UX Designer/Researcher

Important Notice for Applicants:
At Bixal, we want to ensure a transparent and secure application process for all candidates. Official communication will come from an email address ending in @bixal.com or from @bixal.na.teamtailor-mail.com. Messages from other sources may be fraudulent, and you should exercise care to avoid any links or attachments included.

Bixal will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Need Assistance or a Reasonable Accommodation?
If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation to complete your application, we're here to help. Please reach out to us at talent@bixal.com and let us know how we can support you. You do not need to share personal details or disclose the nature of your request.  You can expect a response from a team member within 24 hours during the regular work week and on the next operating day during the weekend or holidays.

Why Bixal?

Bixal is a consulting company headquartered in Fairfax, VA, working alongside governments and organizations to help them deliver better services and experiences to the communities they serve. Using evidence-based knowledge and technology, Bixal empowers clients to deliver on their missions more effectively by fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Our values:

• People-First: Emphasizing the importance of people in all aspects of work.

• Collaboration and Transparency: Valuing teamwork and open communication.

• Growth Mindset: Encouraging innovation and continuous improvement.

• Creating Lasting Impact: Focusing on meaningful outcomes and positive change.

About the role:

Bixal is seeking a mid-level UX Designer / Researcher to help the General Services Administration (GSA) Regulatory Information Service Center (RISC) keep its regulatory review systems working for the people who rely on them while a modern replacement is built. RISC supports ROCIS, the system that federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) use to manage rulemaking review, the Unified Agenda, Paperwork Reduction Act information collections, regulatory accounting, and privacy oversight. It also supports RegInfo.gov, the public's window into that work. You'll split your time evenly between two teams. On the Operations and Maintenance team, you'll research and design priority enhancements to the systems agencies use every day. On the Modernization team, you'll lead user research and design validation for the new platform that replaces the legacy system. You'll work directly with OIRA desk officers, agency clearance officers, administrators, and members of the public to understand how regulatory work actually gets done, then turn what you learn into designs that engineers can build and users can trust.

Applicants must submit a portfolio for review (please include passwords for restricted access sites) and prepare to discuss it if selected for an interview.

This is a full-time position contingent on contract award by our client, with a defined performance period of up to three years. This role offers you a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on a project that aligns with Bixal’s mission of delivering innovative, human-centered solutions. While the role has a fixed duration, we are committed to transparency and collaboration, keeping you informed about contract updates and new opportunities. At Bixal, we support your professional journey, ensuring your experience reflects our inclusive, purpose-driven culture and prepares you for future success.

Location

This role can work remotely from anywhere in the United States, excluding its territories. You must be legally authorized to work in the US. Bixal does not provide visa sponsorship.

Compensation:

The salary range for this role is $105,000 – $115,000. In the spirit of transparency, most offers tend to land near the midpoint of the range. We make compensation decisions thoughtfully, considering your experience, the skills you bring, and our commitment to internal equity. Fairness and transparency are core to how we operate.

Responsibilities:

• Plan and conduct user research and usability testing with OIRA desk officers, agency users, RISC administrators, and members of the public to shape priority enhancements to ROCIS and RegInfo.gov.

• Build discovery and user research into agile sprint cycles, partnering with the product owner and engineers to capture, document, and iteratively validate requirements.

• Maintain a research plan and deliver research and usability artifacts in time to inform sprint planning, so every applicable sprint is grounded in evidence from real users.

• Turn help desk trends, training feedback, and usage data into design recommendations and backlog items for both the operations and modernization teams.

• Map current business processes across regulatory review, Unified Agenda, Paperwork Reduction Act, regulatory accounting, and privacy workflows, and identify pain points to improve upon.

• Create process flows, design concepts, wireframes, and interactive prototypes that support Government decision-making before capabilities are built.

• Validate proposed designs with agency users, oversight offices, and administrators under the direction of the Government Design Lead.

• Refine business requirements by business process, translating research findings into user stories and clear acceptance criteria.

• Design work queues, workflow tracking, notifications, dashboards, and search experiences that help OIRA and agencies manage workload, deadlines, and status across the regulatory lifecycle.

• Apply WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 standards in every design, support accessibility testing, and help ensure public-facing sites meet 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act requirements.

• Write user acceptance testing (UAT) plans, scenarios, and scripts, and support structured UAT with Government users before each release.

• Prototype and test concepts that use structured, machine-readable policy information to improve analysis, traceability, search, and public understanding of federal regulations.

• Contribute user insights to product roadmaps and release readiness, and partner with change enablement and training staff so users are prepared for every release.

• Document research findings, design decisions, and design standards so knowledge carries from the legacy systems into the modernized platform.

• Other relevant duties as assigned and qualified/trained to perform.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in human-computer interaction, interaction design, information science, cognitive psychology, anthropology, or a related field and at least five years of experience in UX design and user research, or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.

• Demonstrated experience planning and conducting both generative and evaluative research, including interviews, contextual inquiry, and moderated and unmoderated usability testing, and synthesizing findings into clear design decisions.

• Experience designing complex, workflow-driven enterprise or case management systems that serve multiple user roles with different permissions.

• Proficiency creating process flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes using tools such as Figma, Mural, or Miro.

• Working knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508, including designing for and testing with people who use assistive technology.

• Experience working on agile, cross-functional product teams with product owners, engineers, and testers, and timing research so it informs sprint work.

• Experience writing user stories, acceptance criteria, and UAT scenarios.

• Experience improving a system that people depend on every day while it remains in operation, balancing near-term enhancements with longer-term redesign.

• Experience conducting research with federal government users, including awareness of Paperwork Reduction Act considerations when engaging members of the public.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to present research findings and design recommendations to senior Government stakeholders.

• Demonstrated history of interfacing with cross-functional teams, senior management, external clients, and other stakeholders.

• Strong experience and comfort with the Microsoft Office suite and virtual collaboration tools (such as Miro, Slack, GitHub, Jira, etc.).

• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Tier 2 Public Trust background investigation in support of a federal government contract.

Nice to Have Skills and Experience:

• Experience with federal regulatory or information collection processes, such as Executive Order 12866 review, the Paperwork Reduction Act, or the Unified Agenda, or familiarity with ROCIS or RegInfo.gov.

• Experience using or contributing to the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) or other large-scale enterprise design system.

• Experience designing data dashboards, reporting tools, or search experiences for oversight or analytics users.

• Experience researching and designing AI-assisted features, such as document summaries or public comment analysis.

• Experience with service design methods such as journey mapping, service blueprinting, or business process modeling.

How We Support Our Team:

• Flex hours

• 401K with matching incentive

• Parental Leave

• Medical/dental/vision benefits

• Flex Spending Account

• Company provided short-term disability and life insurance

• Commuter benefits

• Paid Time Off (PTO)

• 11 Paid holidays

Our company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.