Senior Designer Jobs in Virginia
Senior Designer jobs in Virginia are consistently in demand, with strong hiring across defense contracting, federal agency support, technology, and professional services firms that anchor the state's economy from entry-level through senior creative leadership. Northern Virginia, Richmond, and the Hampton Roads metro draw the most consistent volume, with established employers like Booz Allen Hamilton, Leidos, and Capital One regularly recruiting senior designers for brand, UX, and product design work. The most sought-after specialties in Virginia include UX/product design, visual systems design, and design leadership for government and enterprise clients. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 55+ Senior Designer jobs
- Conduct workshops and interviews to help frame pain points and opportunities, define insights, validate hypothesis, and create a compelling experience vision
- Understand the relevance of and how artifacts like journey maps, service blueprints, personas, ecosystem and experience maps fit into crafting the user experience
- Conduct user research and testing and effectively translate user needs into an implementable digital experience
- Collaborate and communicate stakeholder and user needs on a cross functional team within an agile environment
- Understand and embrace the specifications and constraints of a given technology, platform and/or operational environment
- Design intuitive, elegant, and accessible interfaces supported through a test and learn process
- Ensure all deliverables across a variety of projects are produced at the highest quality
Qualifications:
- Ability to obtain a U.S. government Public Trust Security Clearance
- 6+ years of professional UX and UI experience designing viable solutions for multi-platform digital products
- Current portfolio demonstrating ideology, methods, tools, skills, and craft
- Thorough knowledge and demonstrated experience conducting primary and secondary user-research including user-interviews, discovery and co-creation workshops, heuristic evaluation, and card sorting (for example), and applying those insights to personas, journey maps, site maps, ecosystem maps, information architecture, and interface design
- Thorough knowledge and demonstrated experience in UI design including wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, moderated and unmoderated user testing, and accessibility testing
- Knowledge and experience with 508 compliance requirements
- Experience working on a scrum team within the Agile delivery framework and experience integrating research and design into technical sprints including writing user stories and story pointing
- Proficiency in tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, Figma, Zeplin and other prototyping tools
- Desire to keep pace with ever-changing industry tools and best practices with the ability to make recommendations as needed for the best outcome
- Experience collaborating within a multi-disciplinary delivery team including service designers, technologists, data scientists, engineers, solution architects, and change managers
- A natural curiosity for solving problems coupled with strong analytical skills
- A collaborative nature with excellent written communication and presentation skills
- Experience working in a project-based environment
- Degree or equivalent experience in HCD, HCI, and/or UX design
- Previous work experience in or with the federal government
- Previous work experience as a consultant
- Experience working on a cross-functional Salesforce implementation team
Identity Statement
Steampunk is a Change Agent in the Federal contracting industry, bringing new thinking to clients in the Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health and DoD sectors. Through our Design Intelligence™ process, we are fundamentally changing the expectations our Federal clients have for true shared accountability in solving their toughest mission challenges. If you want to learn more about our story, visit http://www.steampunk.com.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Steampunk participates in the E-Verify program.
- Conduct workshops and interviews to help frame pain points and opportunities, define insights, validate hypothesis, and create a compelling experience vision
- Understand the relevance of and how artifacts like journey maps, service blueprints, personas, ecosystem and experience maps fit into crafting the user experience
- Conduct user research and testing and effectively translate user needs into an implementable digital experience
- Collaborate and communicate stakeholder and user needs on a cross functional team within an agile environment
- Understand and embrace the specifications and constraints of a given technology, platform and/or operational environment
- Design intuitive, elegant, and accessible interfaces supported through a test and learn process
- Ensure all deliverables across a variety of projects are produced at the highest quality
Qualifications:
- Ability to obtain a U.S. government Public Trust Security Clearance
- 6+ years of professional UX and UI experience designing viable solutions for multi-platform digital products
- Current portfolio demonstrating ideology, methods, tools, skills, and craft
- Thorough knowledge and demonstrated experience conducting primary and secondary user-research including user-interviews, discovery and co-creation workshops, heuristic evaluation, and card sorting (for example), and applying those insights to personas, journey maps, site maps, ecosystem maps, information architecture, and interface design
- Thorough knowledge and demonstrated experience in UI design including wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, moderated and unmoderated user testing, and accessibility testing
- Knowledge and experience with 508 compliance requirements
- Experience working on a scrum team within the Agile delivery framework and experience integrating research and design into technical sprints including writing user stories and story pointing
- Proficiency in tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, Figma, Zeplin and other prototyping tools
- Desire to keep pace with ever-changing industry tools and best practices with the ability to make recommendations as needed for the best outcome
- Experience collaborating within a multi-disciplinary delivery team including service designers, technologists, data scientists, engineers, solution architects, and change managers
- A natural curiosity for solving problems coupled with strong analytical skills
- A collaborative nature with excellent written communication and presentation skills
- Experience working in a project-based environment
- Degree or equivalent experience in HCD, HCI, and/or UX design
- Previous work experience in or with the federal government
- Previous work experience as a consultant
- Experience working on a cross-functional Salesforce implementation team
Identity Statement
Steampunk is a Change Agent in the Federal contracting industry, bringing new thinking to clients in the Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health and DoD sectors. Through our Design Intelligence™ process, we are fundamentally changing the expectations our Federal clients have for true shared accountability in solving their toughest mission challenges. If you want to learn more about our story, visit http://www.steampunk.com.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Steampunk participates in the E-Verify program.
See All 55 Senior Designer Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Senior Designer JobsSenior Designer Jobs by City in Virginia
Where Virginia roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Senior Designer Job Market in Virginia
A snapshot from current Virginia openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Consulting & Professional Services
- Staffing & Recruiting
- Marketing & Advertising
- Construction & Real Estate
What Virginia Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in senior designer jobs across Virginia.
- Portfolio demonstrating end-to-end design ownership across digital or brand projects
- Bachelor's degree in graphic design, interaction design, or a closely related field
- Five or more years of professional design experience with demonstrated senior-level output
- Proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, or comparable industry-standard design tools
- Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams including product, engineering, and marketing
- Strong written and verbal communication skills for presenting concepts to stakeholders
Senior Designer Jobs in Virginia: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a senior designer in Virginia?
Becoming a senior designer in Virginia typically requires a bachelor's degree in graphic design, UX design, or a related creative field, followed by progressive industry experience building a substantive portfolio. Virginia does not require a state-issued license for most design roles, so advancement depends on demonstrated work quality, leadership experience, and specialization. Many Virginia employers, particularly in the defense and federal contracting sectors in Northern Virginia, also value candidates with experience working within government branding or accessibility standards.
Which companies hire senior designers in Virginia?
Employers hiring senior designers in Virginia right now include Capital One, Steampunk, and Wiley | Wilson, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Virginia's concentration of federal contractors, financial services firms, and technology companies in Northern Virginia and Richmond means senior design talent is sought across a broad range of industries and project types.
Which Virginia cities have the most senior designer jobs?
McLean, Richmond, and Reston account for the largest share of senior designer openings in Virginia. Northern Virginia dominates due to its dense cluster of federal contractors, technology companies, and headquarters operations, while Richmond draws steady demand from financial services, healthcare systems, and state government clients, and Hampton Roads reflects hiring tied to military, defense, and regional enterprise organizations.
Are there remote senior designer jobs in Virginia?
Yes, and more than many fields. About 63% of senior designer openings tied to Virginia are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the desk-based and digital nature of most senior design work. UX, product design, and visual branding roles tend to offer the most remote flexibility, while roles embedded in government or defense contracting environments more often require on-site presence due to security or collaboration requirements.
How can I get hired as a senior designer in Virginia with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is building a focused portfolio through internships, freelance projects, or junior design roles at Virginia-based agencies, technology firms, or nonprofit organizations, then moving into associate or mid-level positions before advancing to senior. Large Northern Virginia employers in the federal contracting space, including firms supporting government communications and digital services, regularly hire junior designers and promote from within. A strong portfolio demonstrating real project outcomes, even from academic or volunteer work, carries more weight than credentials alone.
Where can I find and apply to senior designer jobs in Virginia?
You can find and apply to senior designer jobs in Virginia on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings across the state. Find roles that match your experience and specialization and apply directly to the ones that fit.
See All 55 Senior Designer Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Senior Designer Jobs