Senior Product Design Fellow

Description

This is a grant-funded position lasting 18 months, ending July 2028.

The Office of Technology and Innovation uses technology to expand opportunity, improve public safety, and make New York City government work better, covering affordable broadband, cybersecurity, and digital public services.

The Public Interest Technology Crew inside the city's technology office builds public-facing products that make New York City more affordable. The crew is hiring Senior Fellows for an 18-month public service term, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Fellows will join the crew and work with city agencies to launch several public-facing products with measurable results. The team will apply modern design and technology practices inside city government to deliver better user experiences faster and at lower cost.

The role is a hands-on senior design position covering user research, interaction design, visual design, and content design. You will work alongside product managers, engineers, designers, policy staff, and other city employees to take products from problem statement to launch for residents. You will also set the team's research methods, shared design system use, and approach to building quality products at pace and scale.

Responsibilities

• Own design for resident-facing products from concept to launch, covering research, interaction, content, and visual design.
• Work quickly through prototyping, usability testing, MVP iteration, pilots, and public release, balancing scope, quality, and timing.
• Plan and run research with New Yorkers, including interviews, usability sessions, and field visits, and turn findings into clear decisions for the team.
• Create user flows, information architecture, wireframes, and high-fidelity interfaces, and build prototypes to test them.
• Write plain-language content that turns complex eligibility rules, legal text, and agency processes into clear, accurate, actionable product copy.
• Work with product managers, engineers, researchers, and other city staff on daily product decisions and help with scope and priorities.
• Work directly with agency staff, policy advisors, and legal counsel to make complex rules easy to use.
• Build accessibility into the design process from the start and work with engineers to meet city quality and accessibility standards.
• Contribute to a shared design system and reusable patterns so each new product is faster to design.
• Help shape design culture on a small, mission-driven team, including mentoring and onboarding future hires.
• Take on special projects and initiatives tied to the grant as assigned.
• Work shifts that may include weekends, nights, or evenings, since the position supports a 24/7 operation.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree from an accredited college in computer science, engineering, human-computer interaction, interactive media, digital or graphic design, data visualization, communication, or a related field, plus four years of satisfactory full-time experience in the required areas and a specialization in a relevant technology, process, methodology, or domain.
• An associate degree from an accredited college in one of the fields listed above, plus six years of satisfactory full-time experience in the required areas and a specialization in a relevant technology, process, methodology, or domain.
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited college, plus eight years of satisfactory full-time experience in the required areas and a specialization in a relevant technology, process, methodology, or domain.
• Education and or experience equivalent to any of the options above.

Conditions

Based in Brooklyn, NY.

Apply through the city jobs site at searching for Job ID 806186.

Candidates with other civil service titles who meet the preferred requirements should also submit a resume.

Submitting a resume does not guarantee an interview.

Appointments are subject to oversight approval.

Civil service title: IT Project Specialist, 95710.

The company is an equal opportunity employer that bans discrimination and harassment based on legally protected characteristics.