IA-DOM-DOIT-SDP6- Senior UX Designer/Researcher (Accessibility Specialist)

The Department of Management (DOM) Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is seeking a highly skilled, communication-focused Senior UX Designer / Researcher to join our digital modernization team.

The Department of Management (DOM) Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is seeking a highly skilled, communication-focused Senior UX Designer / Researcher to join our digital modernization team. We are looking for a dedicated user experience and user research specialist. Front-end development skills are entirely optional, though any coding ability serves as a welcome asset.

In this position, you will closely collaborate with our lead UX/Accessibility Architect to scale high-quality digital standards across enterprise initiatives. You will possess specialized UX research capabilities that do not exist on the current team, taking ownership of user testing and UI optimization. This role requires an immediate start to support a high-priority modernization pipeline for the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) Student Reporting in Iowa (SRI) initiative advancing a large-scale project phase with tight milestones with additional cross-agency support for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other state projects as needed.

The client prefers local or regional candidates who can attend occasional in-office meetings. Travel and related expenses will not be reimbursed.

Purpose

Pure UX research and design role. No coding expected.

• Graduates of ISU HCI (Human Computer Interaction) program highly desired.

Primary Focus

• UX research
• User-centered design
• User journey mapping
• Wireframes and prototypes
• Design recommendations
• Accessibility-first design
• Design documentation and annotations

Required Skills

• Advanced Figma
• UX research methodologies
• User flow creation
• Prototyping
• Accessibility (WCAG)
• Stakeholder collaboration
• Design documentation

Preferred Experience

• Heat maps (Crazy Egg, Hotjar, etc.)
• Card sorting
• Usability testing
• Nielsen Norman Group training
• Google UX Certification
• Formal UX/HCI education
  
  

  Research Experience Desired:

  • Heat maps
  • Crazy Egg or similar analytics tools
  • Card sorting
  • User behavior analysis
  • Data-driven design recommendations

Screening Priorities

1. UX research experience
2. Figma proficiency
3. Accessibility knowledge
4. Design thinking methodology
5. Analytics-driven recommendations

No Coding Required

• No .NET
• No SQL
• No front-end development

Core Responsibilities

User Experience Research: Design, plan, and execute formal user experience research to evaluate complex workflows, ensuring applications are intuitive and efficient for educators and state employees.

Usability Testing: Moderate hands-on user testing sessions and run usability labs to actively identify and resolve workflow friction.

Heuristic Evaluation: Audit early layouts and interfaces against usability best practices and design standards.

User Journey & Persona Mapping: Translate complex district data reporting and environmental workflows into clear, intuitive user journeys and behavioral personas.

Information Architecture: Structure massive, data-heavy reporting categories logically using techniques like card sorting.

Accessibility Alignment: Integrate digital accessibility from the ground up, aligning design systems and user research with WCAG standards to ensure digital services are universally accessible to all Iowans.

Collaborative Design: Partner with our lead Architect to scale technical user experience and research practices across multi-agency initiatives, chatbot interfaces, and global state projects.

Clear Communication: Collaborate effectively with cross-functional agency teams, product owners, and technical stakeholders to clearly articulate design findings and research data.

Required Technical Skills & Qualifications

Senior UX Design Expertise: Extensive experience designing responsive web application interfaces, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.

Specialized UX Research Skills :

Demonstrated mastery in moderating user testing sessions, executing usability labs, performing heuristic evaluations, mapping user journeys, and managing information architecture.

WCAG 2.2 Level AA Mastery: Practical knowledge of implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements, focus management, keyboard navigation mechanics, and color contrast principles within visual layouts.

Strong Communicator: Ability to clearly explain user research insights, interface design choices, and usability standards to technical team members, developers, and agency stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications (Optional Assets)

Front-end engineering experience writing semantic HTML5 and modern, responsive CSS/SASS.

Experience integrating interface designs into Angular or MVC .NET framework environments.

Experience utilizing or extending the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS).

Required Skill sets

User Experience Research, Usability testing, Usability labs, Heuristic evaluation, User journey mapping, Persona development, Information architecture, Card sorting, Wireframing, Interactive prototyping, UX design, WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance, Focus management, Keyboard navigation mechanics, Color contrast requirements, Accessibility auditing, technical communication, Design system vs usage

Required/Desired Skills

Skill Required /Desired Amount of Experience
Demonstrated mastery in moderating user testing sessions, executing usability labs, performing heuristic evaluations, mapping user journeys, and	Required	0
managing information architecture.	Required	8	Years
WCAG 2.2 Level AA Mastery: Practical knowledge of implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements, focus management, keyboard navigation mechanics, and	Required	0
color contrast principles within visual layouts.	Required	8	Years
Strong Communicator: Ability to clearly explain user research insights, interface design choices, and usability standards to technical team members,	Required	0
developers, and agency stakeholders.	Required	0
Front-end engineering experience writing semantic HTML5 and modern, responsive CSS/SASS.	Required	8	Years
Experience integrating interface designs into Angular or MVC .NET framework environments.	Required	8	Years
Experience utilizing or extending the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS).	Required	8	Years
User Experience Research, Usability testing, Usability labs, Heuristic evaluation, User journey mapping, Persona development	Required	8	Years
Information architecture, Card sorting, Wireframing, Interactive prototyping, UX design, WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance, Focus management	Required	8	Years
Keyboard navigation mechanics, Color contrast requirements, Accessibility auditing, technical communication, Design system vs usage	Required	8	Years

Questions

No. Question

Question1

Absences greater than two weeks MUST be approved by CAI Management in advance, and contact information must be provided to CAI so that a resource can be reached during his or her absence. The Client has the right to dismiss the resource if she or he does not return to work by the agreed upon date. Do you agree to this requirement?

Question2

The Contractor must report any disciplinary action, misdemeanor, or felony convictions to the State for any temporary IT staff provided. Do you agree to this requirement?

Question3

What is your candidate's email address?

Question4

Have you completed and submitted the Right to Represent form, making sure to do so exactly as instructed? The form is located at

Question5

The hourly Vendor Rate for this position is $$$. Do you agree to this requirement?

Question6

PROVIDE CANDIDIDATES CURRENT LOCATION (CITY/STATE) HERE:

Question7

SHOW YOUR WORK - In the summary of qualifications field under the details tab of the candidate's profile, you should explain why your candidate is the best fit for this position. Please confirm that you have thoroughly validated and attested to the accuracy of the credentials listed throughout this candidate's VectorVMS profile and resume according to Section 5.2.5 of ITS-009440. Do you confirm? Candidates will get rejected if an agency cuts and pastes the candidates' resumes into this field [REQUIRED]

Question8

Use of AI is Strictly Prohibited: Please be advised that the use of AI-generated responses during screenings and interviews is strictly prohibited. Confirm that your candidate has been informed of this policy and agrees to adhere to it. Non-compliance will result in disqualification from the interview process.

Question9

Background Check Requirements: DOM contractor personnel are required to undergo additional background check investigations (run by DOM) before starting, requiring the completion of several waiver forms & fingerprint processes. The selected candidate will be responsible for completing all the necessary waiver forms, scheduling and completing the fingerprinting process, and returning all completed items to DOM for processing. This is in addition to the National Criminal and Sex Offender check that the vendor

Question10

Provide candidates with the complete physical address where the DOM DoIT Background Check form and fingerprint cards must be mailed. [REQUIRED] - Failure to provide accurate information will result in disqualification.

Question11

INTERVIEW DATES: Interviews will be conducted on [September 14th and 15th] Only submit candidates available for interviews on the date(s) provided.