Sr. Human Centered Design Strategist
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Job Location:
Baltimore, MD - USA
Monthly Salary:
Not Disclosed
Posted on:
3 hours ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Position: Senior Human-Centered Design (HCD) Strategist/Subject Matter Expert
Location: Baltimore MD 21202 - HYBRID
Duration: Long-term Contract
Client administers and is establishing a Medicaid outcome-focused Human-Centered Design pilot team to improve eligibility enrollment renewal retention and reduce coverage disruptions.
Duties / Responsibilities:
- Serve as the Senior Human-Centered Design (HCD) Strategist on clients Medicaid outcome-focused pilot team contributing senior domain expertise while collaborating across policy operations eligibility and information technology functions.
- Lead human-centered design practice across the Medicaid eligibility enrollment and renewal lifecycle analyzing current-state journeys designing improvements and supporting implementation alongside program and IT teams.
- Conduct qualitative user research with Medicaid beneficiaries and frontline eligibility staff to surface pain points friction points and unmet needs across the consumer and worker experiences.
- Translate research findings into service blueprints journey maps prototypes and design recommendations that inform service design and technical improvements to client platforms supporting Medicaid eligibility and enrollment. Ensure all design work prioritizes usability accessibility (Section 508 and WCAG) inclusion and equity for diverse populations including non-English-speaking beneficiaries beneficiaries with disabilities and underserved communities.
- Apply iterate on and contribute to clients design system standards to drive consistency and quality across the user experience. Facilitate stakeholder engagement across program staff IT teams executive leadership and beneficiary communities building effective working relationships that bridge organizational boundaries between policy operations and technology.
- Present research findings design recommendations and outcome metrics to senior leadership and to the broader Medicaid outcome team in clear decision-ready formats. Ensure that proposed service and system changes meet federal and state policy and compliance requirements while delivering tangible real-world improvements for beneficiaries and staff.
- Lead organizational human-centered design capacity-building by supporting state team adoption of cross-functional iterative ways of working; contributing to knowledge-sharing and documentation for long-term sustainability; building state team capacity to apply HCD methods as part of ongoing operations rather than one-time engagements; and championing and demonstrating the value of HCD practice through guidance mentorship and visible delivery.
- Collaborate with engineers product managers business analysts and contractor teams to ensure HCD insights translate into technical requirements user stories and acceptance criteria that engineering and PMO teams can execute against. Adhere to all security change control and client Project Management Office (PMO) policies processes and methodologies.
Minimum Qualification :
- A minimum of seven (7) years of demonstrated professional experience as a Human-Centered Designer Service Designer UX Strategist or equivalent role with at least three (3) of those years delivering outcomes in complex regulated or large-scale environments such as government healthcare financial services or other regulated industries.
- Demonstrated experience designing digital or technology products or solutions using human-centered design principles working closely with engineers product managers and program staff to translate design into delivered systems.
- Demonstrated ability to work in cross-functional teams and to bridge gaps between policy operations and technology including experience translating between technical and non-technical audiences. Demonstrated expertise in qualitative user research methods including planning and conducting user interviews contextual inquiry usability testing and synthesis of qualitative insights into actionable findings.
- Demonstrated expertise in service design methods including service blueprinting journey mapping ecosystem mapping and prototyping at varying levels of fidelity. Demonstrated experience designing for equity accessibility and diverse populations including familiarity with Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards and inclusive design practices.
- Familiarity with government service delivery contexts or large-scale public-facing systems sufficient to operate effectively within compliance procurement and policy constraints.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to engage executives frontline staff technical teams and beneficiary communities and to present complex findings and recommendations in clear decision-ready formats.
- Proven ability to deliver outcomes in environments with complex processes multiple stakeholders or regulatory constraints.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with IT staff project managers and program/business stakeholders.
Preferred Qualification:
- Knowledge of Medicaid the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) SNAP TANF or other federal/state government benefits programs including familiarity with eligibility determination workflows redetermination/renewal cycles and ex parte renewal processes.
- Prior experience working in or with similar organizations such as state Medicaid agencies health insurance marketplaces ACA-related programs federally qualified health centers public health agencies or mission-driven nonprofits serving comparable populations.
- Familiarity with federal and state policy compliance and procurement constraints relevant to public benefits administration including CMS guidance federal Medicaid regulations and state procurement practices.
- Background in agile service delivery discovery-to-delivery cycles or modernization projects in a regulated or government context.
- Experience contributing to or maintaining an enterprise design system including documentation component libraries and adoption support.
- Experience designing AI-assisted workflows conversational interfaces or self-service experiences in a regulated context with attention to responsible AI principles and equity considerations.
- Experience leading or participating in plain language readability and content design initiatives for public-facing benefits communications.
- Experience training mentoring or coaching internal teams in human-centered design methods including running design sprints research playbacks and capacity-building workshops.
- Ability to conduct user interviews facilitate workshops and synthesize qualitative insights directly from participants.
- Professional certifications relevant to the role such as Nielsen Norman Group UX certifications IDEO/LUMA Institute certifications Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) or equivalent credentials.
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