Enterprise Practice Lead (Service Design) (Remote From Anywhere In Colorado)
Salary
$115,000.00 - $145,000.00 Annually
Location
Statewide, CO
Job Type
Full Time
Job Number
EGBPOD
Department
Governors Office of Information Technology
Opening Date
05/27/2026
Closing Date
6/10/2026 11:59 PM Mountain
FLSA
Determined by Position
Primary Physical Work Address
(Remote From Anywhere In CO)
FLSA Status
Exempt; position is not eligible for overtime compensation.
Department Contact Information
oit_hr@state.co.us
Type of Announcement
This announcement is not governed by the selection processes of the classified personnel system. Applications will be considered from residents and non-residents of Colorado.
How To Apply
Please submit an online application for this position at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado. Reach out to the Department Contact to apply using a paper application, including any supplemental questions. Failure to submit a complete and timely application may result in the rejection of your application. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that application materials are received by the appropriate Human Resources office before the closing date and time listed.
Department Information
Together, we innovate for a stronger Colorado
The work of employees at the Governors Office of Information Technology (OIT) is challenging and diverse because the needs of agencies, customers and Coloradans constantly evolve. But our focus never changes: improve the lives of all Coloradans through innovation and collaboration. Were building one of the nations leading government IT organizations by reimagining how we support agencies, building first-of-their-kind applications, and creating an inclusive, collaborative culture, together. Join us in the important work of providing equitable access to services.
Watch this video to learn more about how were Serving People. Serving Colorado.
Description of Job
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please review your application to ensure completion. For the most equitable applicant experience, OIT's hiring team considers only the contents of your application to review your qualifications. Please do not include any attachments (such as resume or cover letter) with your application as these items are not used by OIT's hiring team.
Colorado Governors Office of Information Technology is in the middle of a transformation worth joining. Were building cross-functional pod teams that partner directly with agencies to design, deliver, and continuously improve services that work for Coloradans. Good government depends on technology that works, and OIT exists to make that true for every Coloradan. The State of Colorado is seeking an Enterprise Practice Lead, Service Design, to help build the next generation of public services. Were looking for people who want to do the best work of their careers in the service of the public.
Enterprise Practice Lead, Service Design, owns how human-centered design and user research are practiced across OIT, enabling Service Designers embedded in pods to conduct research with real constituents, map current and future state services, and produce the artifacts that ground the PM's backlog. The Enterprise Practice Lead owns the standards, methods, and professional community that make every service designer more capable.
Guilds at OIT enable consistency, quality, and community across a federated team structure. IT Directors (ITDs) are responsible for the people management of their pod of practitioners; Enterprise Practice Leads guide and support the practitioners to deliver good work.
GDS Digital and Data Capability Framework describes the head of service design as an expert practitioner who "can define and assure best practice while influencing, leading and mentoring others." That is precisely what this role is at OIT, operating across a distributed pod structure rather than a centralized design team. The central challenge is sustaining research rigor in conditions that constantly push toward skipping discovery: constrained timelines, agencies that think they already know the answer, and practitioners who are often the most variable-capacity member of their pod.
What youll do:
Define research method standards: which methods are appropriate in which contexts, what rigorous synthesis looks like, and what constitutes a research artifact, such as a journey map, service blueprint, or problem statement, that the PM and Delivery Engineer can actually use.
Establish journey mapping and service blueprinting standards: what level of fidelity is appropriate for a discovery phase versus a live service, and how to calibrate depth to the decision being made rather than producing documentation for its own sake.
Build and maintain design system literacy standards: what every service designer needs to understand about OIT's design system and accessibility requirements, drawing on GDS's skills of "designing for everyone" and "designing strategically" as reference competencies.
Identify and address systemic gaps in research and design quality across the portfolio: discovery being skipped, accessibility treated as an afterthought, and synthesis that never reaches the people who need to act on it.
Run a service design guild: critique sessions, shared research repositories, peer learning, and a culture where practitioners feel professionally connected despite being distributed across agencies.
Develop a career pathway for service designers that distinguishes research-depth from design-depth profiles, recognizes the GDS-aligned skills of "evidence-based design," "iterative design," and "leading design," and creates growth that doesn't require moving into management.
Build and deliver training that builds statewide capability in the hardest parts of the job: holding space for research when stakeholders think they already know the answer, facilitating workshops with resistant participants, and translating findings into language that motivates action from program leadership.
Create and maintain shared resources that practitioners across pods can adapt without starting from scratch, such as research guides, synthesis templates, and example artifacts at different fidelity levels.
Advise ITDs and product directors on what good service design work looks like and how to give feedback to a practitioner in a discipline many technology leaders have limited direct experience with.
Distinguish between a practitioner skill gap, a pod structural problem (not enough access to users or research time), and an agency partnership problem, and advise accordingly.
Surface patterns of weak research practice across pods that point to a training or standards gap rather than individual performance.
What you bring:
Knowledge of service design methods at a deep practitioner level: journey mapping, service blueprinting, current/future state process mapping, co-design facilitation, and how to choose the right method for the problem and phase at hand.
Knowledge of user research methods including qualitative interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing, and survey design, and how to select, scope, and conduct research that produces decision-enabling insights rather than data the team doesn't know what to do with.
Knowledge of problem framing: how to define a problem space from user evidence before any solution is proposed, and how to help teams hold that space when stakeholders are pushing for answers.
Knowledge of accessibility and equity in service design: WCAG 2.1/2.2 and Section 508 standards, and how to design government services that work for users with disabilities, limited English proficiency, limited digital access, and other access needs that disproportionately affect the populations Colorado agencies serve.
Knowledge of EA accessibility and UX standards applicable to OIT-delivered services, and how to translate those standards into practical design guidance.
Knowledge of the relationship between service design and adjacent disciplines: how research artifacts become PM backlog inputs, how service blueprints inform engineering and delivery management, and how to build feedback loops that keep design grounded in delivery reality.
Knowledge of the landscape of government design practice: GDS's design principles and capability framework, 18F's research and content design approaches, and USDR's user experience and language access work as reference points for what rigorous human-centered practice in government looks like.
Ability to protect discovery from delivery pressure. Service designers in pods face constant pressure to skip research and jump to solutions. The Enterprise Lead builds a professional community resilient enough to hold the line and gives practitioners the language and backing to do so.
Ability to make research standards practical. Guidance that's too abstract doesn't get used. Translate rigor into usable tools that work in constrained government delivery environments with real constituents who are hard to recruit.
Ability to build literacy for the discipline across non-designers. ITDs, product directors, and program leadership need enough understanding of service design to make space for it and to recognize what good looks like. Part of the Enterprise Lead's job is building that understanding.
Ability to hold accessibility as a baseline, not an enhancement. Equity, plain language, and inclusive design are embedded in guild standards and are not optional for services that reach all Coloradans.
Ability to create a community in a distributed structure. Service designers often work in isolation within their pods. The Enterprise Lead builds the connective tissue that makes them feel part of a discipline rather than just a team.
Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights
A wide salary range is posted for this position and any job offer is based upon a salary analysis to comply with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. The salary analysis considers relevant experience, education, certifications, and state seniority as compared to others doing substantially similar work. While all offers are compliant with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, there is no guarantee an offer will be at the top of the posted range based on the salary analysis.
This is a skills-based job announcement. The required minimum qualifications and/or education (if substituting for the proven experience, knowledge, and skills), are as follows:
Minimum Qualifications:
A minimum of five (5) years of experience in human-centered design & user research, which includes working in or leading cross-functional teams using iterative, user-centered methods.
A track record of working across disciplines - design, engineering, policy, or operations - to ship things that work for real people.
Substitutions:
Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
Training or Certification related to the work assigned to the position will be assigned credit towards substitution for experience and/or education, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
If the minimum qualifications include a degree requirement, additional appropriate paid or unpaid experience will substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience designing services within government or highly regulated environments, with a demonstrated ability to navigate complex policy constraints and legal requirements.
Experience mentoring junior designers and developing organizational service design standards, such as playbooks, templates, and best practices, to increase design maturity.
Advanced knowledge of inclusive design principles and accessibility standards (such as ADAAA), with experience designing for diverse populations, including those with disabilities or limited digital literacy.
Direct experience designing service workflows that integrate AI and automation while ensuring user control, transparency, and ethical considerations.
Conditions of Employment:
OIT employees must comply with any screening procedures in place at state entity locations where they might be required to perform work.
A pre-employment background check will be conducted as part of the selection process.
Positions supporting some agencies such as the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety will also require a pre-employment drug test.
This position may require travel within the specified geographic area, and to locations across the state as needed.
Supplemental Information
If this posting indicates "remote from anywhere in CO" in the title, periodic reporting to the primary state work location designated for the position is required. All remote work must be performed in Colorado.
While candidates from out of state will be considered for this role, the candidate selected for the position must relocate and reside in Colorado on the first day of their new position. A reasonable timeframe for relocation will be established on an individual basis, while considering business needs, and determining a start date.
We know its important to support each other, and that means having a healthy balance of work and personal time. Visit our benefits to learn more about some of our great offerings that allow us all to have fulfilling lives.
Visit our How to Apply webpage to learn more about our application process and what to expect after you apply.
The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness. The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities.
The Governors Office of Information Technology is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADA Coordinator at OIT_HR@state.co.us or call (303) 764-7900.
This posting may be used to fill multiple vacancies based upon business need.
The Governors Office of Information Technology does NOT offer sponsored Visas for employment purposes.
Please note that each agencys contact information is different; therefore, we encourage all applicants to view the full, official job announcement which includes contact information and class title. Select the job you wish to view, then click on the "Print" icon.
01
Please detail how your skills and experience align with the requirements of this position.
02
Please describe how you learned of this job opening.
03
The Governors Office of Information Technology (OIT) complies with Colorados Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. While a wide salary range is posted, specific criteria (experience, education, state seniority, etc.) will be used to determine any salary offer. While most salary offers are made within the posted range, occasionally an offer is made below or above the posted range based upon this salary analysis. It is this salary analysis, rather than any negotiation process, that determines any salary offer.
04
All remote work must be performed from within the State of Colorado. If you live out of state and are selected for this position you must relocate to Colorado before commencing employment. There is no form of relocation assistance, financial or otherwise, available for any position. Do you wish to proceed with your submission?
05
If any of the State of Colorado positions listed in your employment history were performed as a contract employee, you MUST list the position/s, State Agency, and the name of the contracting company by whom you were paid during the contract position. If this does not apply, please type "N/A".
06
Do you currently require employer sponsorship for a Visa, employer-provided documentation to maintain your Visa, or employer participation in a program for the purposes of immigration status?
07
In the future, will you require employer sponsorship for a Visa, employer-provided documentation to maintain your Visa, or employer participation in a program for the purposes of immigration status?
08
Do you currently reside in the state of Colorado?
Required Question
Employer State of Colorado
Address See the full announcement by clicking
the "Printer" icon located above the job title
Location varies by announcement, Colorado, --
Website https://careers.colorado.gov/