We’re Hiring! Interaction Designer @ NYC Planning Labs
NYC Planning Labs is looking for an Interaction Designer to improve the Department of City Planning’s digital products and services by focusing on the people who need them most.
How we build is as important as what we build
NYC Planning Labs (Labs), a team within NYC Planning’s Information Technology Division (ITD), is responsible for investigating and implementing forward-thinking technology tools to help urban planners’ productivity and efficiency. In developing tools for better planning and decision making, Labs provides technology service delivery while leveraging agile development processes, rapid prototyping, and human-centered design.
Already interested? Apply here: http://bit.ly/JoinPlanningLabs
What is it like to work at NYC Planning Labs?
As an Interaction Designer at Planning Labs, you’ll work with cross-functional teams of experts in design, product strategy, software engineering, and data science. You’ll build useful and beautiful digital experiences, help the agency improve its user-centered design practices, and help teams without those practices get started. You’ll establish, measure, and evolve design patterns that make our work consistent and efficient.
Strong applicants will have experience with front-end web design and passion for multiple user-centered design disciplines such as design research, content design, information architecture, and service design.
You know how to design and build products iteratively, and love to help others discover better ways of designing collaboratively. You’ll lead research activities, derive insights, generate and communicate concepts, and work with Product Managers and Engineers to build solutions and test our assumptions.
You have a clear understanding of web design fundamentals — e.g. color, typography, layout, grid systems, responsive design, user journeys, and accessibility best practices — and you’re comfortable working with front-end frameworks and design systems.
A successful Designer at Planning Labs will:
- Work alongside a product manager prioritizing user needs in a complex bureaucratic and policy environment
- Probe technical experts on their methodologies, finding opportunities for clarification, improvement, and digital intervention
- Map user journeys through government processes, breaking them down into actionable, logical units
- Conduct user research and distill insights across all our user types (and help us define them), from government employees to private sector analysts
- Wireframe an interaction flow for sections of an application (we currently use Figma)
- Lead collaborative design sessions with product stakeholders
- Draft application copy explaining in simple terms how a feature or function works
- Have opportunities to contribute to public design documents, and you’ll be encouraged to blog about your process and what you’ve learned
You should apply if:
- If you have 2 or more years of professional design experience on a cross-functional app development team and understand the importance of collaboration, teamwork, and clear communication
- You can demonstrate an ability to communicate your design concepts both visually, verbally, and in writing (we’ll ask that you submit a portfolio of your work)
- You’re organized and thorough, with a proven ability to bring order and logic to processes and tools
- You have the ability to synthesize perspectives from a variety of users, ranging from technical experts to non-technical generalists
- You’re interested in helping NYC Planning build a strong design culture
What you get:
- Salary: $85,000–$95,000 commensurate with experience
- New York City health benefits, including full dental coverage
- 15 paid vacation days a year, with an additional 11 paid Federal holidays
- Eligibility for a host of NYC retirement plans
- Agency-issued MacBook Pro and dual-monitor workstation
- Working with renowned colleagues in one of the largest city planning agencies in the United States
- Strong work/life balance
- Being part of a diverse, dynamic team committed to improving the state of data in NYC Planning
- Weekly wonky map quiz emails
How do I apply?
If you’re already convinced this is the job for you, say ‘hi’ here: http://bit.ly/JoinPlanningLabs
