UX Designer - Senior

Project Overview

The City of Toronto requires specialized user experience, user interface, and service design services to support prioritized digital products and public services. The work includes discovery research, journey mapping, information architecture, interaction and interface design, prototyping, usability testing, and accessibility reviews, with outcomes that improve task completion, findability, and reduce user effort. Work will be delivered iteratively and in alignment with the City's design system.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct discovery, user research, stakeholder interviews, usability testing, and related evidence-gathering activities.
• Review existing research, analytics, service processes, accessibility findings, business requirements, and technical constraints.
• Synthesize findings into prioritized user needs, experience principles, design recommendations, risks, and opportunities.
• Ensure research and design activities include diverse users and consider accessibility, privacy, ethics, and informed consent requirements.
• Translate validated user and business needs into user journeys, task flows, service blueprints, information architecture, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity interface designs.
• Design responsive and accessible experiences for web and mobile, including navigation, forms, validation, errors, empty states, loading states, and other relevant interaction states.
• Apply user-centred design methods and UX/UI best practices to improve usability, findability, task completion, consistency, and service outcomes.
• Identify and prioritize design debt and recommend practical improvements based on user impact, accessibility, feasibility, and project priorities.
• Iterate designs using research findings, usability-test results, stakeholder feedback, technical input, and implementation constraints.
• Design in accordance with applicable City standards, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines specified by the City.
• Document accessibility requirements, interaction behaviours, content guidance, and identified issues throughout the design process.
• Contribute to the City’s design system by creating or refining reusable components, patterns, variants, tokens, and usage guidance.
• Reuse approved City components and patterns where appropriate and document the rationale for any proposed deviation or new pattern.
• Participate in accessibility and design reviews and support the resolution or formal acceptance of identified issues.
• Collaborate with City staff, divisional partners, researchers, content specialists, developers, product and project leads, and other stakeholders.
• Plan and facilitate workshops, design critiques, playback sessions, and decision-making activities to build shared understanding and obtain timely feedback.
• Present design concepts, research findings, prototypes, and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Prepare developer-ready design specifications, annotated prototypes, assets, behaviours, responsive guidance, component references, and acceptance criteria.
• Maintain continuous involvement during implementation, participate in design-quality reviews, and document issues and recommended resolutions.
• Advise clients and project teams on UX, UI, service design, accessibility, and design-system standards.
• Provide senior design leadership and advocate for evidence-based, accessible, consistent, and user-centred decision-making.
• Maintain design files, research records, decision logs, accessibility issue logs, design backlogs, and other documentation required for continuity and governance.
• Identify and communicate design risks, dependencies, assumptions, scope impacts, and trade-offs to the designated City authority.
• Monitor relevant UX, accessibility, service design, and technology practices, and recommend appropriate improvements for City consideration.
• Perform related duties within the scope of the assignment, as directed by the designated City authority.

Qualifications & Requirements

REQUIRED

• Must be able to work 3 days onsite per week in Toronto
• 7+ years of professional experience in user experience, user interface, interaction, product, or service design, including senior-level responsibility for complex digital products or services
• Extensive experience planning and conducting discovery, user research, stakeholder interviews, usability testing, and evidence synthesis, and translating findings into prioritized design recommendations
• Extensive experience creating user journeys, task flows, service blueprints, information architecture, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity responsive designs for web and mobile services
• Advanced proficiency with Figma, including components, variants, libraries, prototyping, file organization, documentation, and developer handoff
• Experience designing and documenting accessible digital experiences in accordance with AODA and the WCAG version and conformance level specified by the City
• Experience contributing to, extending, and applying design systems, including reusable components, patterns, tokens, interaction guidance, content guidance, and governance practices

NICE TO HAVE

• Post-secondary education or certification in user experience design, interaction design, service design, human-computer interaction, information architecture, accessibility, or a related discipline
• Experience delivering digital services in a municipal, broader public-sector, or regulated environment
• Experience with content design, search optimization, analytics, or service performance measurement
• Experience providing coaching, mentorship, or knowledge transfer to design teams and multidisciplinary partners
• Familiarity with agile product delivery and public-sector governance processes

Key Skills & Competencies

Figma, User research, Usability testing, Prototyping, Wireframing, Information architecture, Interaction design, Service design, Design systems, Accessibility, WCAG, AODA, Responsive design, Journey mapping, Task flows, Service blueprints, Design handoff, Stakeholder interviews, UX design, UI design