Design Lead

Remote (Washington, District of Columbia, United States)

Ad Hoc is a digital services company that helps the federal government better serve people. Our teams use modern, agile methods to meet the needs of our users while closing the gap between consumer expectations and government.

Work on things that matter

Our teams connect Veterans with services designed for their needs, help millions of people access affordable health care, and support important programs like Head Start. As we work with agencies to deliver critical services, we’re also changing how the government thinks about and uses technology.

Built for a remote life

Ad Hoc is remote-first and remote-always. We’ve designed our culture, communications, and tools to support a nationwide team. Being remote allows Ad Hoc to bring the best people onto our teams and give them the freedom to create a work environment that fits their lives. Maybe you need to adjust your schedule to care for your family or take a bike ride. At Ad Hoc, that’s welcomed.

Committed to high expectations and a welcoming culture

Ad Hoc values acceptance, accountability, and humility. We aren’t heroes. We leave our egos at the door to learn from our mistakes and improve the process for the next time.. We build small, inclusive teams to bring the best of consumer technology to the problems of government.

The Veterans Affairs business unit helps transform the VA into a modern digital services organization where Veteran outcomes are at the center of every effort. We partner with the VA to design and deliver seamless user experiences for Veterans, their families and caregivers, and VA employees. By applying better practices in service design, product management, and technology, we enable VA to increase the usage, quality, and reliability of services and decrease the time Veterans spend waiting for outcomes.

Primary Responsibilities:

As a Design Lead, you will be responsible for working with leadership to shape the direction of the program, while gaining exposure into people management. A Design Lead is a people manager, leader, and mentor with the ability to cross-functionally lead program delivery. You are an emerging subject matter expert that is developing the skills to successfully lead through team members and effectively communicate and execute against program and organizational objectives. In this role, a Design Lead will support leadership in partnering with peers to meet delivery requirements. A Design Lead will enhance their communication, and leadership skills to prepare them to successfully manage through direct reports.

Primary expectations of a Design Lead include:

Develops an understanding of program scope, schedule and cost management; with the support of leadership, articulates contractual delivery requirements to team members
Provides coaching and development to design team members, and works with leadership to define growth goals and development plans, and creates a culture where people can learn and evolve
Serves as a mentor, supporting the team in technical direction and career management
Leads team processes and seeks out best practices to fill gaps
Develops collaboration skills to partner with key stakeholders to represent the design practice in advocating for the best solution while communicating tradeoffs
Development of effective written communication and presentation skills to present design processes, with the ability to leverage past performance experiences to drive innovation
May participate in bid-writing, tech demos, strategic planning, and other client-facing communications
Development of skills to proactively identify risks and collaborate with team members and leadership to mitigate the identified risks
Presents program's ongoing design work, future goals, and risks
Development of influential skills to translate and communicate challenges and roadmaps
Participates in interviews with new candidates and develops/grades homework
Responsible for hiring, performance management, timecard reviews, PTO management and team development

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and 9+ years of experience
Accessibility Subject Matter Expert to apply 508, ADA and other accessibility standards to create strategic processes to bring maximum functionality to users and fellow accessibility practitioners
Proven relationship building/strategic communication around accessibility
Must be able to demonstrate an ability to champion accessibility with different types/levels of stakeholders
Experience planning, visioning, road mapping for accessibility and accessible design
Ability to identify current accessibility landscape, needs, and priorities and translate these into actionable plans (roadmaps, resource plans, change management plans)
Prior experience serving as a mentor to junior level team members
Experience with design software such as Figma, Miro, Adobe or other designer tools

Preferred Qualifications:

Familiarity with the US Web Design System
Experience working with Government agencies

Ad Hoc LLC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination.

Ad Hoc job descriptions feature the starting range we reasonably expect to pay to candidates who would join our team with little to no need for training on the responsibilities we've outlined above. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide range of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and responsibility .

The range of starting pay for this role is $135,000 - $145,000 and information on benefits offered is here. Our recruiters will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements.