Content Designer & User Researcher - 1053

Job Description

Under the general direction of the PermitSF Portal Program Director, the 1053 Content Designer & User Researcher supports the end-to-end design and improvement of PermitSF services. The position plans and conducts user research, translates evidence into clear and accessible content and service recommendations, and helps ensure that public-facing permitting experiences are understandable, usable, and responsive to the needs of applicants and City staff.

This position works across the full implementation lifecycle—from discovery and future-state design through configuration, testing, launch, stabilization, and continuous improvement. The Content Designer & User Researcher collaborates with customers, permit staff, implementation and configuration teams, communications staff, policy and legal partners, subject-matter experts, and the PermitSF platform vendor to identify user needs, simplify complex requirements, and shape consistent end-to-end experiences across permit types.

The position produces plain-language content, research plans and findings, journey maps, service blueprints, prototypes, and structured recommendations that inform business-process, configuration, product, and launch decisions. Consistent with the senior level of the 1053 classification, the incumbent works under general direction, exercises independent judgment, leads complex deliverables, and communicates evidence-based recommendations to cross-functional stakeholders.

The successful candidate will have a positive, solution-oriented mindset, embrace hard work and challenges with resilience, focus on solutions rather than problems, and contribute constructive energy to the team. They will work collaboratively across technical and non-technical teams, navigate competing priorities, and develop practical, evidence-based solutions that improve the user experience.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Essential duties of the position include but are not limited to the following:

• Plan and conduct user research with applicants, residents, businesses, permit staff, and other users during discovery, design, testing, launch, and continuous improvement.
• Select and apply appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods, including interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, surveys, and facilitated feedback sessions.
• Synthesize research findings to identify user needs, current-state pain points, workflow gaps, accessibility barriers, and opportunities for technology or business-process improvement.
• Create and maintain service blueprints, journey maps, process maps, content models, prototypes, and related artifacts that describe the end-to-end applicant and staff experience.
• Design, write, edit, and govern clear, concise, accessible, and plain-language content for online forms, instructions, eligibility questions, notifications, help text, confirmation messages, and related public-facing services.
• Analyze and translate complex legal, policy, technical, and operational requirements into content, functional requirements, and user interaction recommendations that users can understand and act on.
• Advise implementation and configuration leads on how workflow, form, naming, notification, and business-rule decisions will affect the applicant and staff experience.
• Translate research evidence and customer pain points into prioritized recommendations, acceptance criteria, user stories, and product feature requests for PermitSF leadership and the platform vendor.
• Facilitate content-design critiques, co-design sessions, workshops, and cross-functional reviews to resolve conflicting requirements and secure clear, implementable decisions.
• Plan and facilitate soft launches and guided first-use sessions with selected customers; collect real-time feedback and assess whether services are ready for broader release.
• Identify and document content defects, usability issues, bugs, and configuration problems found through research and launch activities; coordinate resolution and retesting with the appropriate teams.
• Partner with communications and web-content teams on website updates, launch information, and customer communications, while maintaining consistency with PermitSF content standards, voice, and tone.
• Maintain organized research records, content inventories, decision logs, reusable patterns, findings, and recommendations in accordance with privacy, accessibility, and program-governance requirements.
• Analyze customer feedback, staff reports, support trends, analytics, and operational data to recommend and evaluate improvements to PermitSF systems, business processes, and active digital services.
• Communicate research findings, risks, trade-offs, and recommendations clearly to managers, frontline staff, technical teams, vendors, executives, and other stakeholders.
• Perform other class-appropriate duties and special assignments necessary to advance PermitSF’s citywide permitting-transformation objectives.

Qualifications

Education:

An associate degree in business administration, public administration, information systems, economics, finance, computer science, UX/UI design or a closely related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in terms of total course credits/units [i.e., at least sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter credits/units with a minimum of twenty (20) semester or thirty (30) quarter credits/units in one of the fields above or a closely-related field].

Experience:

Three (3) years in the information systems field, including system analysis, business process design, development and implementation of business application solutions or IT project management.

Substitution:

One year of additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree. Completion of the 1010 Information Systems Trainee Program may be substituted for the required degree.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualification

Any stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Experience designing content for complex digital services, forms, transactional workflows, or government services.
• Experience applying UX writing, editing, and information-architecture skills to simplify complex legal, policy, operational, and technical requirements while maintaining accuracy.
• Experience planning and conducting user research with varied audiences and applying findings to content, service, process, product, and system configuration decisions.
• Experience creating journey maps, service blueprints, process maps, content models, prototypes, research reports, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Experience applying digital accessibility standards and inclusive design practices to forms, content, and end-to-end service experiences.
• Experience facilitating workshops, co-design sessions, usability tests, and cross-functional reviews with technical teams, policy, legal, communications, operations, and subject-matter experts.
• Ability to identify and analyze whether user-facing problems arise from content, processes, policies, system configuration, technology, training, or a combination of factors.
• Experience working in agile or iterative environments and collaborating with designers, analysts, developers, vendors, and operational teams through launch and continuous improvement.
• Experience with permitting, licensing, regulatory, civic technology, or other complex public services.

Verification:

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