Senior Human-Centered Design Lead for Federal Services

ECS; Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Everforth ECS in Arlington, VA (Hybrid) seeks a Senior HCD Subject Matter Expert to serve as the voice of the user within the Service Design & Governance Branch, supporting the CISA contract.

You will deploy contextual inquiry, usability testing, and co-design sessions to validate service utility, translate findings into actionable requirements, and reduce risk before code is written.

Qualifications

• US citizenship with ability to obtain DHS Suitability (EOD).
• TS/SCI clearance.
• 7+ years of experience conducting and synthesizing user research, usability studies, and stakeholder analysis.
• Deep expertise in HCD methodologies, including interaction design, service design, information architecture, and content strategy.
• Expert facilitation of co-design workshops and management of diverse stakeholder groups.
• Ability to create professional-grade personas, journey maps, and blueprints.
• Strong collaboration and communication across multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Customer-Centric Research & Analysis: Conduct deep-dive user research to identify pain points across the CISA service portfolio.
• Engage with stakeholders to validate service utility and ensure alignment with verified user needs.
• Translate qualitative research findings into actionable insights for technical requirements.
• Co-Design & Facilitation: Lead participatory design sessions with diverse teams.
• Bridge between engineers and end-users to integrate diverse perspectives into service improvements.
• Perform usability testing to validate design solutions and iterate based on feedback.
• Artifact Creation & Strategy: Develop high-fidelity artifacts (journey maps, service blueprints, personas, segmentations).
• Collaborate to integrate artifacts into the broader Common Operating Picture of the service lifecycle.
• Technical Debt Mitigation: Identify debt caused by misalignment and propose mitigation strategies.

Skills

User research

Usability testing

Stakeholder analysis

Facilitation

Service design

Interaction design

Information architecture

Content strategy

Personas

Journey maps

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Everforth ECS in Arlington, VA (Hybrid) seeks a Senior HCD Subject Matter Expert to serve as the voice of the user within the Service Design & Governance Branch, supporting the CISA contract.

You will deploy contextual inquiry, usability testing, and co-design sessions to validate service utility, translate findings into actionable requirements, and reduce risk before code is written.