Senior Designer

Ad Hoc LLC; Silver Spring (MD); Remote; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Flexible PTO

401K with employer match

Paid parental leave

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Ad Hoc LLC is seeking a Senior Designer for a remote role focusing on information architecture, user research, and product design for a large content-rich portal. You will work with government stakeholders and cross-functional teams to shape long-term user experiences while delivering accessible, scalable solutions.

The role emphasizes collaboration, mentorship, and contribution to design systems, with a pathway to influence federal digital services and improve veteran-focused outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 7+ years of relevant professional experience
• Experience conducting and applying user research within digital products or services
• Experience planning, conducting, and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative research
• 2+ years focused on information architecture or equivalent responsibilities with a portfolio
• Experience designing for large, complex, or content-rich portals
• Experience working within an established design system
• Strong ability to translate research findings into actionable recommendations
• Experience presenting work to senior stakeholders and mentoring teammates
• Proficiency with modern design tools and collaboration platforms (e.g., Figma, Miro)
• Understanding of accessible and inclusive design practices
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the portal's information architecture, including navigation, site maps, page hierarchy, labeling, taxonomy, and user flows
• Lead information architecture efforts for high-traffic pages and cross-portal initiatives
• Partner with external teams to align IA with enterprise standards
• Plan and conduct user research to inform IA and design decisions
• Synthesize data into clear findings and actionable recommendations
• Create and maintain IA deliverables: site maps, user flows, wireframes, prototypes
• Translate complex needs into intuitive experiences
• Present research findings and recommendations to government stakeholders
• Incorporate accessibility (Section 508, WCAG) into IA and design decisions
• Contribute to the design system from concept to higher-fidelity prototypes
• Build strong relationships across design, product, engineering, and stakeholders
• Navigate ambiguity and evolving requirements while delivering value
• Identify risks and communicate mitigations
• Coach and mentor team members
• Support hiring by reviewing exercises and participating in interviews

Skills

Information architecture

User research

Mentoring

Public Trust clearance

Accessibility

Design systems

Figma

Miro

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Figma

Miro

Job description

Senior Designer

This is a remote position.
JOB ID #978

Ad Hoc is a technology company that empowers organizations to deliver scalable, impactful digital services. Using modern, agile methods, our team creates products that meet people\'s needs and transform their experience of government.

Work on things that matter

Our collaborations have shaped some of the defining moments in public-sector service delivery. We\'ve helped build products that connect Veterans to tailored services, help millions access affordable health care, and support important programs like Head Start. As we work with agencies to deliver critical services, we\'re also changing how the government approaches technology.

Built for a remote life

Our culture, communications, and tools are built for remote work, enabling us to bring together top talent nationwide. At Ad Hoc, remote life empowers our teams to design work environments that fit their lives and that foster flexibility and collaboration to achieve positive outcomes for our customers.

Committed to high expectations and a welcoming culture

Ad Hoc values acceptance, accountability, and humility. We aren\'t heroes. We learn from our mistakes and improve the process for the next time. We build small, inclusive teams to collaborate closely with our partners to solve the right problems and deliver software that works.

The Veterans Affairs business unit helps transform the VA into a modern digital services organization where Veteran outcomes are at the center of every effort. We partner with the VA to design and deliver seamless user experiences for Veterans, their families and caregivers, and VA employees. By applying better practices in service design, product management, and technology, we enable the VA to increase the use, quality, and reliability of services and decrease the time Veterans spend waiting for outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities

As a Senior Designer, you will be an experienced individual contributor with a strong focus on information architecture, user research, and product design. You will work with minimal oversight to help ensure the team meets scope, schedule, and delivery expectations while shaping the long-term user experience of a large, content-rich digital portal.

You may serve as the design discipline lead for key initiatives, partnering directly with government stakeholders, product teams, and external partners. You will also help strengthen the broader design practice through mentorship, collaboration, and actionable feedback.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Own and evolve the portal's information architecture, including navigation, site maps, page hierarchy, labeling, taxonomy, and user flows
• Lead information architecture efforts for high-traffic pages, features, and cross-portal initiatives, evaluating how changes may affect the broader user experience
• Partner with external teams to ensure the portal's information architecture aligns with enterprise standards and related digital experiences
• Plan and conduct user research to inform information architecture and design decisions, including usability testing, tree testing, card sorting, and generative research when appropriate
• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data, including user research, analytics, feedback surveys, and other inputs, into clear findings and actionable recommendations
• Create and maintain information architecture and design deliverables, including site maps, user flows, wireframes, concepts, and prototypes
• Translate complex user, content, and business needs into clear, intuitive experiences
• Present research findings, design rationale, and recommendations to government stakeholders and product teams in a clear and compelling way
• Incorporate users with disabilities into research and apply accessibility principles, including Section 508 and WCAG, throughout information architecture and design decisions
• Contribute design work within an established design system, from early concepts and low-fidelity wireframes through higher-fidelity prototypes
• Build strong working relationships across design, product, engineering, program leadership, government stakeholders, and external teams
• Navigate ambiguity, evolving requirements, and complex stakeholder environments while maintaining progress toward delivery
• Identify design, research, and delivery risks, communicate them proactively, and recommend practical mitigations
• Coach and mentor other team members through actionable feedback, knowledge sharing, and design collaboration
• Support the hiring process by reviewing candidate exercises and participating in panel interviews

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 7+ years of relevant professional experience
  • Additional relevant experience may be substituted for education
• Demonstrated experience conducting and applying user research within digital products or services
• Experience planning, conducting, and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative research
• 2+ years of experience focused on information architecture or equivalent responsibilities, with a portfolio demonstrating work such as site maps, navigation structures, user flows, taxonomy, and wireframes
• Experience designing for a large, complex, or content-rich website, application, or digital portal
• Experience working within an established design system
• Strong ability to translate research findings, analytics, user needs, and complex requirements into actionable design recommendations
• Experience presenting work to senior client or stakeholder audiences and articulating the rationale behind design decisions
• Experience mentoring or providing design guidance to other team members
• Proficiency with modern design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Miro, or similar platforms
• Understanding of accessible and inclusive design practices
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting federal government digital services or modernization programs
• Experience designing healthcare, benefits, patient-facing, or other complex service-oriented digital experiences
• Experience working with large-scale portals, content ecosystems, or complex navigation structures
• Experience with information architecture research methods and tools, including tree testing and card sorting
• Experience incorporating web analytics or other quantitative data into UX and information architecture decisions
• Familiarity with Section 508 and WCAG accessibility standards
• Experience conducting research within government review, approval, recruitment, or participant-management processes

To learn more about working at Ad Hoc, please visit: https://adhocteam.us/join

Benefits:

• Company-subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance
• Flexible PTO
• 401K with employer match
• Paid parental leave after one year of service
• Employee Assistance Program

Ad Hoc LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination.

We value the unique skills gained through military service and encourage veterans and transitioning service members to apply.

In support of various state and city equal pay transparency laws, Ad Hoc job descriptions feature the starting range we reasonably expect to pay to candidates who would join our team with little to no need for training on the responsibilities we\'ve outlined above. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide range of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and responsibility. The range of starting pay for this role is $100,000 - $140,000. Our recruiters will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements.

job reference:

https://adhoc.team/