Senior/Staff Content Designer, Technical (HHS) Save

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services. We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists. The work we do matters.

About the job

At Skylight, content designers work on cross‑functional teams to shape user‑centered content strategies, advocate for plain language and inclusivity, and deliver content that helps people get things done.

As a technical content designer, you’ll go further by partnering closely with engineers and product teams to make sure content is clear, accurate, accessible, and consistent across complex systems and applications. Your work will span UX copy, service content, documentation, and content operations — with an eye toward scale, security, and sustainability.

In this role, you’ll be part of a major modernization effort at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). You’ll collaborate with research, design, engineering, product, security, and data teammates to deliver secure, resilient, and user‑centered services at enterprise scale. You’ll improve how content is created, tested, governed, and maintained — and you’ll help federal partners build durable content practices they can run long after we’re gone.

What you’ll do

• Improve public services by shaping content that meets user needs in plain language, with inclusive and accessible patterns
• Write, edit, and organize UX content across complex flows — interface microcopy, system messages and errors, notifications, in‑product guidance, help and documentation
• Ensure accessibility and compliance are built in from day one — applying HHS digital accessibility standards (Section 508), meaningful alt text, headings, labels, focus order, and readable language
• Partner with privacy, legal, and security to design clear notices, consent patterns, and data‑handling explanations that build trust
• Test content with users, run content experiments, and iterate based on evidence; define success measures, Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), and key performance indicators (KPIs) for content
• Establish content governance and operations at scale — content models, standards, review workflows, contribution guidelines, and reusable patterns in design systems
• Collaborate with engineers on “docs‑as‑code” practices, version control (e.g., Git), structured content, and continuous checks for accessibility and style
• Support cross‑program consistency by aligning terminology, taxonomies, and voice across products and services
• Plan and facilitate content workshops and training so government teams can sustain and evolve the work

What we’re looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Able to advocate for user‑centered content design, guiding teams and stakeholders through best practices and tradeoffs
• Strategic thinking about how content shapes user outcomes and mission impact — not just interface text
• Evidence‑based approach to content: research, prototyping, testing, and data‑informed iteration
• Strong writing and editing skills across UX microcopy, service content, and standards such as style guides and voice and tone
• Working knowledge of accessibility and inclusive design for content (e.g., Section 508 principles, plain language, error prevention and recovery)
• Basic technical fluency or ability to learn quickly (e.g., editing with HTML or markdown, collaborating in Git, working with design systems)
• Comfort collaborating across disciplines — engineering, product, research, security, and data
• Ability to work successfully in a professional services environment
• Passion for creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that align with Skylight’s core values

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Experience delivering modernization at HHS or in other highly regulated environments
• Background in content for technical products — APIs, developer docs, platform configuration, or complex system states
• Familiarity with structured content, taxonomy, and terminology management at scale
• Exposure to content operations for accessibility and compliance (e.g., embedding checks in pipelines, tracking evidence of conformance)
• Track record of mentoring content designers and upleveling content practices across teams
• Strong facilitation skills for hybrid teams with both on‑site and remote members
• Comfortable balancing in‑person client engagement with remote collaboration
• Ability to spend time on‑site at HHS in Washington, DC — either by being based locally or by traveling periodically for in‑person collaboration

Don’t meet 100% of the criteria but think you can do the job? We’d love to chat anyway! We’re on a mission to build diverse teams, and studies have shown that women and marginalized folks are less likely to apply to jobs if they don’t check every box.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories. Some federal contracts require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
• You may be required to complete a company background check successfully.
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.

Position type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location

This is a remote‑friendly role. You can be based anywhere in the U.S. Candidates in the Washington, DC area, or those willing to travel there periodically for in‑person collaboration, are especially encouraged to apply.

Care package

Salary

We want to give you the most competitive salary possible. After all, you deserve it! To that end, we use the results of our interview process to determine what salary is most appropriate given your current level of seniority. For a Content Designer at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:

• Associate Content Designer: $90,000–$125,000
• Content Designer I: $120,000–$140,000
• Content Designer II: $135,000–$160,000
• Senior Content Designer: $150,000–$185,000
• Staff Content Designer: $170,000–$203,000
• Principal Content Designer: $180,000–$230,000

Benefits

Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Business development / sales bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Dollar-for-dollar charity donation matching, up to $500 per year
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good

Interview tips

We want you to have a great interview experience with us! Here are some tips to help you prepare for a successful interview:

• Please include a portfolio of 1–2 work samples with your application. Your portfolio can be anything from a writing excerpt to a website to a slide deck — whatever best showcases your work. We suggest choosing work samples that highlight your skills and experience in relation to the qualifications outlined in the job posting. Unless specified in the job requirements, your portfolio doesn’t need to be tied to any particular industry or field — just select samples that best represent your expertise. To ensure we can review your application promptly, please remove any access passwords on your portfolio or provide access details.
• Visit our join page to learn more about how our interview process works.
• Check out our Career Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
• If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at [email protected].

We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.