Product Designer, Software Developer with Security Clearance

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Job description

Alpha Omega Integration LLC is an award-winning Federal IT Solutions provider. Since its inception in September 2016, we have grown from a start-up to a $100m/year business. Alpha Omega's growth stems from our mission focus: to make the US Government the best in the world. We achieve that via advanced capabilities in the areas of Design & Product Management, DevSecOps & Cloud Engineering, Intelligent Automation, and Cybersecurity. Our consistent growth has fostered a series of accolades including Inc. 5000 and Washington Technology's Fast 50 awards for five consecutive years, Virginia Business Best Places to Work ten years in a row, and Maryland Technology Council's 2022 Government Contract of the Year over $50 Million Dollars award, to name a few. We are seeking passionate federal IT professionals to join our team. Come support our nation's government agencies and make a difference! Why Us? We have H.E.A.R.T.! Alpha Omega's Core Values - (H) harmony, (E) engagement, (A) accountability, (R) resourcefulness, and (T) tenacity- collectively are an acrostic reminder of the values that guide the work we do. We foster a culture that recognizes and rewards hard work. Our H.E.A.R.T. program invites colleagues and managers from across the organization to recognize each other for living out our core values. Spotlighted employees enjoy a detailed nomination about their core-values-aligned actions which are then shared with their manager. Ready to embark on a rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling career in the Federal IT Solutions space? Come grow with us! Job Title: Product Designer
Work Location: Remote
Clearance Required: US Citizen, DHS Public Trust (EOD) Clearance (Secret or above strongly preferred) Responsibilities: Alpha Omega is looking for experienced Product Designers to join our team. Product teams often have close collaboration and easy access to speak with users. It is expected that the designers are continuously reaching out to users at every phase of the product development lifecycle to understand their needs. The Product Designers are not only needed to voice the needs of the users but are also needed to balance the needs of the business, users, and technology. This balancing of business, user, and technology needs constitutes whole product thinking. Everyone on the team is ultimately responsible for advocating for the product and moving the product forward. Everyone on the team should be concerned with whether the team is building the right software to solve the right problem than if what they are building being "on schedule" or meeting requirements. Product Designers constantly ask themselves the question, "Is my team focusing on the most valuable thing for the users to move the product forward?" Owns planning of design activities and user research efforts from discovery research to post implementation follow-up research. Advocates to conduct user research early, often, and continuously gathers feedback from users after new features have been released.
Owns design decisions for solutions validated by users, incorporates user needs into design decisions, and articulates intent behind design decisions to team members, stakeholders, and Portfolio leadership
Owns user needs and incorporates user needs into product strategy; collaborates on outcome-oriented product roadmap that incorporates user needs into current product priorities
Runs "Lean Experiments" to test product assumptions, with a bias towards running those experiments in user interviews
Supports continuous delivery by advocating to deliver user value as quickly as possible
Communicates how user needs make the product more successful to product team members, stakeholders, and portfolio leadership
Role: Owns Human Centered Design Activities on the team to include: Understanding and communicating user value
Articulates and disseminates pertinent information regarding user value of the work being done on the product to stakeholders, teammates, and Portfolio
Facilitating workshops and design activities
Facilitates structured workshops with targeted audience (such as team, stakeholders, or users)
Conducts design activities such as user interviews, synthesis, and design studios for product team
Collaborating with other roles on product team
Proactively pairs with engineers on design solutions to gather feedback on implementation
Negotiates with engineers on solution feasibility without compromising user experience
Proactively pairs with PMs on roadmaps to incorporate user needs into product roadmap
Ensures consistent alignment with PM to balance business needs and user needs to move the product forward
Managing Stakeholders
Aligns user research with product strategy
Advocates for user needs to be prioritized along business requests
Communicates design decisions, user research insights, and outcomes to stakeholders
Educates stakeholders on how design makes the product more successful
Practicing Use Centered Design
Understands approach to developing products to solve user needs and behaviors
Continuously schedules user interviews and usability tests to validate hypothesis
Plans and leads user research, synthesis, and delivers insights and action items following synthesis
Appropriately leverages common/existing components and patterns across the project Required Skills/Experience: 5 years' experience as a Product Designer
Can distinguish between questions for which they can find the answer, and those that require an expert
Lean Mindset: Thinks in small, incremental changes that provide user value rather than major milestones and large redesigns
Knows when to compromise on solutions and implement solutions in an iterative way to deliver user value faster
Easily builds trust with product team members, stakeholders, and Portfolio leadership
Can differentiate between stakeholder ideas, business requests, and legal/policy considerations; understands that "specifications" or "requirements" are not validated features
Can differentiate between feature requests from users and user needs
Can understand complex business domains and policy, synthesizes that information quickly and identifies patterns
Can translate technical considerations to a non-technical audience
Can understand user needs and can extract user value from needs
Can articulate reasoning and intent behind chosen components and patterns
Alpha Omega Integration, LLC (Alpha Omega) is committed to the development of a creative, diverse, and inclusive work environment. In accordance with the law and our organizational values, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by law (referred to as "protected status)". Final hiring decisions at Alpha Omega will be based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA, women, people over 40, and differently-abled folks are strongly encouraged to apply.

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