Senior Human-Centered Design (HCD) Strategist / Subject Matter Expert

We are seeking a Senior Human-Centered Design (HCD) Strategist to support a Medicaid outcome-focused HCD pilot team. This role will work across policy, operations, eligibility, IT, program administration, and beneficiary communities to help improve Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and renewal outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the Senior HCD Strategist on a Medicaid outcome-focused pilot team.
• Lead human-centered design across the Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and renewal lifecycle.
• Conduct qualitative user research with Medicaid beneficiaries and frontline eligibility staff.
• Identify pain points, friction points, and unmet needs across consumer and worker experiences.
• Translate research findings into service blueprints, journey maps, prototypes, and design recommendations.
• Support service design and technical improvements for Medicaid eligibility and enrollment platforms.
• Ensure design work prioritizes usability, accessibility, Section 508, WCAG, inclusion, and equity.
• Apply, iterate on, and contribute to design system standards.
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement across program staff, IT teams, executive leadership, and beneficiary communities.
• Present research findings, design recommendations, and outcome metrics in clear, decision-ready formats.
• Support organizational HCD capacity-building through documentation, mentoring, knowledge-sharing, and iterative ways of working.
• Collaborate with engineers, product managers, business analysts, and contractor teams to translate HCD insights into technical requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Adhere to security, change control, and PMO policies, processes, and methodologies.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum seven (7) years of professional experience as a Human-Centered Designer, Service Designer, UX Strategist, or equivalent role.
• At least three (3) years of experience delivering outcomes in complex, regulated, or large-scale environments such as government, healthcare, financial services, or other regulated industries.
• Experience designing digital or technology products/solutions using human-centered design principles.
• Experience working closely with engineers, product managers, and program staff to translate design into delivered systems.
• Strong experience working in cross-functional teams and bridging policy, operations, and technology.
• Expertise in qualitative user research, including interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, and synthesis of insights.
• Expertise in service design methods, including service blueprinting, journey mapping, ecosystem mapping, and prototyping.
• Experience designing for equity, accessibility, and diverse populations.
• Familiarity with Section 508 and WCAG standards.
• Familiarity with government service delivery or large-scale public-facing systems.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to engage executives, frontline staff, technical teams, and beneficiary communities.
• Ability to present complex findings and recommendations clearly.
• Proven ability to deliver outcomes in complex, multi-stakeholder, or regulated environments.
• Ability to work collaboratively with IT staff, project managers, and program/business stakeholders.

Education Requirement:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, Public Policy, Public Health, or a related discipline. Additional relevant experience may be considered as a substitute in accordance with the RFP requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, TANF, or other federal/state government benefits programs.
• Familiarity with eligibility determination workflows, redetermination/renewal cycles, and ex parte renewal processes.
• Experience with state Medicaid agencies, health insurance marketplaces, ACA-related programs, federally qualified health centers, public health agencies, or mission-driven nonprofits.
• Familiarity with CMS guidance, federal Medicaid regulations, state procurement practices, and public benefits compliance constraints.
• Background in agile service delivery, discovery-to-delivery cycles, or modernization projects in regulated or government environments.
• Experience contributing to or maintaining an enterprise design system.
• Experience designing AI-assisted workflows, conversational interfaces, or self-service experiences in a regulated context.
• Experience with plain language, readability, and content design for public-facing benefits communications.
• Experience training, mentoring, or coaching internal teams in HCD methods.
• Experience running design sprints, research playbacks, and capacity-building workshops.
• Ability to conduct user interviews, facilitate workshops, and synthesize qualitative insights directly from participants.
• Relevant professional certifications such as Nielsen Norman Group UX certifications, IDEO/LUMA Institute certifications, Certified Usability Analyst, or equivalent credentials.

Additional Requirement:

Candidate must be flexible to work overtime as needed, including weekends, holidays, and off-hours.