The position is located in the Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Join us to transform how millions of students and partners access financial aid, innovate how borrowers repay their student loans, and play a leading role in implementing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). As Service Designers, you’ll orchestrate human-centered end-to-end experiences that bridge policy, people, and process across the student aid lifecycle.
Specialized Experience for the GS-13 One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-12 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments: 1. Experience supporting a multi-disciplinary project involving the design, development, and implementation of a new system or a major enhancement to an existing IT system. 2. Experience serving as a design contributor overseeing adoption of new functionalities or technologies for users. 3. Experience communicating technical Information Technology concepts or business practices to non-technical audiences. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) - Management Program Analyst GS-0343-13 The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement). 1. Knowledge of User Experience (UX) research and interaction design principles and methods. 2. Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative analytical and evaluative methods and techniques for measuring effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of assigned programs and projects. 3. Ability to work directly with developers and documenting design work for them. 4. Ability to communicate verbally and in writing recommendations and policy guidance to a variety of audiences.
APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 200 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 200th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first. We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application. As a Management Program Analyst GS-0343-13, you will be responsible for: Leading human centered design practices such as user experience (UX) research and interaction design (IxD) to help improve products on FSA’s customer-facing site, StudentAid.ed.gov. The site provides customers with a personalized and self-service experience across multiple channels that covers the federal student aid journey which includes learning about financial aid, applying for financial aid, and managing aid including loans. Applying qualitative and quantitative methods when assessing the program’s efficiency and effectiveness, program guidelines, practices, procedures and program-level administrative operations, processes, and mechanisms. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods assessing progress toward program goals and objectives. Prepares reports and briefs for program management. Implementing and promoting best practices in organizational change management Leading and working independently to conduct and oversee UX research to understand the needs of students, parents and borrowers and develop reports and recommendations to FSA stakeholders. Overseeing user research activities, including the development of detailed customer journeys. Analyzing FSA and servicer legacy websites to understand their functionality and gather requirements. Elicits requirements from customers, subject matter experts, and product owners. Assists vendor and FSA staff with documenting UX research epics, user stories, and personas. Leading the development interactive prototypes as part of the design process and stakeholder reviews. Leading and communicating requirements to vendors and provides feedback to vendors on deliverables. Collaborating with vendor and FSA staff to design the digital experience for students, parents, borrowers, schools, and partners. Working with the development team to understand technical constraints and communicating the desired functionality for the digital platform. Answering user interface design questions for the development team. Participates in user acceptance testing.