UX/Human Factors Engineer

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 92,000 - 128,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health, dental, and view

MIT-funded pension

Matching 401K

Paid leave (vacation, sick, parental,)

Tuition reimbursement and continuingED

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA is seeking a UX/Human Factors Engineer to join our Bioanalytics Systems & Technologies Group. You will lead qualitative user research and help translate insights into practical workflows and low-fidelity designs.

In this onsite role, you will develop wireframes, conduct user testing, and collaborate with cross-functional teams on data science platforms and AI-enabled decision support tools for national security missions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or related field or equivalent experience.
• Experience with qualitative user research methods and end-user insights.
• Proficiency in engaging with stakeholders to gather user needs and evaluations.
• Portfolio of work demonstrating behavioral research contributions.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct qualitative user research and translate findings into workflows.
• Develop wireframes and low-fidelity designs and conduct user testing.
• Synthesize research into recommendations and communicate to multi-disciplinary teams.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand needs and ensure actionable outcomes.
• Support broader analytical efforts and contribute to design systems when needed.

Skills

Qualitative research

Stakeholder engagement

Low-fidelity design

Wireframes

Communication skills

Portfolio of work

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Human Factors UX Research Engineering Psychology or related

Tools

Figma

Sketch

Design systems

Job description

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The Bioanalytics Systems & Technologies Group focuses on driving analytics to take advantage of vast and rapidly expanding biological datasets to address national security needs. The Group’s efforts include developing software architectures and systems, bioinformatics tools, and AI algorithms to further the nation’s efforts in chemical and biological defense, biosecurity, public and global health and warfighter performance.

Job Overview

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Assistant Staff provide critical support for domain-level innovative research supporting the Laboratory’s national security mission. They prototype state-of-the-art technology solutions and engage in many steps of a program lifecycle. As an Assistant Staff member, you will work with multidisciplinary project teams assisting with solutions to complex to moderately complex problems through research and technology development activities. In this highly contributory role, you will develop and grow your understanding of the Laboratory and the work we do for our research sponsors and on behalf of the nation while taking on defined research and technical assignments. Depending on the level, you will complete clearly scoped assignments with guidance or apply established methods with limited oversight while taking greater ownership of defined technical work.

As a successful candidate, you will bring a strong technical foundation, curiosity, and an aptitude for technical growth. You will develop or deepen expertise within a primary technical domain, broaden your awareness of adjacent areas, and support activities such as hardware and software development, systems analysis, data analysis, component fabrication, system integration, testing, and documentation.

Our group is seeking a highly motivated UX/Human Factors Engineer to join our diverse and multi-functional team. In this role, you will support qualitative user research and contribute to the iterative design and prototyping of our group’s growing set of data science enabling platforms and AI-enabled decision support tools for meeting the needs of the US Government. You will partner with key stakeholders to understand end user needs, translate findings into workflows and low-fidelity designs, and help offload research and design tasks across the team. This role is grounded in qualitative research and is well suited to someone who is detail-oriented, curious, and able to synthesize input across multiple parties, from end users to stakeholders. Given the multidisciplinary nature of our projects, you will also have opportunities to contribute to broader analytical efforts that extend beyond traditional UX research and design, directly informing human-centered design of complex systems in a mission-driven environment.

The research and design activities would include planning and conducting qualitative user research, translating findings into user workflows, developing wireframes and low-fidelity designs, conducting user testing, synthesizing findings into research-supported recommendations, and communicating those findings and recommendations to multi-disciplinary research and development teams.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Support design, development, data analysis, programming, testing, troubleshooting, modeling, simulation, and documentation of systems or prototypes.
• Apply basic or established technical practices, tools, and procedures to complete defined tasks and solve routine technical problems.
• Contribute to data collection, documentation, and component- or subsystem-level deliverables supporting broader research and mission-focused efforts.
• Learn and apply relevant mission context, technical standards, systems, platforms, and project processes.
• Communicate progress, technical results, assumptions, risks, and questions clearly and incorporate feedback into technical work products.
• Depending on level, identify small process improvements and assist new hires, interns, or less experienced staff.
• This is an onsite position.

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates will be considered for the appropriate level based on their education, experience, demonstrated technical capabilities, and the scope and complexity of their prior work.

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Typically, no technical experience or relevant research experience required.
• Foundational understanding of research principles, analytical methods, and structured problem solving.
• Ability to learn and apply technical tools, systems, standards, and procedures within a team environment.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document work clearly, ask clarifying questions, and interact respectfully with colleagues, sponsors, and other stakeholders.
• Demonstrated collaboration, curiosity, attention to detail, and willingness to receive and apply feedback.
• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Typically, 1+ years of relevant research, engineering, or other technical experience; a Master’s degree may be considered.
• Demonstrated ability to apply concepts and technical methods to routine problems.
• Working knowledge of relevant tools, systems, standards, and documentation practices used in project execution.
• Ability to complete assigned tasks accurately, manage time effectively, and communicate progress and risks.
• Collaborative working style with an emerging ability to support others, contribute to team learning, and interact respectfully with colleagues, sponsors, and other stakeholders.

Group 25 Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Factors, UX Research, Engineering Psychology, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative user research, including behavioral, ethnographic, or comparable methods for generating end user insights.
• Proficiency in engaging with stakeholders to gather and understand user needs and conduct user evaluations.
• Experience producing low-fidelity deliverables, including wireframes and user workflows.
• Ability to think critically, be intellectually curious, and problem solve by iterating
• The ability to ask insightful questions, navigate ambiguous or novel challenges, and iteratively develop and refine solutions.
• Proficiency with core UX/UI tools such as Figma, Sketch, or similar.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Portfolio of work that demonstrates experience contributing to or leading behavioral research (end user, stakeholder, or both).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with quantitative research or data analysis.
• Experience organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing complex datasets or information from multiple sources.
• Ability to produce polished high-fidelity UI designs.
• Experience developing or contributing to design systems or component libraries.
• Basic front-end development skills.

Assistant Staff 1 Hiring Range:$92,000 - $115,000
Assistant Staff 2 Hiring Range:$100,000 - $128,000
Disclaimer: MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a typical hiring range as a good faith estimate of what we reasonably expect to offer for this position at the time of posting. The final salary offered to a selected candidate will depend on various factors, including—but not limited to—the scope and responsibilities of the role, the candidate’s experience, skills and education/training, internal equity considerations and applicable legal requirements. This range reflects base salary only and does not include additional forms of compensation or benefits.

At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, our exceptional career opportunities include many outstanding benefits to help you stay healthy, feel supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work-life balance. Benefits offered to employees include:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
• MIT-funded pension
• Matching 401K
• Paid leave (including vacation, sick, parental, military, etc.)
• Tuition reimbursement and continuing education programs

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.