS.gov platform. You will guide the full design lifecycle for a public data service used by 100M+ Americans, ensuring accessibility and a scalable design system.

You will translate research into actionable artifacts, collaborate with CMS stakeholders and engineering, and present design rationale during proposals and program reviews.

Qualifications

• Portfolio of relevant design work is required.
• Experience with data.CMS.gov or CMS open data platforms is a plus.
• Experience with data visualization for large datasets is desirable.
• Familiarity with PRA processes for federally sponsored user research is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead all human-centered design activities across the data.CMS.gov program, grounded in evidence and testing.
• Plan and facilitate user research activities (interviews, usability tests, card sorts, surveys) with CMS coordination.
• Coordinate with CMS on PRA clearance timelines for publicly involving research participants.
• Translate research into personas, journey maps, user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity Figma designs.
• Own and evolve the data.CMS.gov design system for consistency and accessibility.
• Lead visual QA to ensure WCAG 2.1 AA conformance across public-facing flows.
• Collaborate with engineering to translate designs into implementation and participate in reviews.
• Present design rationale and findings to CMS stakeholders and leadership.
• Support content strategy and information architecture to improve data discoverability.

Skills

UX research

Design leadership

Interaction design

Visual design

Design systems governance

WCAG accessibility

Stakeholder communication

Tools

Figma

Job description

Bixal, a Fairfax, VA-based consultancy, seeks a Design Lead to own UX research, interaction and visual design for the CMS data.CMS.gov platform. You will guide the full design lifecycle for a public data service used by 100M+ Americans, ensuring accessibility and a scalable design system.

You will translate research into actionable artifacts, collaborate with CMS stakeholders and engineering, and present design rationale during proposals and program reviews.