Human Centered Design SME

Tria Federal (Tria) is seeking a Human Centered Design SME to join our team. We are seeking an individual to serve as the embedded UX lead for a product team, translating complex requirements into intuitive, accessible designs while leading research, collaborating cross-functionally, and improving usability within Agile delivery.

Responsibilities: 

Product Team Design Leadership 

• Serve as the primary UX design lead embedded within a product team. 

• Integrate design, discovery, and usability considerations directly into Agile product development processes. 

• Translate complex regulatory, operational, and business requirements into usable interaction models and product workflows. 

• Lead the creation and iteration of user flows, information architecture, wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, journey maps, and service blueprints. 

• Collaborate closely with product managers and engineers to clarify requirements, reduce ambiguity, and support informed product decisions. 

• Ensure user needs and research insights are incorporated into backlog refinement, sprint planning, and roadmap conversations. 

• Design solutions that support accessibility, equity, and compliance with Section 508 and WCAG standards. 

• Evaluate implemented solutions to ensure alignment with design intent and usability best practices. 

• Identify opportunities to improve usability, reduce administrative burden, and streamline complex professional workflows. 

Research and Design Leadership 

• Lead discovery and research activities to better understand user needs, workflows, and operational challenges. 

• Plan and facilitate research methods such as user interviews, usability testing, workflow analysis, and concept validation sessions. 

• Synthesize research insights into clear design opportunities and product recommendations. 

• Translate research findings into experience concepts, interaction models, product workflows, and prototype solutions. 

• Collaborate with UX researchers when specialized or large-scale research initiatives are required. 

• Ensure research insights are incorporated into design decisions, backlog refinement, and product roadmap conversations. 

• Guide teams in connecting research insights to product decisions and design direction. 

Cross-Team Collaboration 

• Collaborate with UX researchers to incorporate user insights into product design decisions. 

• Partner with specialized UX researchers, designers, and analytics teams across the program to coordinate research efforts and ensure insights inform product design decisions. 

• Work closely with other designers across the program to ensure consistency and alignment across products. 

• Contribute to the development and adoption of shared design systems and reusable experience patterns. 

• Help establish best practices for integrating human-centered design into Agile delivery environments. 

• Support alignment across multiple product teams by sharing insights, patterns, and lessons learned. 

• Mentor junior designers and/or product team members in design thinking and human-centered practices. 

HX Practice Contribution 

• Help mature Tria’s human-centered design capabilities across programs. 

• Contribute to reusable frameworks, playbooks, templates, and design practices. 

• Participate in internal knowledge-sharing forums and communities of practice. 

• Support proposal efforts and solution shaping related to digital transformation and human-centered design. 

• Help position Tria as a leader in modern, AI-augmented human experience delivery within the federal space. 

Required Qualifications: 

• 5+ years of experience in UX design, product design, human-centered design, or related disciplines. 

• Demonstrated experience leading design efforts for complex digital products or enterprise systems. 

• Demonstrated ability to lead both research and design activities across the product lifecycle. 

• Experience collaborating with specialized research, analytics, or design teams within large product organizations. 

• Experience working within Agile development environments and collaborating closely with product and engineering teams. 

• Strong expertise in interaction design, information architecture, and workflow design. 

• Proficiency in modern design tools such as Figma and collaboration tools such as Miro or FigJam. 

• Experience translating complex business, policy, or regulatory requirements into usable digital experiences. 

• Knowledge of accessibility compliance including Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 or higher. 

• Strong facilitation and communication skills with the ability to engage both technical teams and stakeholders. 

• Experience contributing to or maintaining design systems. 

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance. 

• U.S. Citizenship required. 

AI-Enabled Design Capabilities (Baseline Requirement) 

• Using AI tools to accelerate design workflows, including ideation, wireframe exploration, and documentation. 

• Leveraging generative AI to support design artifacts such as user flows, interaction concepts, and usability test materials. 

• Applying AI responsibly within design processes while maintaining privacy, ethical standards, and human judgment. 

• Designing AI-enabled and agentic experiences with attention to trust, transparency, explainability, and human oversight. 

• Evaluating AI-driven features and workflow automation systems from a usability and risk perspective. 

This role does not require machine learning engineering expertise but does require comfort working in AI-enabled environments and curiosity about how AI transforms experience design. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience supporting federal modernization initiatives. 

• Experience designing systems used by Department of Veterans Affairs professionals or administrative staff. 

• Experience designing enterprise workflow systems, reporting systems, or operational dashboards. 

• Experience designing AI-enabled tools, decision-support systems, or workflow automation platforms. 

• Experience contributing to DesignOps, ResearchOps, or internal capability development. 

• Familiarity with tools such as Figma, Miro, Dovetail, UserTesting, Optimal Workshop, or similar platforms. 

Impact You Will Make: 

• Improve usability and efficiency for complex financial reporting and administrative workflows. 

• Ensure accessible and equitable digital services for diverse user populations. 

• Help integrate human-centered design more deeply into federal digital service delivery. 

• Influence product decisions through thoughtful design leadership and collaboration. 

• Advance Tria’s Human Experience Practice as a leader in mission-driven digital experience delivery.