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.

• Identifyopportunities 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 andfacilitateresearch 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 arerequired.

• 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.

• Helpestablishbest 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 designersand/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 byDepartment 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 complexfinancialreporting 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.