Senior UI/UX Designer

Leidos Inc; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 92,000 - 167,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Product UI/UX Designer to support a mission-focused environment. You will apply user research, human-centered design, and UX best practices to improve internal workflows and digital products.

The ideal candidate collaborates with users, developers, stakeholders, and leaders to uncover user needs and translate findings into practical, intuitive solutions, introducing innovative research methods and advocating evidence-based design within a complex organization.

Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor's degree and 8+ years experience or a master's degree and 6+ years of experience (five years of experience can be substituted for a bachelor's degree)
• Demonstrated professional experience conducting user research, including user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and user feedback analysis.
• Experience developing wireframes and prototypes using tools such as Figma, Axure, or similar platforms.
• Strong understanding of human-centered design, user-centered design, and design-thinking principles.
• Experience applying design systems and style guides to create consistent, intuitive digital experiences.

Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct user research using interviews, surveys, usability testing, ethnographic observation, contextual inquiry, and other research methodologies.
• Apply human-centered design and design-thinking principles throughout the research and design lifecycle.
• Develop user personas, journey maps, user flows, process flows, wireframes, and other user-centered artifacts to inform design decisions.
• Create prototypes and conduct usability testing to validate concepts and improve the overall user experience.
• Translate research findings into actionable insights and practical recommendations.
• Partner with development teams, stakeholders, and customer representatives to ensure design requirements are effectively communicated and implemented.
• Facilitate or support participatory design sessions and workshops with stakeholders across organizational levels.
• Develop clear and compelling research reports, presentations, and design recommendations for audiences ranging from technical teams to senior leadership.

Skills

User research

Human-centered design

Design thinking

Wireframes

Prototyping

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Facilitation

User interviews

Usability testing

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

Figma

Axure

Job description

Description

Leidos is seeking a Product UI/UX Designer to support a mission-focused customer environment. In this role, you will apply user research, human-centered design, and UX best practices to improve internal workflows, processes, and digital products.

The ideal candidate is comfortable working in complex organizations and partnering with users, developers, stakeholders, and senior leaders to uncover user needs and translate research findings into practical, intuitive solutions. You will have the opportunity to introduce innovative research methodologies, challenge conventional approaches, and help strengthen the organization's use of evidence-based design.

Primary Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct user research using interviews, surveys, usability testing, ethnographic observation, contextual inquiry, and other research methodologies.

• Apply human-centered design and design-thinking principles throughout the research and design lifecycle.

• Develop user personas, journey maps, user flows, process flows, wireframes, and other user-centered artifacts to inform design decisions.

• Create prototypes and conduct usability testing to validate concepts and improve the overall user experience.

• Translate research findings into actionable insights and practical recommendations.

• Partner with development teams, stakeholders, and customer representatives to ensure design requirements are effectively communicated and implemented.

• Facilitate or support participatory design sessions and workshops with stakeholders across organizational levels.

• Develop clear and compelling research reports, presentations, and design recommendations for audiences ranging from technical teams to senior leadership.

• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, processes, and products while navigating organizational and operational constraints.

• Help build organizational understanding of user research and advocate for evidence-based decision-making.

• Establish trusted relationships across teams and organizational boundaries.

• Apply innovative and unconventional research approaches when appropriate to uncover new insights.

• Stay current on UX research, design practices, emerging technologies, and industry trends.

• Bring relevant commercial and non-government UX research practices into the mission environment when appropriate.

Basic Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor's degree and 8+ years experience or a master's degree and 6+ years of experience (five years of experience can be substituted for a bachelor's degree)

• Demonstrated professional experience conducting user research, including user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and user feedback analysis.

• Experience developing wireframes and prototypes using tools such as Figma, Axure, or similar platforms.

• Strong understanding of human-centered design, user-centered design, and design-thinking principles.

• Experience applying design systems and style guides to create consistent, intuitive digital experiences.

• Ability to synthesize qualitative and quantitative research findings into actionable design recommendations.

• Experience communicating design requirements and research findings to software development teams.

• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and facilitation skills, with the ability to tailor communications to technical, non-technical, and executive audiences.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams and diverse stakeholders.

• Strong empathy, intellectual curiosity, and flexibility when approaching complex user and organizational challenges.

• Ability to operate effectively in a complex, mission-focused environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Dovetail or similar user research and research repository platforms.

• Experience analyzing usability testing results and user feedback to drive iterative product improvements.

• Experience introducing new UX research methods, tools, or practices within an organization.

• Experience facilitating design workshops, collaborative research sessions, or participatory design activities.

• Familiarity with emerging UX research technologies and methodologies.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting

August 7, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range

Pay Range $92,300.00 - $166,850.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

About Leidos

Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers.

• Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.