Assistive Technology, Background Investigation, Communication Skills, Consulting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer/Client Research, Demographics, Detail Oriented, Documentation, FISMA - Federal Information Security Management Act, Federal Government, Government, Information/Data Security (InfoSec), Internet Research, Laptop PC, Multilingual, Non-Disclosures, Onboarding, Online Customer Support, Operations Research, Organizational Skills, Research Skills, Section 508, Spanish Language, Spreadsheets, Technical Support, Time Management, Treasury, U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Usability Testing, User Experience Design (UXD), Videoconferencing, Work From Home, Writing Skills
Job Description: Design Researcher / UX Research Support - Full-Time
IRS Taxpayer Services and Online Account Research Support
Position Overview
SMX Services & Consulting is seeking two full-time Design Researcher / UX Research Support resources to support a 6-month federal project for IRS Taxpayer Services and Online Account Research Support. This role will support taxpayer user research activities by recruiting, screening, scheduling, coordinating, communicating with, and supporting participants for usability testing, taxpayer interviews, and related research studies.
The ideal candidate has strong research operations experience, participant recruiting experience, excellent communication skills, and the ability to manage sensitive participant information in a secure and privacy-conscious manner.
Number of Openings: 2 full-time openings
Position Type: Full-time contract position.
Estimated Hours
Each full-time Design Researcher / UX Research Support resource is estimated at approximately 1,050 total project hours over the 6-month period of performance.
Workload may vary based on Government-approved research schedules, participant recruiting cycles, usability testing windows, participant coordination needs, and study closeout activities.
Work Location
Remote / contractor facility. Work must be performed within the contiguous United States. Limited access to IRS Headquarters in Washington, DC may occur only with prior Government approval.
Candidate Pay Range
$60.94 to $62.93 per hour
Key Responsibilities
- Recruit and coordinate taxpayer participants for user research studies.
- Support study-specific recruiting plans based on Government-provided screening and eligibility criteria.
- Identify, contact, screen, and schedule qualified participants.
- Administer screeners, questionnaires, or short interviews to confirm participant eligibility.
- Support participant selection based on demographic, behavioral, technology usage, accessibility, language, device, and study-specific requirements.
- Schedule participants for remote or approved in-person research sessions.
- Send participant confirmations, reminders, session instructions, access links, expectations, and pre-work instructions.
- Respond professionally and promptly to participant inquiries.
- Coordinate reschedules, cancellations, no-shows, and participant follow-up.
- Provide basic participant technical support for remote research sessions, including video, audio, access links, screen sharing, platform access, and device-readiness checks.
- Track participant recruiting status, eligibility, attendance, no-shows, cancellations, session completion, and incentive status.
- Support participant incentive coordination after required Government approval.
- Maintain accurate and auditable research operations records.
- Protect participant information, taxpayer data, PII, CUI, FTI, and other sensitive Government information.
- Coordinate with Government research teams on participant quotas, recruiting progress, study schedules, and session readiness.
- Support research studies that may involve usability testing, taxpayer interviews, online account research, accessibility needs, multilingual participants, or privacy-sensitive topics.
- Support short recruiting timelines and shifting study priorities as required.
- Ensure no recruiting or incentive-related activity begins without required Government approval.
Required Experience
- Minimum of 3+ years supporting UX research, research operations, participant recruiting, usability testing, customer research, human-centered design research, or similar research coordination work.
- Experience recruiting, screening, scheduling, communicating with, and supporting research participants.
- Experience administering participant screeners and validating eligibility against defined criteria.
- Experience maintaining accurate participant tracking logs, recruiting records, scheduling records, or research operations documentation.
- Ability to manage multiple participants, studies, deadlines, and screening criteria at the same time.
- Ability to work quickly and accurately under short recruiting timelines.
- Strong written communication skills for participant emails, reminders, instructions, and follow-up.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to handle sensitive participant information with discretion and privacy awareness.
- Ability to perform work remotely within the contiguous United States.
Preferred Experience
- 5+ years of relevant UX research, research operations, participant recruiting, usability testing support, or customer research experience.
- Experience with Government, taxpayer, financial, healthcare, benefits, identity, accessibility, multilingual, or privacy-sensitive research.
- Experience supporting IRS, Treasury, federal civilian agencies, or other public-sector digital services.
- Experience recruiting diverse participant pools across age, race, gender, language, technology usage, tax filing behavior, device type, accessibility needs, or other study-specific criteria.
- Experience supporting Spanish-language or multilingual participant recruiting.
- Experience supporting users with assistive technologies such as JAWS or other accessibility tools.
- Familiarity with Section 508 accessibility requirements.
- Familiarity with CUI, PII, FTI, FISMA, NIST, and secure handling of sensitive Government information.
- Experience coordinating participant incentives and maintaining payment or incentive records.
- Experience using research recruiting, scheduling, survey, video conferencing, spreadsheet, CRM, or participant management tools.
Security / Compliance Requirements
- Must be able to complete IRS onboarding and background investigation requirements.
- Must complete required IRS awareness and security training.
- Must sign a nondisclosure agreement before beginning performance.
- Must protect participant information, taxpayer data, Government information, and other sensitive information.
- Secret or Top Secret clearance is not identified as required.
Hardware / Software / Tools
- Government-furnished badge and laptop may be provided after successful onboarding, as applicable.
- No named COTS product is required for this position.
- Candidate should be comfortable using Government-approved research, scheduling, communications, spreadsheet, video conferencing, survey, participant tracking, and collaboration tools.