Senior UX Designer​/Researcher; Accessibility Specialist

Position Title:

Senior UX Designer / Researcher (Accessibility Specialist)

Location:

Des Moines, IA

Engagement Type:
Contract

Work Mode:
Hybrid / Remote (Local or regional candidates preferred for occasional in-office meetings)

Duration: ~9 Months (10/05/2026 06/30/2027)

Interview Type:
Webcam or In-Person

A public sector client is seeking a communication-focused Senior UX Designer / Researcher to join a digital modernization team. This role is dedicated to user experience research, usability testing, workflow optimization, and accessibility standards across enterprise public initiatives and multi-agency systems. Coding is not required for this position.

• Design, plan, and execute formal user experience research to evaluate complex workflows and ensure intuitive digital applications.
• Moderate hands-on user testing sessions and usability labs to identify and resolve workflow friction.
• Audit early layouts and interfaces against usability best practices through heuristic evaluations.
• Translate complex data reporting and administrative workflows into clear user journeys and behavioral personas.
• Structure data-heavy reporting categories using information architecture techniques such as card sorting.
• Align design systems and user research with WCAG digital accessibility standards.
• Partner with lead UX architects and cross-functional teams to scale UX and research practices across state initiatives.
• Clearly communicate research insights, UI design choices, and usability standards to technical team members, developers, and agency stakeholders.

• 8+ years of experience conducting formal UX research, usability testing, usability labs, and heuristic evaluations.
• 8+ years of experience in user journey mapping, persona development, information architecture, card sorting, wire framing, interactive prototyping, and UX design.
• 8+ years of experience applying WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance, focus management, keyboard navigation mechanics, color contrast principles, and accessibility auditing.
• 8+ years of experience in technical communication and presenting research findings to multi-disciplinary stakeholders.
• Advanced proficiency in Figma, user flow creation, prototyping, and design documentation.

• Experience with heat-mapping tools (e.g., Crazy Egg, Hotjar) and user behavior analytics.
• Completion of Nielsen Norman Group training, Google UX Certification, or formal degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
• Optional front-end engineering awareness (HTML5, responsive CSS/SASS, Angular, MVC .NET framework environments, or USWDS).

Work Schedule & Expenses:
Local or regional candidates preferred to attend occasional in-office meetings in Des Moines, IA. Travel and related expenses will not be reimbursed.

Interview Dates:
Candidate interviews will take place on September 14th and 15th. Availability on these dates is required.

Compliance Policy:
Use of AI-generated responses during screenings or interviews is strictly prohibited. Selected candidates must complete state background check forms and fingerprinting prior to onboarding.