Senior UI/UX Engineer

Role: Sr. UI/UX Developer/Architect/Design engineer

Location: Des Moines, IA 50309

Lateral Insights is in search of a Senior UI Engineer with extensive experience in building and maintaining enterprise design systems, deep expertise in WCAG accessibility standards, and exceptional communication skills. This role is critical to ensuring the development of accessible, reusable, and scalable components that meet federal WCAG 2.1 (up to AAA) accessibility requirements. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of creating and implementing design systems from scratch, while collaborating across teams to ensure compliance, usability, and consistency.

Purpose of the Role

This position has been created to address the immediate need for accessibility and design system expertise across multiple enterprise systems. These include high-visibility projects such as DNR, HHS, IWD, and the River AI Chatbot, which must meet federal WCAG compliance by the April deadline. The role will focus on developing, documenting, and testing reusable components using Storybook, as well as implementing high-level wrapper components that ensure accessibility and uniformity across modern applications.

 

Key Responsibilities

• Design System Development: Build, document, and maintain a scalable design system and reusable component library using the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) framework or similar enterprise systems.
• Accessible Component Development: Develop high-level wrapper components with HTML, SASS, and Angular to ensure consistency and accessibility across web applications and the River AI Chatbot.
• Accessibility Compliance: Ensure all components and UI patterns meet WCAG 2.1/AAA accessibility standards through semantic HTML, ARIA roles, and accessibility testing workflows.
• Storybook Integration: Use Storybook for component development, documentation, and collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Collaboration and Mentorship: Partner with developers from other teams, many of whom may be new to accessibility and design system best practices, to drive adherence to accessibility and UX standards.
• Project Support: Provide accessibility and UX support for major state systems, ensuring compliance by the mandated deadline.
• Code and Accessibility Reviews: Participate in code reviews, accessibility audits, and UX discussions to ensure the quality and usability of front-end assets.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 8+ years of professional front-end development experience.
• Design System Expertise: Proven ability to set up and integrate enterprise design systems, including the development of high-level wrapper components and reusable component libraries.
• Accessibility Knowledge: Strong expertise in WCAG 2.1/AAA standards, ARIA roles, semantic HTML, and accessibility testing tools.
• Component Documentation: Experience using Storybook for component development and collaboration.
• UX Principles: Strong understanding of UX best practices and accessible user interface design.
• Enterprise Design Systems: Experience with USWDS or other enterprise-level design systems.
• 5+ years of professional front-end development experience
• Reusable Component Development – Experience developing high-level wrapper components and reusable component libraries
• HTML – 5+ years
• SASS – 5+ years
• Angular – 5+ years
• Enterprise Design Systems / USWDS – Experience with USWDS or comparable enterprise-level design systems

Preferred Qualifications (Not Required)

Backend Familiarity: Experience with .NET, MVC, and SQL to support backend integration and cross-team collaboration.

Integration Awareness: Ability to understand backend considerations in a .NET environment for seamless front-end integration.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an expert in accessibility-focused component development and enterprise design systems who thrives in a collaborative environment. They are a strong communicator, capable of leading cross-functional teams, and ensuring that all front-end assets are accessible, reusable, and compliant with federal standards. This individual will play a pivotal role in meeting the organization’s federal accessibility requirements and supporting the long-term sustainability of the design system across multiple agencies.