Every year, millions of people interact with the City of Boston to do everything from finding information on City services to paying a parking ticket or starting a business. At Boston Digital Service, we believe these experiences should be easy to find, understand, and navigate – even delightful.

Boston Digital Service sits within the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) and partners with City departments to improve the programs, services, products, and initiatives that make the City of Boston a great place to live. We’re a cross-functional team with a mission to transform the user experience of existing services, better engage and communicate with our residents, and build new systems to improve how the City delivers services.

As the first Director of User Experience and Service Design, you will play a critical role in shaping the future of digital services for the City of Boston. You will lead the research, content, and design strategies to improve the holistic design and delivery of city services across channels. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, you will ensure that our services are accessible, user-friendly, and designed to meet the diverse needs of our constituents. Additionally, you will spearhead the creation and implementation of a web design system and oversee UX/UI product design to ensure consistency, usability, and scalability of tools and services. This role offers the unique opportunity to guide the digital transformation of public services, ensuring they are efficient, inclusive, and impactful.

• In collaboration with the Chief Digital Officer, develop and implement a vision for improving the holistic end-to-end delivery of city services through service design, user experience, and content strategy.
• Champion user-centered design across the organization and foster a culture that prioritizes the needs of residents, businesses, and government stakeholders.
• Collaborate with partner departments to incorporate user-centered design practices into how they design, deliver, and continuously improve their services. Support their efforts with training and guidance. 
• Contribute to the development of policies and strategies that support the transformation of government services.  
• Contribute to short-term and long-term budget planning.
• Oversee relevant contracts and projects with contractors and vendors.
• Assist in procuring additional resources (e.g., software, professional services), as needed.
• Stay updated on emerging trends in service design and digital service delivery, ensuring our practices are modern and effective.
• Connect with partners and stakeholders in civic innovation work, including internal partners across agencies and external partners such as community groups, startups, artists, university partners, small businesses, foundations, and more.

Service Design and Delivery

• Identify opportunities where service design can add value to city service delivery and our partner departments. 
• Help scope and oversee related engagements, initiatives, and projects, ensuring there are clear timelines and goals. 
• Provide expertise on human-centered and trauma-informed design to ensure systems meet the needs of all users, including vulnerable populations.
• Ensure design standards are followed across projects. 
• Lead and coordinate research efforts to gather insights on user needs, behaviors, and pain points, using data to inform service and product design.
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to make key decisions about design direction, build vs. buy decisions, product roadmaps, and ensure alignment between design vision and technical feasibility. 
• Scope work, support partner selection, and contribute to user research and civic design contracts that help government agencies better understand stakeholder needs to inform improved government products, services, policies, and processes.
• Manage capacity-building programs for process improvement, service design, and innovation.

Maturing and Managing the UX & Service Design Practice 

• Lead the strategy, development, and implementation of a scalable web design system across products, ensuring reusable, accessible components that promote consistency, usability, and scalability across multiple products and teams. 
• Establish a baseline for user satisfaction, service quality, and product design effectiveness, continually seeking ways to improve service delivery.
• Identify and act on opportunities to mature and improve the processes, practices, and tools that support our content, research, and design practitioners. 
• Create training programs that equip City Hall employees with the tools and knowledge to apply human-centered design practices in service and process redesign.
• Facilitate interactive and project-based training that develops practical abilities and a critical understanding of civic design methods and mindsets.
• Plan and deliver workshops and other interactive experiences that engage a wide variety of stakeholders in the co-design process.
• Create and deliver immersive working sessions that engage and empower leaders to act strategically, leveraging experiences in participatory design and co-design.
• Ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion principles are embedded in the team's work. 
• Contribute time and skill in promoting and storytelling the work of Boston Digital Service and the UX & Service Design Practice. You see yourself as an ambassador for the work.

Team and People Management

• Lead and manage a team of designers, researchers, content strategists, and UI/UX designers, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
• Oversee team development, encompassing workload management, skill enhancement, and frameworks for future growth.
• Provide coaching, guidance, and career development opportunities to team members, aligning their growth with the organization's goals.
• Perform related work as required. 

• Bachelor’s Degree preferred in user-centered design, anthropology, public administration, public policy, economics, information technology, data science, computer science, finance, sociology, political science, urban studies, design, or a closely related field, or equivalent professional experience. 
• Five plus (5+) years of experience in user experience (UX), service design, UI/UX product design, human-computer interaction, social sciences, or equivalent, including significant experience in digital product development.
• Four plus (4+) years of experience in people management, with a proven track record of leading high-performing teams in fast-paced environments.
• Experience in leading the creation and deployment of web design systems.
• Strong combined expertise in service design, user research, and content strategy.
• Experience with agile development methodologies and modern digital product delivery practices.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and project management skills.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and drive initiatives forward with limited information.
• Strong bias towards action; ability to step up into team gaps and ambiguous situations to structure the team’s action plan.
• Organizational skills sufficient to manage a dynamic portfolio of work that spans teams, customers, cultures, and technologies.
• Proficiency in UX design tools (Figma, for example).
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications and Google Suite.
• Demonstrated ability to innovate and apply creative solutions to complex problems.
• Preferred experience working within or for public-sector organizations, with familiarity with government processes and procurement.
• Preferred experience in trauma-informed design and research methodologies. 
• Ability to exercise good judgment and focus on detail as required by the job.

Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. The City may consider an equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

BOSTON RESIDENCY REQUIRED

Terms:

Union/Salary Plan/Grade: Non-Union/MM2-11

Hours per week: 35