Government UX Research Engagement Manager at U.S. Digital Response

About U.S. Digital Response

U.S. Digital Response (USDR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps governments and organizations respond quickly and efficiently to support the critical needs of the public.

Leveraging an amazing internal team along with a network of pro-bono technical experts, USDR uncovers and addresses solutions for common, systemic challenges that public servants are facing. We operate with humility and deep respect for our partners and believe that modern and resilient technology applied in the public interest can deliver people-centered services at the speed of need.

Since March 2020, USDR’s projects have impacted people in over 50 U.S. states and territories. We've built deep partnerships with nearly 600 government and nonprofit partners, strong expertise across more than 550 projects, and repeatable processes to solve some of the most pressing challenges in order to help state and local governments meet the critical needs of people today, while building digital resilience to withstand the crises of tomorrow.

Learn more about our last year in our 2023 annual impact report.

About the Digital Delivery Program

Government services are not keeping up with the public’s needs, particularly as services have moved from in-person to digital delivery, where the digital presentation of the service is as critical as the service itself. Poorly designed, slow, out of date, and inequitable government services mean that residents—often the most vulnerable—are not getting the critical services they need to thrive.

Government lacks the capacity needed to deliver services digitally. While this shows up most obviously in crisis moments, these gaps exist throughout the ecosystem of government delivery. USDR’s Digital Delivery program takes a two-pronged approach to address this capacity gap:

• Be the capacity: In instances where services can be immediately unblocked by a surge of tech talent, USDR volunteers build direct solutions with governments.
• Build the capacity: Digital Delivery helps governments build digital capacity for the long term by helping teams become fluent in digital best practices, policies, and tools and helping governments leverage each other’s good work.

Understanding the needs of residents is critical to delivering services, thus the Digital Delivery team is focusing on building the capacity of government to conduct user research. User research engagements will help government teams build a deep understanding of the people who use services so they can make sure they do the right thing.

About The Role

USDR is seeking a Government UX Research Engagement Manager to lead our UXR portfolio.

Glossary

• Government partner / partner = what we call the governments we work with (may be any kind of department at federal, state, county, or city level, or a public entity)
• Volunteer = we are primarily a volunteer-based organization. We have a pool of 10,000+ professional-level volunteer technologists who are the primary contributors to UXR projects.
• Focus area = the Digital Delivery program uses focus areas to help determine what work we say yes and no to. Our current focus areas are: user research; procurement, budgeting, and oversight; language access; generative AI; and talent. Each focus area has its own lead. We are hiring this role to lead the user research focus area.

What to expect from a typical UXR project at USDR (80%)

1. A government partner will submit a request for USDR support. These requests can range from extremely prescriptive to very open-ended. Currently we get an average of 10 new UXR requests per month and hope to grow this number.
2. You will field the initial conversation with the government partner. Our partners come from all levels of government and all seniority levels. During this conversation, you will determine whether the project is a good fit for USDR and whether there truly is a UXR need. While we have some existing criteria and guidelines around how we vet projects, we hope this role will further evolve these standards to strategically align partner requests with larger organizational priorities
3. You will use a template to write a scope of work that is realistic for a team of volunteers to achieve, typically in an 8-12 week span. (This might require several additional conversations with the government partner.) It is important to efficiently lead the partner to a clear and impactful scope of work, as you will often have several simultaneous scopes of work in progress.
4. You will identify the specific roles and skills needed for the project, and will work with our internal Volunteers team to vet and staff volunteers for this project.
5. You will manage a successful project kickoff by giving volunteers project context, light administrative set up, and introducing volunteers to the government partner.
6. You will ensure the project stays on track by checking in with the volunteer team, proactively identifying major risks, and being the escalation point for the volunteer team. You will not function as an individual contributor on projects.
7. At the end of the project, you will ensure deliverables have been saved and conduct a retro with volunteers. You’ll also identify themes across retros, ways to strategically amplify work, and opportunities for generalizing deliverables.

Additional responsibilities may include (20%):

• Contribute to fundraising through the development of grant proposals, concept notes, participation in fundraising calls, etc.
• Identify opportunities to scale UXR across multiple partners, identify new offerings, and create new resources that can be used by volunteers or partners.
• Partner with the Program Manager on UXR roadmapping and strategy, including planning around UXR offerings, revenue generation, and business development.
• Speak about UXR best practices or previous USDR projects at conferences or events (any events that require travel will be discussed and confirmed with you beforehand).
• Update or develop UXR-related templates and onboarding materials for volunteers.
• Partner with other colleagues within USDR to identify opportunities across focus areas.

Signs of Success

As part of your onboarding, we will provide robust documentation, shadowing opportunities, and plenty of time for questions. Some indicators you might be a strong fit for this role:

• You have 6+ years experience in UXR-related fields and are able to scope UXR work realistically and think strategically about how to align partner requests with larger organizational priorities
• You have 3+ years of strategic leadership experience, which may involve: growing a specific portfolio of work, contributing to business development or revenue generation initiatives, or bringing new services or products to market
• You have 3+ years experience working in or with government agencies or another highly regulated industry and are able to manage stakeholders at all levels, including C-suite. You feel comfortable leading conversations with partners solo after 1 month in the role. Our partners come from all levels of government (federal, state, county, city) and all seniority levels.
• You have 3+ years in a role requiring strong project management skills and are comfortable monitoring up to ~15 simultaneous projects. This represents the maximum workload we expect, but project capacity is typically lower. We do not expect this role to be an individual contributor on these project teams.
• You are a proactive, action-oriented leader who can make sense of confusing information or unclear requests, and can guide a partner toward clarity.
• You have experience managing and coaching individuals with diverse personal and professional backgrounds and are able to apply those skills in managing our volunteers and ensuring a positive volunteer experience. (This role does not have any direct reports.)
• You effortlessly model the values in our Community Oath.

Important Tools

Here are some of the tools we use heavily at USDR. There is documentation for all of these tools, but much of it will also require self-learning.

• Slack: used heavily for communication with staff and volunteers
• Zoom: used for video conferencing
• Google Suite: used for email and note-taking
• Notion: used as a documentation source-of-truth for volunteers and staff
• Hubspot: used to track conversations with partners and develop relationships

This role might be a good fit if you have a background in: UX/UI design, UX research, service design, product design, or research operations. Skills and experience are important, but we hire on value alignment first, so if you feel you would be a good fit with us, still consider applying.

What you’ll get:

• A competitive salary, consistent with similar roles in other tech non-profits in major U.S. metropolitan cities. The annual salary range for this role is $170,000 - 190,000 depending on experience.
• Full health, dental and vision benefits (USDR pays 100% of the cost for our employees and 80% of the cost for their dependents).
• 401K with a matching contribution of up to 3 percent of your pay with $1 for each dollar you contribute and for more than 3 percent and up to 5 percent of your pay with $0.50 for each dollar you contribute.
• An equipment reimbursement for the purchase of a computer and peripheral devices of up to $2,000 along with a Work from Home allowance of $100 each month to support employees as they navigate working from home.
• A discretionary budget of $400 per year per employee for learning and development to support individuals and teams with work-related learning and development expenses
• A supportive community where everyone can thrive and find a balance between working hard to make a difference and taking care of themselves. This means that we are committed to a fully remote work environment (for US-based employees) along with flexible schedules and time off policies that work with your life.

About USDR Salary Practices

At USDR, we aspire to be an organization where our employees not only sustain, but thrive. We compensate every employee based on the belief that they are fully performing in their role – meaning they demonstrate our values, perform the responsibilities, and meet the expectations of their individual role.

Each job at USDR is leveled based on the business need for the role, and the salary band is determined based on market data for similar roles in the tech industry.

New hires who signal full proficiency toward the job requirements will likely be offered the mid-point of our salary range.

Work Authorization

All USDR staff members work remotely in support of flexibility, wellness, and work-life balance. At this time, USDR is only hiring candidates who reside in the United States, and who have and maintain active U.S. Work Authorization.

USDR uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all new employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.DHS.gov/E-Verify.

Employment Opportunity

U.S. Digital Response is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer fully dedicated to achieving a diverse staff. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation), disability status, protected veteran status, political party affiliation, or any other characteristic protected by law.