What is a UX/UI Designer at Maximus?

As a UX/UI Designer at Maximus, you are at the forefront of designing digital experiences that impact millions of citizens navigating essential government, healthcare, and public services. Your work directly translates complex bureaucratic processes into accessible, intuitive, and user-friendly digital interfaces. Because Maximus partners heavily with government agencies and public health organizations, the design challenges you will face require a delicate balance of empathy, clarity, and strict adherence to accessibility standards.

This role is critical to the business because a seamless user experience can drastically reduce support center call volumes, increase program enrollment, and build public trust. You will not just be making things look modern; you will be untangling complex user journeys for highly diverse populations. Whether you are working on a state healthcare portal, a citizen services dashboard, or an internal tool for caseworkers, your design decisions will have tangible, real-world impact.

Expect a highly collaborative environment where you will partner with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to deliver end-to-end design solutions. While the pace is steady and the work is deeply purposeful, the complexity lies in the constraints. You will need to innovate within strict regulatory frameworks, prioritize function over flash, and advocate fiercely for the end user at every stage of the product lifecycle.

Common Interview Questions

The following questions represent the patterns and themes frequently encountered by candidates interviewing for UX/UI roles at Maximus. While you may not be asked these exact questions, practicing them will prepare you for the types of scenarios the team focuses on.

Portfolio and Case Studies

Interviewers use these questions to understand your actual contribution to past projects and your ability to tell a compelling story about your design process.

• Walk me through a project in your portfolio that you are most proud of. What was your specific role?
• Can you show me a project where you had to balance user needs with strict business constraints?
• Describe a time when a project did not go as planned. How did you adapt your design strategy?
• How do you measure the success of a design once it has been launched?
• Explain the rationale behind the visual hierarchy in this specific case study screen.

Technical and Tool Mastery

These questions probe the depth of your knowledge regarding the software and systems you use to execute your designs.

• What is your process for organizing and structuring a Figma file for a large-scale project?
• How do you manage and update components within a shared design system?
• Explain a complex feature of your primary design tool that you use to speed up your workflow.
• How do you prepare your designs for developer handoff to ensure nothing is lost in translation?
• What steps do you take to ensure your designs are fully responsive across multiple breakpoints?

Behavioral and Collaboration

These questions assess your cultural fit, communication style, and ability to work effectively within cross-functional teams.

• Tell me about a time you disagreed with a product manager or developer about a design decision. How did you resolve it?
• How do you handle design feedback from stakeholders who do not have a design background?
• Describe a situation where you had to advocate for the user in the face of tight engineering deadlines.
• How do you prioritize your design tasks when working on multiple projects simultaneously?
• Tell me about a time you had to learn a complex new domain or industry quickly to design a solution.

Accessibility and UX Principles

Given the company's focus on public-facing and government services, expect rigorous questions about inclusive design.

• What are the first things you check to ensure a new UI component is accessible?
• How do you design for users with low digital literacy or cognitive impairments?
• Explain the difference between AA and AAA WCAG compliance. Which do you typically aim for and why?
• How would you redesign a complex, multi-step government form to improve completion rates?
• Describe a time you had to educate your team or stakeholders on the importance of accessibility.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for an interview at Maximus requires a strategic focus on depth rather than just breadth. Interviewers want to see how you think, how you justify your design decisions, and how deeply you understand the tools and methodologies you claim to know.

To succeed, you should focus your preparation on the following key evaluation criteria:

Tool and Technical Mastery – Maximus interviewers often prefer candidates who possess deep, specialized knowledge of a few core design technologies rather than a superficial understanding of many. You will be evaluated on your ability to explain the "insides" of your primary design tools (like Figma) and how you leverage their advanced features to streamline workflows and handoffs.

User-Centric Problem Solving – This evaluates your ability to break down complex, often ambiguous problems into clear user journeys. Interviewers will look for your capacity to balance user needs with strict business and regulatory constraints, demonstrating how your design interventions directly solve the stated problem.

Accessibility and Inclusive Design – Given the public-facing nature of Maximus products, a strong grasp of WCAG guidelines and inclusive design principles is non-negotiable. You must demonstrate how you proactively integrate accessibility into your design process from wireframing to final UI, rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Communication and Stakeholder Alignment – You will be tested on your ability to articulate your design rationale to non-designers. Interviewers want to see how you handle pushback, incorporate feedback, and guide engineering and product teams toward a shared vision without compromising the user experience.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a UX/UI Designer at Maximus is generally described by candidates as positive, conversational, and accessible, though it demands a high level of technical articulation. You will typically begin with a recruiter screen to align on your background, salary expectations, and basic role requirements. This is followed by a portfolio review or hiring manager interview, where the focus shifts entirely to your past work, your design process, and the specific impact of your case studies.

What makes the Maximus process distinctive is its intense focus on the depth of your technical toolset. Interviewers are known to ask a high volume of targeted questions about the specific technologies and methodologies you use. Even if they are not daily users of your specific software suite, they expect you to know the intricate details, workarounds, and advanced capabilities of your chosen tools. They value candidates who are true craftsmen in their specific discipline over generalists who know a little about everything.

The final stages usually involve a deeper technical and behavioral panel with cross-functional team members. Here, you will discuss how you collaborate with developers, handle design handoffs, and navigate the unique constraints of government or healthcare projects.

This visual timeline outlines the typical stages you will progress through, from the initial recruiter screen to the final cross-functional panel. Use this to pace your preparation, ensuring your portfolio is fully polished for the middle stages while saving your behavioral and collaboration examples for the final rounds. Keep in mind that specific steps may vary slightly depending on whether you are interviewing for a mid-level or Senior Digital UX Designer role.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To perform strongly in your Maximus interviews, you must be prepared to speak comprehensively about your design process, your technical skills, and your ability to navigate complex constraints.

Tool Mastery and Technical Depth

Interviewers at Maximus actively look for candidates who know the "insides" of their technology. It is not enough to say you use a tool; you must explain how you optimize it. This area evaluates your efficiency, your understanding of design systems, and your technical readiness to integrate with engineering teams. Strong performance means confidently explaining advanced features, naming conventions, and structural organization within your files.

Be ready to go over:

• Component Architecture – How you build nested, scalable, and responsive components in tools like Figma.
• Design Systems – How you create, maintain, and document design tokens, styles, and asset libraries.
• Handoff Efficiency – Your process for preparing files, redlining, and communicating interactions to developers.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Prototyping with variables, utilizing advanced auto-layout techniques, and integrating design-to-code plugins.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you structure a complex component in Figma to ensure it is fully responsive and scalable."
• "If we use a technology stack you are less familiar with, how do you ensure your designs translate accurately during handoff?"
• "Explain the 'insides' of your preferred design tool—what advanced features do you rely on daily that others might overlook?"

UX Methodology and Problem Solving

This area tests your core ability to research, synthesize, and solve problems. Maximus deals with complex, data-heavy applications, so interviewers want to see a structured approach to untangling messy workflows. A strong candidate will clearly separate the "discovery" phase from the "design" phase and articulate why certain UX decisions were made over others.

Be ready to go over:

• User Research – How you gather qualitative and quantitative data when direct access to users is limited.
• Information Architecture – How you organize complex navigation structures and large datasets for clarity.
• Iterative Testing – How you validate your assumptions through usability testing and heuristic evaluations.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Journey mapping for multi-touchpoint service design, service blueprinting.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you had to design a complex workflow. How did you decide what information to prioritize on the screen?"
• "How do you validate your design decisions when you don't have the budget or time for extensive user testing?"
• "Walk me through a case study where your initial design assumption was proven wrong. How did you pivot?"

Accessibility (a11y) and Inclusive Design

Because Maximus builds solutions for government and public health sectors, accessibility is a primary evaluation pillar. You must prove that you design for everyone, including users with visual, motor, or cognitive impairments. Strong performance requires fluency in WCAG standards and the ability to explain how accessibility impacts color, typography, and interaction design.

Be ready to go over:

• Color Contrast and Typography – Ensuring visual elements meet minimum WCAG AA or AAA compliance.
• Keyboard Navigation – Designing focus states and logical tabbing orders for power users and assistive technologies.
• Screen Reader Compatibility – Understanding how ARIA labels and semantic structure impact the design.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Designing for cognitive disabilities, handling complex data tables for screen readers.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you ensure a complex data dashboard is fully accessible to a user relying on a screen reader?"
• "What is your process for testing the accessibility of your designs before they reach development?"
• "Describe a time you had to advocate for an accessible design change that stakeholders initially resisted."

Key Responsibilities

As a UX/UI Designer at Maximus, your day-to-day work revolves around transforming complex business requirements into intuitive digital experiences. You will spend a significant portion of your time collaborating with product managers to define user flows, sketch wireframes, and build high-fidelity interactive prototypes. Because the domains are often complex—spanning healthcare, citizen services, and internal administrative tools—you will frequently dive deep into documentation and subject matter expert interviews to truly understand the user's context.

You will also be responsible for maintaining and contributing to the organization's design systems. This means not only using existing components but also recognizing when a new pattern is needed, designing it, and documenting its usage guidelines. You will work closely with front-end engineering teams, conducting rigorous design QA to ensure that the final developed product matches your vision and meets strict accessibility standards.

Beyond screen design, you will act as an advocate for the user within your cross-functional team. This involves presenting your design rationale to non-technical stakeholders, facilitating design workshops, and occasionally conducting heuristic evaluations or user interviews to validate your approaches. Your deliverables will range from low-fidelity user journey maps to pixel-perfect UI specs ready for developer handoff.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be a competitive candidate for the UX/UI Designer or Senior Digital UX Designer roles at Maximus, you must blend strong visual execution with rigorous analytical thinking. The company looks for designers who can own the entire process from concept to delivery.

• Must-have skills – Deep expertise in industry-standard design and prototyping tools (primarily Figma). A strong portfolio showcasing end-to-end product design, clear problem-solving methodologies, and a solid grasp of fundamental UI principles (typography, spacing, color theory). Comprehensive understanding of WCAG accessibility standards and responsive design.
• Experience level – Typically 3+ years of experience for mid-level roles, and 5+ years for Senior roles, preferably with experience designing complex web applications, enterprise software, or data-heavy dashboards.
• Soft skills – Exceptional communication and presentation skills. The ability to articulate design decisions logically to business stakeholders and developers. Strong empathy, adaptability, and the patience to navigate regulatory or technical constraints.
• Nice-to-have skills – Basic understanding of front-end web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to facilitate better conversations with developers. Previous experience working in government contracting, healthcare, or public sector tech. Experience conducting formal user research.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult is the interview process for a UX/UI Designer at Maximus? Candidates generally describe the interview experience as positive and accessible ("easy" to moderate difficulty). However, do not mistake a friendly tone for a lack of rigor. The difficulty lies in the depth of technical questioning; you must possess a profound understanding of the "insides" of your design tools and methodologies.

Q: Do I need to know how to code to get this job? No, writing production code is not a requirement. However, having a foundational understanding of how HTML, CSS, and structural web frameworks operate is highly beneficial. It allows you to design with technical constraints in mind and facilitates smoother handoffs with engineering teams.

Q: What differentiates a successful candidate from an average one? A successful candidate at Maximus demonstrates a clear mastery of accessibility standards and an ability to articulate their design rationale under pressure. They don't just show pretty screens; they explain the deep, structural logic behind their component architecture and user flows.

Q: How much time should I spend preparing my portfolio presentation? Spend a significant amount of time refining your presentation. You should prepare a 20-30 minute walkthrough of 1-2 highly relevant case studies. Focus heavily on the problem statement, the constraints (especially regulatory or technical), your specific iterations, and the final impact.

Q: What is the typical timeline from the initial screen to an offer? The process usually takes between 3 to 5 weeks. This includes the initial recruiter screen, a portfolio review with the hiring manager, and a final cross-functional panel interview. Timelines can occasionally stretch depending on the specific government contract or project funding cycle.

Other General Tips

• Focus on Depth Over Breadth: As noted in candidate experiences, Maximus interviewers value deep expertise. If you claim to know a tool or a methodology, be prepared to discuss its most advanced applications. Do not list skills on your resume that you cannot speak to extensively.
• Master the Handoff Narrative: Be ready to explain exactly how you package your work for developers. Discuss your use of redlines, interactive prototypes, and documentation. Showing that you respect the engineering process is a massive plus.

• Show Your Messy Middle: When presenting case studies, do not just show the polished final product. Interviewers want to see your early sketches, your wireframes, and the iterations that failed. This proves you have a robust problem-solving methodology.
• Tailor Your Questions for the Interviewer: Ask insightful questions about how the design team integrates with the broader organization, how they handle accessibility testing, or what the biggest challenge is in designing for their specific public-sector demographics.

Summary & Next Steps

Securing a UX/UI Designer role at Maximus offers a unique opportunity to design high-impact, mission-critical digital experiences that serve the public good. The work is complex, the constraints are real, but the reward of simplifying essential services for millions of users is immense. By focusing your preparation on technical tool mastery, rigorous problem-solving, and a deep commitment to accessibility, you will position yourself as a standout candidate.

As you prepare, remember that your interviewers are looking for a confident communicator who can advocate for the user while navigating business realities. Practice articulating your design decisions out loud, refine your portfolio to highlight complex problem-solving, and be ready to dive deep into the mechanics of your daily design tools. Approach these conversations with enthusiasm and a collaborative mindset.

This salary module reflects the current compensation range for UX/UI and Senior Digital UX Designer roles at Maximus, specifically noted around the Tysons Corner, VA area. Use this data to anchor your salary expectations during the recruiter screen, keeping in mind that your final offer will depend heavily on your specific location, your years of experience, and your performance in the technical deep dives.

You have the skills and the drive to succeed in this process. For further insights, peer experiences, and targeted practice, explore the additional resources available on Dataford. Trust in your design process, lean into your technical expertise, and step into your interviews ready to demonstrate your value.