Senior Service Designer

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) was established in 2023. Its creation reflected the Commonwealth’s focus on housing, elevating the organization from a division (DHCD) to an executive office reporting directly to the Governor. EOHLC works to create more homes and lower housing costs for Massachusetts residents. We administer programs focused on housing production, housing affordability, fairness and equity in housing opportunity, emergency and transitional housing and financial supports, and home energy affordability, among other areas.

Are you interested in helping people in Massachusetts find and secure affordable housing? The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) is hiring a Senior Service Designer – Housing to reimagine the affordable housing experience.

You’ll start by collaborating on the design of a centralized application experience that streamlines how people learn about, apply for, and gain access to private affordable housing. In addition to improving the front-end applicant experience, you will also shape the back-end experience for property managers, municipalities and housing search workers/advocates. We need a systems thinker who thrives on understanding people and delivering complex services and holistic experiences.

This position is a full-time contract opportunity. The primary work location for this role will be at 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114. The work schedule for this position is Monday through Friday, 9:00AM to 5:00PM EST. This position follows a hybrid schedule, typically requiring an average of two days per week in the office, with the flexibility to balance on-site and remote work as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Define and concept test an Affordable Housing Application experience in partnership with the team’s Experience Design and Research Lead.
• Engage constituents and service providers to understand their needs, map their experiences, and co-design digital and non-digital solutions.
• Create compelling and effective service design artifacts to drive shared understanding and action (for example: ux wireframes, future state concepts, journey maps, service blueprints, prototypes, frameworks etc.)
• Guide vendor development teams and ensure outputs respond to constituent needs navigating, applying, and securing privately owned affordable apartments and homes.
• Partner with agency stakeholders to understand policies, technology systems, business needs, and other constraints when optimizing service delivery.
• Drive impact within a complex ecosystem that builds on existing discovery work. The team recently finished discovery work to understanding user needs. You’ll help the team extend these learnings, create a people-centered roadmap, and help move the team from vision to implementation.
• Help us grow our service design practice by working with peers to shape state-wide service patterns, best practices, and integrated solutions.
• Act as a change agent within Housing and Livable Communities by advocating for iterative people-centered design and research.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• 5-7 years of professional experience in service design
• 3+ years of experience working on government services or similarly complex public service orientated spaces
• Enthusiasm for solving problems facing public-sector agencies and promoting access to public services using modern technology, design, and research practices
• Demonstrated flexibility and patience in navigating highly regulated environments and complex stakeholder dynamics
• Deep expertise in service design, experience research, and experience/design strategy
• Comfortable facilitating co-design sessions, stakeholder workshops, and generative meetings
• Strong system thinking skills
• Outstanding verbal, written, and visual communication and storytelling skills