User Experience Architect

Company: National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Location: Potomac
Posted on: April 30, 2021

Job Description:

Job Summary

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION: User Experience Architects apply user-centered design principles to build seamless, consistent, and desirable interfaces for NGA enterprise systems. They lead web-based design activities, including gathering, validating, analyzing, and defining requirements; conducting research and best practice reviews; performing user engagements and testing (e.g., interviews, site navigation); and creating prototypes. User Experience Architects create and plan interfaces that promote intuitive navigation and enhanced user workflow.

Additional Job Information

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: UX Architects apply user-centered design principles to build seamless, consistent, and desirable interfaces for NGA's ecosystem of websites, applications, and products. They lead web-based design activities, including gathering, validating, analyzing, and defining requirements; conducting user research and heuristic reviews; performing user engagements and testing (e.g., interviews, usability testing, ethnographies); creating static and interactive prototypes; and applying research results to design and develop web-based interfaces.

At NGA, UX Architects work collaboratively with other UX disciplines to drive and implement, research, design and development strategies. The right candidate will have a deep understanding of UX methods and best practices, and also a nimble, creative and pragmatic approach to recommendations and solutions, while pushing the boundaries for better product experiences. UX practitioners at NGA are the champions for its consumers and help solve end-user pain points. They collect and use research data to better understand problems and opportunities. For this position, NGA is looking for experienced individual contributors who will help elevate the practice of user-centered design and research by applying creative but rigorous qualitative, quantitative, and/or design research methods.

Other duties may include:

* Build, prioritize, levy, track, review, and validate customer requirements and ensure they are documented and measurable.
* Apply knowledge of human abilities, limitations, and characteristics and application of human factors principles to the design of tools, systems, tasks, and environments for safe, comfortable, and effective human use.
* Conduct qualitative and quantitative research including user testing sessions, surveys, card sorts, interviews, diary studies, field studies, and ethnographies.
* Data Analysis derived from qualitative and quantitative research to provide recommendations to team members and stakeholders.
* Create documentation, including personas, empathy maps, journey maps, service blueprints, jobs-to-be-done maps, high-and low-fidelity prototypes, HTML etc.
* Design high- and low-fidelity concepts, interactive prototypes, or fully functional proofs-of-concepts.
* Create HTML, CSS, and JS developed design interfaces
* Organize, structure, and label content in an effective and sustainable way.
* Evaluate software, tools, and technologies for future use, and analyze the potential impacts of new technologies. Identify technology trends and opportunities.
* Develop test and evaluation plans, design and conduct appropriate systems/software tests/evaluations, and document and distribute results.
* Arrange and conduct user reviews and tests to evaluate and improve user interfaces.
* Apply knowledge of the methods and processes to design systems, interfaces, and technologies in order to satisfy end-user needs and requirements.
* Convey data, information, and analytical conclusions using a variety of visual tools, techniques, and methods.
* Design websites on multiple networks and modify website designs to meet changing customer needs.
* Design and test the look and feel of websites and web-enabled applications, ensuring appropriate user interactions are compliant with accessibility standards for web.
* Work collaboratively across research, design and development disciplines to define technical approach.
* Write code for front-end supporting full-stack development projects.

Additional Application Requirement: You may be asked to complete one or more assessments in addition to the application you submit on this website as part of your application to NGA. These assessments may include but are not limited to:

1) Online questionnaires or assessments that require you to describe your job-related knowledge, skills(U) , abilities, or other characteristics that are aligned with the mandatory and desirable qualifications of this job posting. The information you provide in the application you submit must support the response you provide to this questionnaire.

You will receive an email to describe any additional assessments required. Please monitor your emails and complete any required assessments as soon as possible.

This position may be eligible for an INCENTIVE: selected candidates may be offered an incentive as part of the offer of employment, based on budget availability. To receive the incentive, selected candidates must be eligible under 5 CFR Part 575 upon issuance of the Final Offer Letter. Changes in federal employment status prior to issuance of the Final Offer Letter may affect eligibility. Incentive recipients sign a service agreement depending on the approved amount or duration of the incentive. If the employee leaves before the end of the service agreement, the employee may be required to repay a pro rata share amount of the incentive to the government.

Mandatory Qualifications

MANDATORY QUALIFICATION CRITERIA: For this particular job, applicants must meet all competencies reflected under the Mandatory Qualification Criteria to include education (if required). Online applications must demonstrate qualification by providing specific examples and associated results, in response to the announcement's mandatory criteria specified in this vacancy announcement:

1. Demonstrated experience designing user-centered products and/or services or applying user-centered principles to web designs.

2. Experience solving problems utilizing UX processes, methods and/or strategies such as, design thinking principles and processes or equivalent UX methods.

3. Understanding of Human Factors (e.g. accessibility, empathy, or ergonomics).

4. Demonstrated experience with data analysis derived from qualitative and/or quantitative research. (e.g. data analysis, surveys, web analytical tools, interviews , or user testing).

EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: A. Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Human-Computer Interaction, Information Science, User Experience Design, Interaction Design, Visual Communication Design, Computer Science, Statistics, or a degree that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems, or networks. -OR- B. Combination of Education and Experience: A minimum of 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of coursework in any area listed in option A, plus experience working in interactive design and user testing, full stack development, or a related field that demonstrates the ability to successfully perform the duties associated with this work. As a rule, every 30 semester (45 quarter) hours of coursework is equivalent to one year of experience. Candidates should show that their combination of education and experience totals 4 years. -OR- C. Experience: A minimum of 4 years of experience in interactive design and user testing, full stack development, or a related field that demonstrates the ability to successfully perform the duties associated with this work. -AND- IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies: Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Oral Communication, and Problem Solving.

Highly Desired Qualifications

QUALIFICATION CRITERIA: In addition to the mandatory qualifications, experience in the following is desired:

1. Ability to work independently and handle multiple projects in various stages of completion.

2. Demonstrated experience validating user evaluations and testing results to improve products and services.

3. Experience with UX research, content strategy, information architecture, wire framing, visual design, interaction design, or prototyping.

4. Experience with UX artifact creation (e.g. personas, empathy maps, journey maps, service blueprints).

5. Knowledge and understanding of modern web technologies (e.g., CSS, HTML5, Java Script, SharePoint, or Service Plus).

6. Demonstrated experience leveraging collaborative and constructive groups of diverse coworkers, peers, customers, stakeholders, or teams.

Additional Job Requirements

You must be able to obtain and retain a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information. In addition, you are subject to a Counterintelligence Polygraph examination in order to maintain access to Top Secret information. All employees are subject to a periodic examination on a random basis in order to determine continued eligibility. Refusal to take the examination may result in denial of access to Top Secret information, SAP, and/or unescorted access to SCIFs.

Employees with SCI access and who are under NGA cognizance are required to submit a Security Financial Disclosure Report, SF-714, on an annual basis in order to determine continued eligibility. Failure to comply may negatively impact continued access to Top Secret information, Information Systems, SAP, and/or unescorted access to SCIFs.

Pay, Benefits, & Work Schedule

PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY: Promotion opportunities allow applicants at all band levels to be considered. Qualifications for NGA positions do not include specific time-in-band requirements. NGA will emphasize quality of experience, rather than duration, and assess how the quality of the experience demonstrates possession of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies necessary for successful job performance in the NGA occupational structure.

Band 03 $65,597 - $134,798

PERMANENT CHANGE IN STATION: PCS expenses are not authorized.

Pay is only part of the compensation you will earn working for the Federal Government. We offer a broad array of benefits programs and family friendly flexibilities to meet the needs of you and your family.

For more information on the array of benefits programs, please visit https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/nga/ngabenefits.html

Cover Letter

Applicants are not required to submit a cover letter. The entire cover letter cannot exceed the specified limits provided in the Cover Letter field (3,000 characters). Pages exceeding this limit will not be considered. The cover letter is recommended but is not required for employment consideration with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Applicants should place their narrative information in the Cover Letter / Other Professional Details field.

Who may apply

External Applicants Only

How to apply

Application submission involves applying using the Intelligence Community's Applicant Gateway on-line application process.

ONLY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

How will I be evaluated?

APPLICANT EVALUATION PROCESS: Applicants will be evaluated for this job opportunity in three stages:

1) All applicants will be evaluated using the Mandatory Qualification Criteria,

2) Qualified applicants will then be evaluated by an expert or panel of experts using a combination of qualification criteria to determine the best-qualified candidates,

3) Best-qualified applicants may then be further evaluated through an interview process.

Military retiree applicants, if selected, may be impacted by the 180-day appointment restrictions of DODI 1402.01. HD personnel will provide additional information if applicable.

Applicants are encouraged to carefully review the Assignment Description, Additional Information Provided By the Selecting Official, and the Qualification Requirements; and then construct their resumes to highlight their most relevant and significant experience and education for this job opportunity. This description should include examples that detail the level and complexity of the performed work. Applicants are encouraged to provide any education information referenced in the announcement. If education is listed as a mandatory requirement, only degrees obtained from an institution accredited by an accrediting organization recognized by the Secretary, US Department of Education will be accepted.

In accordance with section 9902(h) of title 5, United States Code, annuitants reemployed in the Department of Defense shall receive full annuity and salary upon appointment. They shall not be eligible for retirement contributions, participation in the Thrift Savings Plan, or a supplemental or redetermined annuity for the reemployment period. Discontinued service retirement annuitants (i.e., retired under section 8336(d)(1) or 8414(b)(1)(A) of title 5, United States Code) appointed to the Department of Defense may elect to be subject to retirement provisions of the new appointment as appropriate. (See DoD Instruction 1400.25, Volume 300, at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives.)

All candidates will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, disability, or sexual orientation.

NGA provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Applications will only be accepted online. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify us at recruitment@nga.mil. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment at NGA, persons being considered for employment must meet NGA fitness for employment standards.

* U.S. Citizenship Required
* Security Clearance (Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information)
* Polygraph Test Required
* Position Subject to Drug Testing
* Two Year Probationary Period
* Direct Deposit Required

DCIPS Disclaimer

NGA utilizes all processes and procedures of the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS). Non-executive NGA employees are assigned to five distinct pay bands based on the type and scope of work performed. The employee's base salary is established within their assigned pay band based on their unique qualifications. A performance pay process is conducted each year to determine a potential base pay salary increase and/or bonus. An employee's annual performance evaluation is a key factor in the performance pay process. Employees on term or temporary appointments are not eligible to apply for internal assignment opportunity notices.

This position is a DCIPS position in the Excepted Service under 10 U.S.C. 1601. DoD Components with DCIPS positions apply Veterans' Preference to preference eligible candidates as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 USC, in accordance with the procedures provided in DoD Instruction 1400.25, Volume 2005, DCIPS Employment and Placement. If you are an external applicant claiming veterans' preference, as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 U.S.C., you must self-identify your eligibility in your application.

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Keywords: National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Potomac , User Experience Architect, Professions , Potomac, Maryland