Akima Systems Engineering (ASE) supports the Intelligence, DoD, and Science and Research communities with tools, domain knowledge, analyst teams and essential mission staffing services. We continually seek people with the skills, experience and passion to successfully leverage the complete intelligence lifecycle across America’s most critical initiatives. As an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC), 100% of our company’s profits go back to our more than 14,000 Iñupiat shareholders that have resided near and above the Arctic Circle for more than 10,000 years. Our business helps support their way of life and contributes to the survival of a culture that has thrived in a challenging environment. Summary: The US GS is the n at ion's pre miere scie nce agen c y resea rc hing natu ral re sources and na tural hazar ds i n la bo rator ie s and fiel d st at io ns a rou nd the c ountr y. Tw o ce nters i n the US GS t hat foc us on w il dlife d is ease an d wate r reso urces are updatin g a nd expa nd i ng inf ormat ion s ha rin g s yste ms a nd share a n ee d for a subje ct matt er expe rt who wil l base this de velo pme nt ar ound hum an-ce ntere d de sign. Missi on success d e pe nds on cl ear com munica ti on and c ompell ing eng a geme nt wi th br oad an d di ver se audience s. The US GS Nat ional Wildli fe Healt h Ce nter (NWH C) is a f ull-ser vice wildli fe diag no sti c laborat ory th at leads the nation i n i de ntifyi ng and res pondin g t o em er ging diseases a ff ect in g wil dlif e. T o c oor dina te disease respon s e a nd pro vide sit uati on al a wa ren es s to the w il dlife, b io surveil la nc e, and O ne He al th comm un it ie s, the NW HC dev el op e d a wildli fe healt h data po rtal call ed WHISP ers, whic h sta nd s for Wil dlife H e al th Infor mati on S ha rin g Pa rtner s hip - even t re portin g system. It is a vo l un ta ry, par t ner-dri ve n, we b- base d rep osit ory for s ha rin g basic i nformat ion a bout historic a nd ongo i ng w il dlife morta li ty (deat h) an d/or m orb idit y (ill ness) e ve nts an d pro vi des a portal f or re quest in g diag nosti c an d epidemi ologic assist ance fr om NW HC. W HI S Pers pr ov i des ti mely, acc ur at e i nformat ion o n w her e wildli fe diseas e eve nts ar e oc currin g or ha ve o cc urred f or be tt er p re pa rati on a nd d eci si on making. Wit h r ecent cong ressio nal s upport, NWH C i s plan ning t o im pro ve usa bili ty of e xisti ng functi onal it y, de velo p new functi onal it ie s, tar get new surveil la nce da ta streams and develop m obil e tools for offli ne d at a c ollec ti on s wh il e i n the fiel d. The US GS Wa te r Missi on Ar ea ( WMA) We b C omm unic at ions Bra nch ( WCB) de velo ps an d dissemi na te s water data an d i nformat ion a nd pla in lan gu a ge wa te r sci ence con te nt thr ough st at ic w ebsite s, s ocial me dia, a nd othe r ou t reach and e du cat io n a ct ivit ie s, ta rg ete d to stake ho l der s a s d e fine d by W MA pr ograms and lea de rsh i p. Akima is hiring a S ub je ct Mat te r E xpert II-Usa bili ty S pe ci al ist wh ose pr ima ry res ponsi bili ty i s f or i de ntifyi ng and en ga ging t he WHISP ers user audience s; assessi ng a nd do c ume ntin g use r req uireme nt s, nee ds, an d s at isfact ion le vels; creat in g use r inte rf ace desig ns, pr otot yp e s, a nd s pecifica ti on s f or W HI S Pers; desi gnin g a nd con duct ing usa bili ty test s at var i ou s stag es of the d e vel opment proces s; analyzi ng th e res ults o f the se test s and ma king recomme nd at i on s t o i mpro ve d esi gn and fun ct ional it y; co nt rib uting t o usa bili ty guideli ne s to pro vide de velo per s with to ols i n th e d esi gn pro ce ss; an d c reati ng, p romotin g, a nd sup portin g a co rpor at e sta nd ar d f or usabi li ty for use at NWHC. In ad diti on to s upportin g W HISPers d e velo pme nt, t he S ubj ect M at te r E xp ert I I Usabili ty Sp eci al ist may al so s pend u p to 5 0% of t heir ti me s up portin g W MA's W e b C omm un ic at ion Bra nc h (WCB). The tasks pe rformed w it h WCB would be simi la r to th ose for t he WH ISP ers pro je ct, but w ork wou l d be le d by ot her WC B usa bili ty exp erts f or a var ie ty of W MA products. Responsibilities: - Wor ks with N WH C staff to act ively e ng a ge the WH ISPe rs and br oad e r wil dlife h eal th commu nity t o i de ntify an d char acte rize ke y user co mm unit ie s an d s ummari ze user pe rsonas; gathe r user re quireme nts, nee ds, a nd usa bili ty go al s; a nd ide nt ify opportu niti es to le ver a ge usa bili ty to e xpan d W HISPer s capa bili ti es to bette r e ng a ge sta keholde rs. Determi nes a nd e xecu tes inf ormat io n c ollec ti on meth od(s), dev el ops data colle ct ion t oo ls (questi onnai res, inter view que sti on s, etc.), a na lyzes the d at a (inclu ding data previ ou sl y c ollec te d fro m W H ISPers users by N WHC), pre par e s r e sult s, a nd ma ke s r ec omme nd at ions base d o n the se data. - Leads t he d eve lop me nt of u se r inter face desi gn s, i nteracti ons, prot otypes, and s pecifica ti on s to imp rove the c urren t user expe rienc e an d to guid e up c omi ng platf orm e xp a nsio n. Addresses re al-w or ld w orkf low, such as in-fiel d a nd mobil e data c ol le ct ion and m anag e ment, to maximize e ff ic ie ncy a nd clari ty. Ensu res th at d esi gns/pr ototy pes reflect user n ee ds an d specific at io ns, t echn ic al ca pa bili ti es, an d ad her e nce t o usa bili ty stan dards and gu i delines. - Con tri bu te s to WHISPe rs usa bili ty test ing ef forts a nd en s ur es that al l WHI SPers use r i nterf aces un dergo u sa bili ty te sti ng at m ulti ple stages pri or to rel ease (e.g., on t he idea, o n the pr ototy pe, on t he mi nim um viable pro duct, a nd on the fi nal prod uc t). E nsures u s er-ce ntere d des ign t hro ughout pro ces s. Pla ns usa bili ty-te sti ng acti viti es fo r s pecific pro du ct release s and for i ncr e mental im provements t o e xisti ng i nterf a ces. Adhe res to the te sti ng sc hedul e, test scenari os a nd othe r rele va nt test too ls, r ec ru i tment o f te st pa rtic ipants, and coor dinat io n o f ov e rall te sti ng. Re views te sti ng r e sult s and rec ommen ds modificat io n s t o the d esi gn/p ro t otype ba sed o n these r e sult s. Inter pret s and pr e sents usa bili ty test ing resu lt s t o the NWHC de velo pme nt team. - Exec utes met hods f or usa bili ty e valuati on ac ti viti es to s up port qual it y ass urance. Wo rks c losely with N WH C staff to dev el op com prehensi ve e valu at ion plans whi ch incl ud e s urv eys t o asses s a war e ness, need and sati sfacti on; pr oduct speci fic s urve ys o f WHISPe rs u se rs; a nd foc us gro up s to suppo rt eval uatio n e ffor ts (e. g., with new or i na dequatel y unde rstood t ar get audie nc es, or to test reacti on s to possi ble cha ng e s in produ ct s/se rv ic es). Inter pr et s res ults f rom sur ve ys a nd tra nsla te s r es ults i nto speci fic act ions that inc rea ses awa re ness of o r rem ov e barriers to W HISPers u ti li zat ion. Inte rprets s pecial re ports, g uidel i nes a nd po li ci es u si ng in dep e nd e nt ju dgme nt b ase d on ex pe rtise in usa bili ty engin eerin g met hodolo gy and c ommu nicat ions. - Provi des usa bili ty d esi gn an d i n te racti on c ons ultat ion t o NWHC staf f a nd c on t ractors t o e nsure usa ble in formati on pro du ct s a nd s erv ic es, s uch a s u se r gu i des a nd o t her trai ni ng or outreach mate rial s. Dev el op s and publi shes usa bili ty gu i delines for r efere nce t hrougho ut the p rod uct d e velo pme nt pr ocess. C ommu nicat es th ese g uidel ine s fr e qu e ntly a nd eff ect ivel y acr oss de velo pme nt teams, bra nc hes, an d othe r rel eva nt p a rtie s acr oss USGS. - Acti vely e nga ge s with the W HI S Pers d e vel opment tea m i n a n it erati ve, agile envir onm ent. Partic ipat es in wee kly scrum meet i ng s and e xec utes spri nts in an t he agreed up on ti mefr am e. - Assists WMA st aff a nd c on tr act or s with tas ks simi la r to t hose li ste d a bove for a v a riet y of W MA pro duct s to en s ure usa ble W MA i nformat ion pr oducts and ser vices. - Some travel my be required.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications: - Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Web Design, or related field is preferred. - Strong knowledge and experience with design software and wireframe tools. - Knowledgeable of human centered design principles. - Strong communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills. - Experience supporting and working closely with project customers and in cross-functional project and product teams. - Strong organizational and problem-solving skills with an attention to detail. - A dri ver's lic ense will b e require d f or local travel via aut omo bile. Desired Qualifications: - A minimum of 2 years of design experience is preferred. The duties and responsibilities listed in this job description generally cover the nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. This is not intended to be a complete list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required. Subject to the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, the company management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as may be necessar y. We wish to thank all applicants for their interest and effort in applying for the position; however, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will receive consideration for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, gender or gender-identity, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, pregnancy or parental status, or any other basis prohibited by law. We are committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you have a physical and/or mental disability and are interested in applying for employment and need special accommodations to use our website to apply for a position please contact, Recruiting Services at job-assist@akima.com or 571-353-7053. Reasonable accommodation requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. The dedicated email and telephonic options above are reserved only for individuals with disabilities needing accessibility assistance to apply to an open position using our website. Please do not use the dedicated email or phone number above to inquire on the status of your job application. In order for our company to stay compliant with government regulations, please apply on line. Please DO NOT email resumes or call in lieu of applying online unless you have a physical and/or mental disability and need assistance with the online application.