UI/UX Designer

About the role

The ideal candidate is a user-centered designer with strong web form experience who can create accessible, intuitive, and compliant digital experiences for a mission-critical federal grants platform. This role emphasizes Section 508 compliance, usability, form design, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement of public-facing Grants.gov capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Design and improve user experiences for Grants.gov web applications, online forms, applicant and grantor workflows, help content, chatbot-related touchpoints, and public-facing digital services.
• Create wireframes, prototypes, user flows, journey maps, form layouts, interaction patterns, and design specifications that support usability, accessibility, and implementation by development teams.
• Design and improve web forms that are platform- and browser-independent, reduce duplicate data entry, support validation and simple calculations, and align with Grants.gov forms requirements.
• Ensure designs, forms, content layouts, and interaction patterns comply with Section 508 requirements and accessibility best practices, including keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, color contrast, focus order, labels, instructions, and error handling.
• Conduct usability reviews, accessibility reviews, heuristic evaluations, stakeholder interviews, and technical requirements interviews to identify user pain points and improvement opportunities.
• Collaborate with developers and testers to validate that implemented designs meet usability, accessibility, browser compatibility, responsive design, and Section 508 expectations.
• Support corrective and preventative maintenance for website and form-related user experience issues, including broken links, confusing content, layout inconsistencies, inaccessible interactions, and helpdesk escalation trends.
• Partner with content, communications, outreach, and helpdesk teams to improve user documentation, online help, FAQs, troubleshooting guidance, release notes, status updates, and other public-facing materials.
• Support Grants.gov chatbot and AI-enabled customer support touchpoints by reviewing conversation flows, feedback patterns, content gaps, missed intents, and user experience opportunities.
• Prepare design artifacts, accessibility findings, usability recommendations, wireframes, prototypes, and presentation materials consistent with HHS EPLC, program documentation, and stakeholder communication needs.
• Present design recommendations, usability findings, accessibility risks, tradeoffs, and implementation considerations clearly to executive, federal, technical, and non-technical audiences.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree.
• Additional four (4) years of experience needed in lieu of degree.
• Five (5) plus years of experience in UI/UX design, interaction design, service design, product design, or human-centered design for web applications, enterprise systems, or public-facing digital services.
• Strong working knowledge of Section 508 requirements and accessibility practices for web applications and forms, including screen reader support, keyboard accessibility, focus management, semantic structure, color contrast, labels, instructions, and error prevention.
• Experience translating user needs, business requirements, technical constraints, and compliance requirements into wireframes, prototypes, design specifications, and implementation-ready recommendations.
• Experience conducting usability reviews, stakeholder interviews, accessibility reviews, heuristic evaluations, and user-centered analysis to improve digital products and services.
• Ability to coordinate effectively with product owners, federal stakeholders, developers, testers, accessibility specialists, content teams, helpdesk partners, IV&V teams, and other contractors.
• Strong understanding of: Human-centered design, usability, information architecture, interaction design, and content clarity; Accessible web and form design patterns aligned with Section 508 expectations; Responsive design, browser compatibility, design systems, and reusable interface components; Form validation, error handling, instructional content, data entry efficiency, and user support needs; Design documentation, accessibility findings, usability recommendations, and stakeholder presentations.
• Experience using design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Cloud, Axure, Mural, Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, or similar platforms.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, visual storytelling, problem-solving, and stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to explain design rationale and accessibility considerations to executive, federal, technical, and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications

• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Federal or DoD "PUBLIC TRUST"; candidates must obtain approved adjudication of their PUBLIC TRUST prior to onboarding with Guidehouse.
• Candidates with an ACTIVE PUBLIC TRUST or SUITABILITY are preferred.

Skills

• Experience supporting federal grants management systems, shared service platforms, or large public-facing government applications.
• Knowledge of HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC), federal IT governance, accessibility documentation, testing evidence, and compliance-driven delivery environments.
• Experience applying Section 508, WCAG, U.S. Web Design System, or similar federal accessibility and design standards to public-facing websites, forms, workflows, or enterprise applications.
• Experience with Grants.gov-like capabilities, including funding opportunity search, applicant registration, application submission, grantor user management, online/offline forms, XML/PDF form outputs, help content, or status messaging.
• Experience supporting website updates, broken link remediation, public-facing user support content, chatbot feedback loops, helpdesk escalation analysis, or customer satisfaction improvement efforts.
• Experience supporting modernization, consolidation, transition-in, or multi-vendor integration initiatives involving multiple applications and stakeholder organizations.
• Relevant certifications or credentials such as: Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS), or equivalent accessibility credential; Human-centered design, UX design, service design, or product design certification; U.S. Web Design System, Section 508, WCAG, or accessibility testing training; SAFe, Agile, or product delivery certification.

Benefits

The annual salary range for this position is $98,000.00-$163,000.00. Compensation decisions depend on a wide range of factors, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, security clearances, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

About Guidehouse

Guidehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer–Protected Veterans, Individuals with Disabilities or any other basis protected by law, ordinance, or regulation. Guidehouse will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law or ordinance including the Fair Chance Ordinance of Los Angeles and San Francisco. If you have visited our website for information about employment opportunities, or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Guidehouse Recruiting at 1-571-633-1711 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@guidehouse.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodation. All communication regarding recruitment for a Guidehouse position will be sent from Guidehouse email domains including @guidehouse.com or guidehouse@myworkday.com. Correspondence received by an applicant from any other domain should be considered unauthorized and will not be honored by Guidehouse. Note that Guidehouse will never charge a fee or require a money transfer at any stage of the recruitment process and does not collect fees from educational institutions for participation in a recruitment event. Never provide your banking information to a third party purporting to need that information to proceed in the hiring process. If any person or organization demands money related to a job opportunity with Guidehouse, please report the matter to Guidehouse’s Ethics Hotline. If you want to check the validity of correspondence you have received, please contact recruiting@guidehouse.com. Guidehouse is not responsible for losses incurred (monetary or otherwise) from an applicant’s dealings with unauthorized third parties. Guidehouse does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Guidehouse and Guidehouse will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.