Staff Product Designer, Mission Applications with Security Clearance

Job Title: Staff Product Designer, Mission Applications
Location: Fort Belvoir, VA
Type: Contract To Hire
Work Model: Onsite Security Clearance: Secret clearance Join a high-performing team supporting mission-critical digital transformation initiatives for a federal defense customer. This role offers the opportunity to influence the design and development of complex applications used to support operational decision-making, data-driven workflows, and mission outcomes. You'll work alongside product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to create intuitive user experiences for sophisticated enterprise platforms operating in secure environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead continuous product discovery efforts with end users, mission stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.
• Translate complex operational workflows into intuitive user journeys, wireframes, prototypes, and production-ready designs.
• Conduct user research, usability testing, and feedback sessions to validate design decisions and drive continuous improvement.
• Partner closely with software engineers, data engineers, and product teams throughout the product lifecycle.
• Balance user needs, technical constraints, and business objectives to influence product strategy and priorities.
• Develop and maintain reusable design patterns to ensure consistency across applications and platforms.
• Advocate for user-centered design principles in product, technical, and stakeholder discussions.
• Contribute to the evolution of scalable design systems and best practices within secure enterprise environments. Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Information Systems, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience in product design, UX design, or human-centered design.
• Proven experience owning complex digital products from discovery through implementation and delivery.
• Strong expertise in user research, workflow analysis, prototyping, interaction design, and usability testing.
• Experience designing data-intensive applications, operational systems, or enterprise software platforms.
• Demonstrated success collaborating closely with software development teams in Agile environments.
• Portfolio showcasing relevant product design and UX work.
• Experience supporting a Department of Defense or federal government customer.
• Active Secret security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting defense, national security, or other mission-critical government programs.
• Experience designing applications within enterprise data and analytics platforms such as Palantir Foundry or comparable technologies.
• Familiarity with government program management, acquisition, or operational environments.
• Advanced proficiency with Figma or similar UX/UI design and prototyping tools.
• Experience creating, implementing, or maintaining design systems.
• Understanding of accessibility standards and secure government technology environments.