UX Researcher (MDC/AICES)

Position Overview

SteerBridge is seeking a UX Researcher with product design and prototyping capability to support the Modern Disability Claims (MDC) team and the continued development of AICES, the Artificial Intelligence Claims Evaluation System. This is a hybrid role based in the United States, with a possible remote opportunity depending on experience.

This role focuses on understanding how people review claims, navigate evidence, complete medical evaluation tasks, and respond to system-generated information. You will plan and conduct studies, synthesize findings, and translate insights into wireframes or prototype concepts that teams can evaluate with users before development. You will work alongside designers, engineers, product stakeholders, and claims and medical evaluation subject-matter experts to shape usable, accessible workflows.

AICES brings together claim information, evidence, forms, and system outputs. Research must account for the different goals, permissions, and information needs of claims reviewers, medical providers, power users, and administrators, and show whether users can trace information to its source, review or correct system-generated findings, manage exceptions, and complete their work with confidence. AICES supports medical disability examination and claims evaluation workflows, including:

• Claims intake and information organization
• Evidence review and source traceability
• Medical evaluation and DBQ-related workflows
• Review of system-generated findings and supporting information
• Case status, exceptions, and administrative workflows

This work matters because these tasks affect Veterans and their claims. Success means research directly informs product decisions and delivery priorities, and the product is accessible and trustworthy, with evidence sources, system behavior, and review actions clear to the users responsible for them.

Key Responsibilities

User Research and Discovery

• Plan and conduct qualitative and quantitative research, including interviews, contextual inquiry, surveys, and workflow analysis.
• Study claims and medical evaluation workflows through approved access to users and representative materials, documenting constraints, handoffs, and decision points.
• Conduct usability testing on prototypes and production workflows, including evidence review, multi-tab navigation, and administrative tasks.
• Synthesize findings into clear, prioritized insights and recommendations that guide product decisions.
• Develop personas or role profiles, journey maps, task flows, and workflow models when they help the team make design decisions.

Research-Driven Design and Prototyping

• Translate research findings into prototype concepts that demonstrate improved claims and medical evaluation workflows.
• Create wireframes, interaction models, and low- to mid-fidelity prototypes in Figma.
• Collaborate with product designers to refine concepts and test whether proposed changes solve observed problems.
• Support interaction design, information architecture, and accessibility decisions for complex, evidence-rich workflows.
• Validate design concepts through iterative testing with the relevant user groups.

Systems and Product Collaboration

• Work closely with engineers and data teams to ensure architectural patterns align with user workflows.
• Partner with product owners and subject-matter experts to balance operational needs with technical constraints.
• Participate in backlog refinement and design reviews.
• Support design-to-development handoffs with clear research and workflow documentation.

Domain and Competitive Research

• Conduct domain research on disability claims, medical evaluation processes, and relevant federal service workflows.
• Analyze comparable case management and evidence review tools to inform product direction without treating competitor patterns as a substitute for user research.

Required Qualifications

• Eligibility requirements: U.S. citizenship is required for this position under applicable federal contract requirements. Candidate must also be able to obtain and maintain the security clearance required for the role.
• 3+ years of experience in UX research, human factors, or applied product research.
• Experience planning studies, recruiting or coordinating participants, conducting sessions, and synthesizing findings into actionable recommendations.
• Strong command of research methods, including interviews, workflow analysis, usability testing, and synthesis.
• Ability to understand complex claims or evaluation workflows and communicate user needs clearly.
• Experience creating research-informed prototypes or wireframes.
• Proficiency with Figma or similar design and prototyping tools.
• Ability to handle sensitive research materials and follow applicable project access and privacy requirements.
• Ability to work in complex enterprise or government software environments.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to present findings to technical and nontechnical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with VA, federal health, benefits, disability claims, medical evaluation, or case management systems.
• Experience supporting enterprise decision-support or evidence review platforms.
• Familiarity with complex interfaces that show document sources, system-generated outputs, review status, exceptions, and user permissions.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams that include engineers, product designers, subject-matter experts, and program stakeholders.
• Experience with UX research platforms such as UserTesting, Qualtrics, or Optimal Workshop, and Agile tools such as Jira.