Lead UX Researcher

SMART TECH SKILLS LLC•Boston, MA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Experience Design and Research Lead will lead the application of people-centered design, user research, service design, and experience strategy practices in support of a large-scale eProcurement modernization initiative. This role is responsible for defining and advancing the future-state user experience vision, service architecture, and design strategy while ensuring solutions align with constituent needs, business objectives, accessibility requirements, and technical capabilities. The position serves as a strategic partner to product managers, business leaders, architects, technical teams, and vendors, guiding the development of intuitive, accessible, and effective digital experiences that improve service delivery and organizational outcomes.

Requirements

8+ years of experience leading and executing user experience design, service design, and experience research initiatives
Expertise in people-centered design methodologies and best practices
Experience in: Experience Architecture, User Experience Design, Service Design, User Research, Interaction Design, Content Design, Rapid Prototyping, Accessibility and Inclusive Design
3+ years leading experience strategy, experience research, and service design efforts for large enterprise platforms or digital products
Experience translating research findings and business requirements into: Personas, Journey Maps, Service Blueprints, Information Architecture, Wireframes, Prototypes, Task Flows, Usability Requirements
Experience collaborating with product teams, business stakeholders, technical teams, and vendors
Experience working within AI-enabled solution environments and digital transformation initiatives
Strong workshop facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and consensus-building skills
Excellent verbal, written, analytical, and presentation skills

Nice To Haves

Experience with public-sector digital transformation initiatives
Experience supporting procurement, ERP, financial, licensing, grants, permitting, or other workflow-intensive enterprise systems
Experience modernizing legacy systems into cloud-based or modular platforms
Experience working within governance-driven environments
Familiarity with: Accessibility standards (WCAG), Inclusive Design, Plain Language principles, Privacy and Security requirements, Records Retention policies, Public-sector governance processes
Experience measuring adoption, usability, effectiveness, and customer experience outcomes
Experience evaluating AI-enabled automation, analytics, reporting, search, and decision-support capabilities
Experience designing solutions that support multiple user populations, including internal staff, external users, executives, oversight teams, and the public

Responsibilities

Lead experience strategy, service design, and user experience initiatives for the enterprise eProcurement platform
Define future-state constituent experience vision, experience architecture, and service design strategies
Align user needs, business objectives, operational workflows, policy requirements, accessibility standards, and technical constraints
Establish experience principles, standards, and frameworks that guide solution delivery
Plan, facilitate, and conduct qualitative and quantitative user research activities
Gather and analyze constituent feedback, behavioral insights, and user needs
Lead discovery efforts to identify opportunities for service improvements and digital transformation
Translate research findings into actionable recommendations and design decisions
Develop and maintain experience artifacts including: Personas, Journey maps, Service blueprints, Experience models, Information architecture diagrams, Task flows, Wireframes, Prototypes, Experience requirements
Design end-to-end user experiences that are intuitive, scalable, and accessible
Guide iterative design, testing, evaluation, and refinement activities
Partner closely with product managers, product owners, architects, vendors, and business stakeholders
Support product roadmap development and prioritization efforts
Facilitate design workshops and collaborative working sessions
Ensure user experience goals are integrated throughout the product lifecycle
Establish experience quality standards, accessibility expectations, and usability criteria
Ensure solutions comply with accessibility and inclusive design standards
Develop experience measurement frameworks and success metrics
Review project deliverables to ensure alignment with constituent needs and design objectives
Present findings, recommendations, risks, and design decisions to leadership and stakeholders
Document experience decisions and ensure alignment across project workstreams
Identify and communicate design trade-offs and implementation considerations
Build consensus among diverse stakeholder groups
Participate in AI-enabled product and service design initiatives
Evaluate opportunities to leverage AI capabilities to improve user experiences and business outcomes
Support design approaches for AI-enabled workflows, automation, analytics, search, and decision-support capabilities
Ensure AI-powered experiences remain user-centered, accessible, and understandable