UX Designer - Clearance Required

LMI•San Diego, CA

16h•Hybrid

About The Position

LMI is seeking an experienced mid-level UX Designer with Human-Centered Design experience to support a DoD digital transformation effort hosted on a DoD-accredited cloud platform in AWS GovCloud. This role sits at the intersection of user research, experience design, and government product development. This position requires an active Secret DoD clearance, can be hybrid, but preference will be given to a San Diego, CA candidate. The selected candidate will lead Human-Centered Design across a portfolio of mission applications. This is a discovery-first, design-led role: the work begins with understanding user needs and ends with validated design directions that inform technical build. Outputs establish the design standard for digital products that operate up to and including an IL6 environment. This is not a visual design or brand role. The selected candidate will operate at the intersection of: Human-centered design research and facilitation in a government program context Working within the constraints of accredited AWS GovCloud up to and including IL6 Mission workflows across operational, administrative, and enterprise domains You will serve as the primary design and research lead on a small, senior team, translating user needs into validated prototypes that become the repeatable standard for digital product development. LMI is a new breed of digital solutions provider dedicated to accelerating government impact with innovation and speed. Investing in technology and prototypes ahead of need, LMI brings commercial-grade platforms and mission-ready AI to federal agencies at commercial speed. Leveraging our mission-ready technology and solutions, proven expertise in federal deployment, and strategic relationships, we enhance outcomes for the government, efficiently and effectively. With a focus on agility and collaboration, LMI serves the defense, space, healthcare, and energy sectors helping agencies navigate complexity and outpace change. Headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, LMI is committed to delivering impactful results that strengthen missions and drive lasting value.

Requirements

Active DoD Secret clearance
3+ years of demonstrated experience in Human-Centered Design, UX research, or service design with government or defense programs strongly preferred
Proficiency in planning and conducting user interviews, contextual inquiry, and structured usability testing
Experience producing user personas, journey maps, wireframes, and interactive prototypes
Demonstrated ability to operate within classified or sensitive government environments, including understanding of the security constraints that affect user research access and tooling
Ability to clearly communicate design rationale and research findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Experience documenting design work in issue-tracking or project management systems (GitLab, Jira, or equivalent)
Familiarity with agile or iterative development environments and working alongside engineering teams

Nice To Haves

TS/SCI eligibility
Experience designing tools across a range of mission domains, such as operational, administrative, data, or enterprise applications in a DoD context
Prior work on DoD or IC programs with familiarity of RMF, ATO constraints, and the realities of designing for classified network environments
Experience delivering HCD on programs that operate across multiple classification levels (e.g., NIPR and SIPR)
Familiarity with AWS GovCloud environments or DoD-accredited DevSecOps platforms
Proficiency with Figma, Axure, or equivalent prototyping tools
SOF operator or SOF-support background with understanding of SOF core activities and mission sets

Responsibilities

Plan and conduct user interviews and contextual inquiry sessions with operators, mission staff, and key stakeholders across classification levels
Map current-state workflows, such as how users accomplish mission tasks today, where friction exists, and where manual processes create risk or delay
Identify pain points, workarounds, and unmet needs across operational and enterprise domains
Develop and document user personas, journey maps, and prioritized problem statements to anchor design decisions
Translate research findings into information architecture, user flows, and wireframes for mission applications
Develop low- and mid-fidelity prototypes suitable for structured usability testing with target users
Facilitate usability testing sessions, synthesize findings, and iterate on design based on user feedback
Produce validated design directions and annotated prototypes ready to inform technical build across successive application efforts
Work directly with Government Technical Leads and program teams to align design direction to mission requirements and platform constraints
Coordinate with the platform team to understand technical boundaries of AWS GovCloud environments that affect design decisions
Document design decisions, research findings, usability results, and open questions in GitLab in alignment with established project conventions
Author Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) for key design choices made during HCD phases
Support handoff from HCD phase to technical build teams by delivering design specifications, annotated wireframes, and prioritized backlogs of design requirements