Director of Product Design

: Company Description Govini builds software that accelerates the Defense Acquisition Process. The Ark, Govini's flagship product, combines commercial data and artificial intelligence into applications that solve challenges across the entire spectrum of Defense Acquisition, including Supply Chain, Science and Technology, Production, Sustainment, and Modernization. With the Ark, the Acquisition community eliminates slow, manual processes and gains the ability to rapidly imagine, produce, and field critical warfighting capabilities. The Ark transforms Defense Acquisition into a strategic advantage. Govini has offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We are looking for an experienced and visionary Director of Product Design to manage, grow, and lead our design team and help shape the future of the Ark. An ideal candidate has a strong background in the design of complex data platforms, and understands the role as not limited to design, but as a critical component of product strategy that requires full engagement with the problems, questions, and needs of the user. The Director of Product Design will build a team that shares these values and priorities and takes them on as their own. In order to be successful in this role, you must be customer-obsessed and take the initiative to seek out opportunities to learn directly from users. You have the skills and motivation to understand complex datasets and how to integrate into a meaningful, comprehensive user experience. You have a genuine interest in the future of our national security, and that of our allies. You want to hire and develop the best. You flourish in ambiguity and have a knack for solving difficult problems that may have more than one right answer. This role is a full-time position located out of our office in Pittsburgh, PA. This role may require up to 25% travel

Scope of Responsibilities

• Build and manage a high-performing design team that embodies the core values of Govini, including a passion for understanding and identifying with our customers through direct engagement
• Positively impact outcomes of Defense Acquisition via intuitive, user-centric design solutions in the Ark
• Travel on-site to customer and user locations; live a ‘day in the life' in order to understand user workflows at the lowest level of detail
• Collaborate closely with integrated product teams comprised of product management, engineering, data science, marketing, sales, implementation, and customer success to develop, iterate, and refine a design and UX thesis for Ark.ai in support of business strategy and customer value recognition
• Collaborate with product managers, data analysts, and go-to-market teams to understand user needs and translate them into product features, concepts, workflows, and user experiences
• Develop consistent processes and standards that ensure the Ark user experience remains consistent, high quality, and user-friendly
• Lead and directly contribute to the design and documentation of user flows, and the creation of wireframes and interactive prototypes that align, clarify, and support the validation of product feature requirements
• Collaborate directly with integrated product teams, including engineering and data science, to support the implementation of UI designs, engage in productive cost-benefit discussions to assess potential deviations from designs, and support future iteration and development against long-term objectives
• Present and defend designs to clients, peers, and executive-level stakeholders
• Lead and own the development and maintenance of an established design system and UI component library
• Become an expert on Ark.ai itself, inclusive of all data, features, and functionality
• Demonstrate strong leadership and communication skills and advocate for the design team's voice and perspectives
• Put customers at the center of all ideation and development
• Lead and mentor product designers

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship Required

• Bachelor's degree in human-centered design (HCD), human-computer interaction (HCI), Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Architecture, or related field
• 7+ years of experience designing and shipping complex, intuitive, and successful web-based products - ideally with a data component
• 3+ years of experience building and managing design teams
• Portfolio with revenue-generating case studies Obsession with delivering value for customers, and a passion for UX related to analysis and data visualization
• Mastery of Figma, Adobe CC, and general design techniques
• Ability to leverage, stand up, and maintain component libraries designed for the web
• Experience working in an agile development process, while able to balance scope, speed, and quality
• Precise visual and interaction design skillsAbility to solve problems creatively, effectively, and at multiple fidelities
• Awareness of the latest UI trends, techniques, and technologies

• Current possession of a U.S. security clearance, or the ability to obtain one with our sponsorship
• Experience in or exposure to the nuances of a startup or other entrepreneurial environment
• Masters in HCD, HCI, Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Architecture, or related field
• Experience in the defense / national security sector