Lead UI/UX Designer

Tria Federal is seeking a Lead UI/UX Designer to lead human-centered design efforts supporting a large-scale federal initiative.

This role will drive end-to-end design across complex, high-visibility products used by hundreds of thousands end users nationwide. You will work across multidisciplinary agile teams to design usable, accessible, equitable, and scalable experiences aligned with real-world workflows in highly regulated environments.

As part of a mission-focused delivery organization and as a member of Tria’s Human Experience Practice, you will help shape digital experiences that reduce administrative burden, increase transparency, and improve national-scale service delivery.

This is an opportunity to design meaningful public-sector systems where your work directly influences policy implementation, operational efficiency, and digital transformation affecting millions of Americans.

Must be a U.S. Citizen due to federal security clearance requirements.

Responsibilities:

• Program Delivery
  • Lead end-to-end UX design efforts across the product lifecycle, from discovery and concept development through implementation and continuous optimization.
  • Translate complex policy, regulatory, and business requirements into intuitive workflows, interaction models, and scalable experience patterns.
  • Create and iterate on user flows, task models, information architecture, wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, journey maps, and service blueprints.
  • Partner closely with UX Researchers to incorporate qualitative and quantitative insights into design decisions.
  • Collaborate with Product Managers, Engineers, and federal stakeholders to embed design into agile delivery cycles and roadmap planning.
  • Lead end-user clinics to resolve their issues, document issues discussed during these clinics, and conduct follow-up meetings as required with stakeholders to brief them on the findings.
  • Advocate for accessibility, inclusive design, and compliance with Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 or higher.
  • Ensure design solutions account for equity, diverse user populations, and complex professional workflows.
  • Contribute to and evolve design systems to ensure consistency, scalability, and maintainability across products.
  • Review implemented solutions to ensure fidelity to design intent and usability best practices.
  • Evaluate AI-enabled features and workflow automation systems for usability, transparency, trust, explainability, and appropriate human oversight.
  • Document and communicate design rationale clearly to diverse audiences, including technical teams and executive stakeholders.
• HX Practice Contribution
  • As a member of Tria’s Human Experience (HX) Practice, you will:
  • Contribute to the maturation of Tria’s design capabilities across programs.
  • Help develop reusable design frameworks, playbooks, templates, and standards.
  • Mentor designers across engagements and support cross-team design consistency.
  • Participate in internal knowledge-sharing forums, communities of practice, and capability-building initiatives.
  • Support proposal efforts, solution shaping, and thought leadership related to human-centered design, AI-enabled services, and digital modernization.
  • Help position Tria as a leader in AI-augmented, mission-driven human experience delivery within the federal space.
• Required Qualifications
  • 5 to 6 years of relevant experience in IT with a bachelor’s degree. No degree requires 9 to 10 years of relevant experience.
  • 5+ years of experience in UX design, product design, or human-centered design for complex digital systems.
  • Demonstrated experience designing enterprise products and solutions.
  • Strong experience creating user flows, information architecture, wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes using tools such as Figma or Mural.
  • Experience working in Agile environments and collaborating within sprint teams using tools such as Jira and Confluence.
  • Knowledge of accessibility compliance including Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 or higher.
  • Experience designing and contributing to design systems and reusable component libraries.
  • Strong critical thinking skills with the ability to evaluate alternatives and communicate trade-offs effectively.
  • Excellent facilitation, storytelling, and stakeholder engagement skills.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.
  • U.S. Citizenship required.

AI-Enabled Design Capabilities, Baseline Requirement:

We are building the next generation of AI-augmented human experience delivery. The ideal candidate will demonstrate baseline proficiency in:

• Using AI tools to accelerate design workflows, including idea generation, wireframe exploration, and design documentation.
• Leveraging generative AI to draft user flows, microcopy, interaction concepts, and usability testing artifacts.
• Applying AI responsibly in design workflows while maintaining privacy, security, and human-centered judgment.
• Designing AI-enabled and agentic experiences with consideration for trust, explainability, transparency, and appropriate human oversight.
• Evaluating AI-driven features from a usability and risk perspective, ensuring alignment with human-centered and federal governance standards.

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

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting DHS (USCIS) products and systems.
• Experience designing AI-enabled systems, decision-support tools, or workflow automation platforms.
• Familiarity with prompt engineering concepts for design productivity.
• Experience contributing to ResearchOps, DesignOps, or internal capability-building initiatives.
• Experience with tools such as Figma, Mural, Miro, Dovetail, UserTesting, Optimal Workshop, or similar platforms.

Impact You’ll Make:

• Reduce administrative burden for DHS USICS and users of other federal domains through improved usability and workflow alignment.
• Ensure equitable and accessible digital experiences for diverse user populations.
• Influence mission-critical decisions through thoughtful, evidence-informed design.
• Strengthen trust in public digital services by making them simpler, clearer, and more human-centered.
• Advance Tria’s Human Experience Practice as a leader in AI-augmented, mission-driven experience delivery.