Senior UX Strategist [Contract]

Job Description

We maintain a roster of trusted, experienced contractors we collaborate with across projects. This role is part of that ongoing talent pool, and qualified candidates may be contacted for future engagements as project needs arise.

[REDACTED] is seeking a Senior UX Strategist (Contract) to lead experience strategy for complex, policy-driven digital projects. This role is for a seasoned practitioner who can independently define UX and content strategy, navigate ambiguity, and guide multidisciplinary teams through digital transformation work.

As a Senior UX Strategist at [REDACTED], you will work across multiple client projects—often in government, education, and other regulated environments—partnering closely with project managers, designers, and engineers to translate requirements into cohesive UX and content strategies that are grounded in real technical constraints.

This is a contract, project-based role within our agency practice. It is not a UI-first design role and is not tied to a single product.

What You'll Do

• Own experience strategy end-to-end across complex digital projects
• Lead stakeholder research, discovery interviews, and requirements gathering in ambiguous or politically complex environments
• Synthesize user needs, business goals, policy constraints, and technical realities into clear, defensible experience strategy
• Define experience principles, success criteria, and structural approaches that guide design and delivery
• Develop and own UX artifacts including personas, user journeys, service blueprints, workflows, and information architecture
• Define content strategy as part of the overall UX approach, focusing on structure, hierarchy, sequencing, and clarity
• Create and document content models that support scalable, reusable, and accessible user experiences
• Define UX and content strategies that account for underlying data models, CMS structures, system integrations, and technical constraints
• Shape UX strategy for CMS-backed and data-driven digital systems, including public-facing experiences and supporting administrative or operational interfaces
• Collaborate with UX/UI Product Designers to ensure design systems and component patterns align with experience strategy, content models, and system requirements
• Provide strategic guidance and quality oversight throughout design and implementation
• Collaborate with engineers and technical leads to anticipate risks and ensure strategies are feasible and sustainable
• Lead or co-lead client workshops and presentations, clearly communicating recommendations, tradeoffs, and rationale

What We're Looking For

• Significant experience (typically 10+ years) in UX strategy, experience design, or a related discipline
• Demonstrated experience owning UX strategy for complex, CMS-backed and data-driven digital systems
• Strong background in information architecture, content modeling, and system-level UX thinking
• Proven ability to operate independently and lead strategy without close oversight
• Comfort navigating policy-driven, regulated, or enterprise environments
• Strong client-facing communication skills, including facilitating workshops and presenting strategy
• Working knowledge of how content models, data structures, roles, permissions, and system constraints influence user experience
• Familiarity with accessibility standards and inclusive design practices
• Experience working with government, education, or other public-sector clients is strongly preferred

How You Work

• You bring clarity to complexity and structure to ambiguity
• You think in systems, not just features or screens
• You balance ideal user experience with real-world technical and policy constraints
• You are confident making judgment calls and articulating tradeoffs
• You collaborate effectively across disciplines and roles
• You approach UX as a strategic practice, not just a set of deliverables

Tools & Practices

• Experience creating UX and content strategy artifacts (journeys, IA, content models, conceptual frameworks)
• Familiarity with CMS platforms and how content and data structures are implemented in digital products
• Comfort working in iterative, project-based delivery environments
• Ability to engage meaningfully in technical conversations

Engagement Details

• Contract, project-based role (hours vary by engagement)
• Fully remote
• Candidates must be based in the United States
• Applicants should include their hourly rate or rate range when applying

How to Apply

If this seems like a good fit for you, and you would like to be considered for future projects, please submit your résumé, a cover note (incl hourly rate) and any work samples you wish to show us. Apply using the link.

Must be a US Citizen or authorized to work in the US.

No recruiters, please.