Sr. UX/UI Designer

(ID: 2025-0981)

Axle is a bioscience and information technology company that offers advancements in translational research, biomedical informatics, and data science applications to research centers and healthcare organizations nationally and abroad. With experts in biomedical science, software engineering, and program management, we focus on developing and applying research tools and techniques to empower decision-making and accelerate research discoveries. We work with some of the top research organizations and facilities in the country including multiple institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Axle is seeking a Sr. UX/UI Designer to join our vibrant team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supporting the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

Benefits We Offer:

• 100% Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage for Employees
• Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
• 401K match up to 5%
• Educational Benefits for Career Growth
• Employee Referral Bonus
• Flexible Spending Accounts:
  • Healthcare (FSA)
  • Parking Reimbursement Account (PRK)
  • Dependent Care Assistant Program (DCAP)
  • Transportation Reimbursement Account (TRN)

About the Mission:

Join the team at the forefront of revolutionizing medical research in the United States. We are building and maintaining the foundational infrastructure of the National Clinical Cohort Collaborative (N3C), the nation’s largest and most significant public repository of harmonized electronic health record (EHR) data.  This isn't just a database. It's a living ecosystem. And to make it work, we need a world-class "front end" for science.

The Opportunity: Your Impact

This isn't a standard UI/UX job. We are looking for a Senior UI/UX Designer to own the complete user experience for the entire suite of applications that form the "front door" to N3C. Your challenge is to make the profoundly complex feel elegantly simple.

You will be the chief architect of the user experience for:

• The Data Access Management Environment (DAME): The "command center" for all data access. This complex portal will manage user registration, institutional multi-tenancy (allowing institutions to manage their own users), and the end-to-end workflow for Data Access Requests (DARs).
• The Phenotype Builder & Concept Set Explorer: A powerful analytics tool, inspired by platforms like OHDSI's Atlas, that allows researchers to interactively build and test cohort logic against real, aggregate data, while ensuring strict data privacy.
• The Community & Education Portals: The public face of N3C, where you will build the dashboards, content pages, and training modules that explain the platform's governance, structure, and capabilities to the entire research community.

If you are a systems-thinker who loves untangling high-stakes workflows and translating them into beautiful, intuitive, and empowering designs, this is your opportunity to shape the future of medical research.

What You'll Do:

• Lead User Research: Conduct interviews, workshops, and usability tests with our diverse users (clinical researchers, data scientists, institutional administrators) to deeply understand their workflows, needs, and pain points.
• Map Complex Workflows: Design and visualize complete user journeys, information architectures, and process flows for everything from multi-stage data access requests to iterative cohort building.
• Create and Prototype: Develop the full range of design artifacts, from low-fidelity wireframes and user flow diagrams to high-fidelity, pixel-perfect mockups and interactive prototypes using tools like Figma or Sketch.
• Translate Governance into UI: Take complex, abstract governance policies and data privacy rules and translate them into clear, simple, and unambiguous UI elements, guidance, and user feedback.
• Build a Design System: Create and maintain a comprehensive design system and component library to ensure a consistent, accessible, and high-quality user experience across all applications.
• Collaborate and Iterate: Work in an Agile environment, partnering directly with the Senior Full Stack Engineer, product leadership, and federal stakeholders to iterate on designs and bring your vision to life.
• Test and Validate: Plan and execute usability testing to validate your designs, and use the feedback to drive continuous improvement.

What You'll Bring (Required Qualifications):

• A passion for human-centered design and a portfolio that demonstrates your ability to solve complex problems.
• A portfolio that MUST include examples of designing complex, data-intensive applications, enterprise dashboards, or workflow-heavy platforms. (Applications for simple e-commerce or marketing websites will not be a good fit).
• 5-8+ years of professional UI/UX design experience.
• Proven, hands-on expertise in the entire design process, from user research and workflow mapping to UI design and usability testing.
• Mastery of modern design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD).
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to clearly articulate your design decisions to engineers, scientists, and executive-level stakeholders.

What Sets You Apart (Preferred Qualifications):

• Direct experience designing for healthcare, life sciences, or a clinical research audience.
• Experience designing cohort builders, data exploration tools (like OHDSI's Atlas), or data governance platforms. This is a huge plus.
• Strong experience with data visualization principles and designing intuitive dashboards for complex data.
• A deep understanding of accessibility standards (WCAG / Section 508).
• Experience working in a regulated data environment (e.g., HIPAA, FISMA).

Disclaimer: The above description is meant to illustrate the general nature of work and level of effort being performed by individuals assigned to this position or job description. This is not restricted as a complete list of all skills, responsibilities, duties, and/or assignments required. Individuals may be required to perform duties outside of their position, job description or responsibilities as needed.

The diversity of Axle’s employees is a tremendous asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate any illegal discrimination or harassment based on age, race, gender, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, covered veteran status, sexual orientation, status with respect to public assistance, and other characteristics protected under state, federal, or local law and to deter those who aid, abet, or induce discrimination or coerce others to discriminate.

Accessibility: If you need an accommodation as part of the employment process please contact: [email protected]

This role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation range listed below. Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidate’s experience, qualifications, skills, and location.

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