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About the Role

The UX Research Lead will support the mission by work with CTDS product designers and product managers throughout the entire product development lifecycle, from identifying foundational user needs during the discovery phase to measuring impact on the user after a product or feature has launched. The UX Research Lead will serve as a voice for the user, utilizing broad skills in both qualitative and quantitative research to facilitate a user-centered design process.

In addition, you will help scale user research at the State of Connecticut by building and managing a team of user researchers within a growing tech and design space. You and your team will become trusted and work with a diverse set of state partners to understand, improve, and test varied government products and designs. The candidate should also have experience working in an Agile environment.

Experiences Required for This Role

UX Research Management At least 5 years of experience and use cases with the following:

UX research team management, recruiting, and hiring
Leading and mentoring UX researchers to support career development
Demonstrating and teaching others how to apply a range of research methods
Regularly meet with product teams to understand strategy, discover blockers, manage quality, and help ensure UX prioritization
Ensure that UX researchers have clearly prioritized deliverables for every milestone
Review research deliverables your team creates and provide feedback to ensure high-quality output
Build relationships with other managers across disciplines, and act as a liaison with teams throughout the wider organization that have ongoing research needs
Actively seek out difficult impediments to our efficiency as a team (process, tooling, and so on), and propose and implement solutions that will enable the entire team to work more efficiently
Exert significant influence on the overall objectives and long-range goals of the UX research team

User Acceptance Testing At least 3 years of experience and use cases with the following:

Building and running tests (ideally automated) to confirm the service or product meets user and stakeholder needs
Helping to discover problems while the service is being developed, not once it is live
Checking the operating environment to make sure test results are valid
Helping increase user and agency confidence in future service or product delivery
Helping reduce the risk of reputational damage
Recruiting and leading testing groups
Running research sessions with users
Understanding accessibility issues and engage with team to build with equality

Digital Platforms, Tools, & Discipline At least 3 years of experience and use cases with the following:

Working with enterprise scale digital platforms and products
Using of productivity and analysis tools to manage iterative delivery, such as JIRA, Google Analytics, Git Repository, MS Teams, Confluence

Performance in Complex Situations At least 3 years of experience and user cases with the following:

Communication and collaboration with state-wide partners
Encouraging of an interactive, cooperative, collaborative, and customer-focused work environment
Comfort in blazing a path through an ambiguous work environment
Judgement fitting to the ever-changing environment
Government-specific task management

Knowledge, Skills and Ability

UX Research

Expert-level knowledge in the field of UX research with of experience in hands-on research
Experience managing UX researchers or large research teams
Outstanding communicator both verbally and in writing
Strong collaboration skills
A proven record of driving change through UX research
Passion for the field of UX research
Evangelize research. Share user insights within the broader organization and externally in creative ways to increase empathy
Able to plan in an agile fashion, manage work, and build CTDS program around UX research

User Acceptance Testing

Knowledge of best practices for user experience research and testing
Willingness to participate ethnographic research and interviews

Performance in Complex Situations

Ability to distill complex concepts into simple ideas
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines, handle and prioritize simultaneous requests, and manage laterally and upwards
Comfort in blazing a path through an ambiguous work environment
Prioritization, organization, and triage in an independent environment
Understanding of the Agile development process

Team Player

Supporting teammates' skills and behaviors development and delivery
Communication and collaboration with state-wide partners
Creative and analytical thinking with strong problem-solving skills
Judgement in dealing effectively and diplomatically with government staff
Ability to maintain strict confidentiality

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

Other Desirable Skills

A bachelor's degree or higher in graphic design, marketing, communications, or related field
5 years professional experience in design, communications, management, or testing
2 year of user-centered design
2 year of user research and analytics

Administrative Considerations

The UX Research Lead will work as part of an iterative team using agile sprints. Work will be assigned based on items in the product backlog associated with Website Improvements. These tasks may be adjusted, reduced, or expanded as the project progresses through various phases. The contract employee shall be expected to maintain and provide written documentation on any work performed in conjunction with this engagement.

The engagement will be for a term of up to 12 months. All work will be performed in eight (8) hour shifts, Monday to Friday, excluding State holidays. If workflow dictates an on-site presence is not needed, consultant may work remotely. All extended remote work will need approval by Chief Digital Officer or the designated manager. Payment will be on a time and material basis and paid only for hours worked. Travel to various state offices will be required. State Agencies are in downtown Hartford and the Greater Hartford area. Local Travel Reimbursement is not provided.

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