Design and Research Team Lead

The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the Commonwealth’s workforce, labor, and economic mobility systems. EOLWD works in partnership with state agencies, regional workforce boards, education providers, employers, and community-based organizations to strengthen Massachusetts’ workforce, support workers and businesses, and expand access to economic opportunity. Its mission is to build a skilled, competitive workforce and a resilient economy by aligning policy, programs, and investments across the workforce system.

The Mass Hire Department of Career Services (MDCS), an agency within EOLWD, administers the Commonwealth’s statewide network of Mass Hire Career Centers. MDCS provides employment and training services to jobseekers and employers, including career counseling, job matching, training referrals, and labor market information. Working closely with 16 local workforce areas and a broad set of partners, MDCS plays a central role in delivering workforce services, ensuring compliance with federal and state requirements, and supporting equitable access to employment and career pathways across Massachusetts.

Are you interested in solving meaningful public problems and transforming how Massachusetts residents, jobseekers, employers, and workforce partners experience career and employment services? We are seeking an experienced, collaborative, and purpose-driven Experience Design and Research (XDR) Team Lead to support a major workforce services and systems modernization effort led by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD), in partnership with the Mass Hire Department of Career Services (MDCS).

This role is central to the Mass Hire Innovation Project, a statewide transformation initiative to design and implement a modern, integrated workforce system that better serves jobseekers, employers, and career center staff across the Commonwealth. We are looking for a hands-on, strategic “player-coach” who can lead experience design and research work while helping to grow people-centered design capabilities across the Mass Hire program and organization and eventually across all of Labor and Workforce Development.

In this role, you will help design, deliver, and continuously improve end-to-end workforce service experiences, with an initial focus on modernizing the digital and in-person experiences that jobseekers and employers encounter when engaging with Mass Hire Career Centers and related workforce programs.

This position is a full-time contract opportunity
. The work schedule for this position is Monday through Friday, 9:00AM to 5:00PM EST, in a flexible hybrid remote arrangement with 1 - 2 days per week spent at the primary work location:
100 Cambridge, Boston, MA 02108. Applicants should be located within reasonable commuting distance from the primary work location.

• Lead experience research and design efforts to support the design and delivery of integrated, digitally enabled workforce services within a complex, multi-stakeholder public system
• Help build and grow experience design and research capabilities over time, including contributing to hiring, onboarding, and capability development
• Collaborate with EOLWD, MDCS, workforce board and career center leadership, vendors, and cross-functional teams to provide strategic guidance and leadership on constituent-facing initiatives, including the Mass Hire Innovation Project
• Identify and prioritize opportunities to improve jobseeker, employer, and staff experiences and outcomes across digital and in-person touchpoints
• Plan and conduct iterative, inclusive constituent experience research to inform service design and improvements, system design, and policy decisions
• Create and refine experience artifacts such as journey maps, service blueprints, experience models, prototypes, and wireframes
• Facilitate experience reviews, design workshops, and co-creation sessions with internal teams and external partners
• Advocate for accessible, inclusive, and equitable design practices that meet the needs of diverse constituents across the Commonwealth
• Coa…