Senior Staff User Researcher

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists.

The work we do matters.

About the job

At Skylight, user researchers play a critical role in planning, designing, and carrying out research activities with users to help teams gain a deep understanding of the people that use government services. This research informs policy, service, content, and interaction design so that government services work well for users and achieve policy intent.

You'll join a contract supporting a federal agency in the health and civilian space. The systems involved handle sensitive personal data that millions of people rely on, so getting them right means treating that data with care while keeping the experience clear and humane. As a senior or staff researcher on this team, you'll set research direction across the engagement — scoping studies, running generative and evaluative research with the people who use these services and the staff who support them, and turning what you learn into findings that shape product, policy, and design.

What you’ll do

• Develop research plans (e.g., what methods to use) in alignment with the strategic context of the project
• Find and connect with good user research participants
• Apply a mix of quantitative and qualitative user research techniques (e.g., user interviews, contextual inquiry) to gain a greater understanding of user needs
• Find and connect with research participants, including in a context shaped by privacy and security constraints around federal tax information
• Translate research findings into service and product design hypotheses, then validate them through usability testing
• Clearly communicate findings to internal and external collaborators, and maintain organized, well-written documentation throughout the research process
• Guide the direction of the service, continually advocate for users, and help raise the research bar and mentor others across the team

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Ability to align user research activities with organizational strategy and objectives
• Can correctly apply a wide range of user research methods at different stages of the product life cycle
• Understand how to include all kinds of users in appropriate research activities to help teams deliver accessible services
• Can turn research data into clear findings that inform decisions
• Ability to lead research on a cross-functional, agile team and influence product, design, and policy direction
• Experience setting research direction across multiple workstreams and mentoring other researchers (staff level)
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• Ability to travel for work from time to time

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Experience researching services that handle sensitive personal data (e.g., tax, financial, or benefits information)
• Prior experience working in the civic tech space
• Experience working in a remote-team environment

Don’t meet every qualification but think you can do the job? We’d still love to hear from you. If you’re excited about the role, apply. We consider candidates with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
• You must complete a company background check successfully.
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.

Position type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location

This is a fully remote position.

Care package

Salary

We want to give you the most competitive salary possible. After all, you deserve it! To that end, we use the results of our interview process to determine what salary is most appropriate given your current level of seniority. For a User Researcher at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:

• Associate User Researcher: $90,000–$125,000
• User Researcher I: $120,000–$140,000
• User Researcher II: $135,000–$160,000
• Senior User Researcher: $150,000–$185,000
• Staff User Researcher: $170,000–$203,000
• Principal User Researcher: $180,000–$230,000

Benefits

Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid time off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid time off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Business development / sales bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Dollar-for-dollar charity donation matching, up to $500 per year
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good

Interview tips

• Visit ourjoin page to learn more about how our interview process works.
• Check out ourCareer Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
• Please include a portfolio of 1–2 work samples with your application. Your portfolio can be anything from a website to a slide deck — whatever best showcases your work. We suggest choosing work samples that highlight your skills and experience in relation to the qualifications outlined in the job posting. Unless specified in the job requirements, your portfolio doesn’t need to be tied to any particular industry or field — just select samples that best represent your expertise. To ensure we can review your application promptly, please remove any access passwords on your portfolio or provide access details.
• If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at [email protected].

We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.