Associate Product Designer (Research & Design)

Job Description:

Tria Federal is seeking an Associate Product Designer to support human-centered product development for complex federal digital services. This role is designed for early-career practitioners who are ready to own and lead portions of research, design, and product discovery workstreams while receiving mentorship from senior UX leaders.

You will lead smaller initiatives and contribute across the product lifecycle including discovery, design, and evaluation. Working within multidisciplinary Agile teams, you will collaborate with product managers, engineers, analysts, and researchers to translate user needs and policy requirements into usable digital services.

As part of both a delivery team and Tria's Human Experience Practice, you will continue developing your craft while gaining hands-on experience leading design and research activities within a mission-critical federal program.

Responsibilities

• Program Delivery
  
  
  
  • Lead research and discovery activities for defined product areas including interviews, usability testing, workflow analysis, and feedback synthesis.
  • Translate research insights into actionable product opportunities, personas, journey maps, and design recommendations.
  • Lead the design of user flows, wireframes, and prototypes that support new features and product improvements.
  • Partner with Product Managers and Engineers to shape product requirements, define feature scope, and support backlog refinement.
  • Contribute to product strategy discussions byidentifyinguser needs, usability risks, and workflow improvements.
  • Collaborate with engineers to ensure designs are implemented effectively andmaintaindesign fidelity.
  • Review implemented features tovalidateusability, accessibility, and alignment with user needs.
  • Analyze product analytics, service data, and user feedback to inform product improvements.
  • Document research findings, design rationale, and product decisions for diverse audiences.
  
  
  
  
• HX Practice Contribution
  
  
  
  • Participate in Tria's Human Experience Practice through collaboration, knowledge sharing, and capability building activities.
  • Contribute to reusable research and design assets such as templates, playbooks, and design standards.
  • Support internal initiatives related to research operations, design systems, and AI enabled experience design.
  • Learn from and collaborate with senior designers and researchers across Tria programs.
  
  
  
  

Required Qualifications

• 2 to 4 years of experience in UX designand research
• Demonstrated ability to independently leaddesignandresearchactivities within a product team
• Experience creating user flows, wireframes, and prototypes using tools such as Figma
• Understanding of human-centered design methods including discovery research, prototyping, and usability testing
• Experience working within Agile product teams and collaborating with engineers and product managers
• Ability to communicate research findings and design rationale clearly
• Ability to obtain andmaintaina Public Trust clearance
• U.S. Citizenshiprequired

AI Enabled Design Capabilities, Baseline Requirement

We are building the next generation of AI-augmented human experience delivery. The ideal candidate willdemonstratebaselineproficiencyin:

• Using AIassistedtools to support research synthesis, ideation, and design documentation.
• Leveraging generative AI to explore user flows, interaction concepts, and design alternatives.
• Applying AI responsibly whilemaintainingprivacy, security, and human centered judgment.
• Demonstrating curiosity about AI enabled systems and how they influence digital experiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to design systems andcomponent-baseddesign.
• Experience supporting usability testing or research synthesis.
• Familiarity with accessibility and Section 508 compliance.
• Interest in developing product management and product strategy skills.
• Experience with tools such as Figma, Miro, Dovetail,UserTesting, or similar platforms.

Impact You Will Make

• Help improve usability and workflow efficiency for large scale federal digital services.
• Supportequitableand accessible digital experiences for diverse user populations.
• Contribute research informed insights that influence product decisions.
• Grow as a multidisciplinary practitioner across research, design, and product thinking.