SAIC Behavioral Interview Template — Product Designer (Engineering)

This behavioral interview evaluates how a Product Designer operates in SAIC’s mission-focused, highly regulated environments across defense, space, civilian, and intelligence programs. Drawing from real candidate experiences, hiring managers and UX leaders use a structured, STAR-style conversation to assess: - Mission alignment and ethics: How you prioritize end-user and mission outcomes, handle security/clearance boundaries, protect sensitive information, and make trade-offs that uphold integrity and compliance in government programs. - Stakeholder collaboration in complex ecosystems: Partnering with program managers, systems/software engineers, data scientists, human factors, and government customers (prime/sub teams). Expect scenarios about negotiating scope, translating CONOPS/requirements into workflows, and reconciling divergent stakeholder needs under contractual constraints. - Research under access and security constraints: Approaches to discovery when direct user access is limited or classified; leveraging SMEs/proxies, designing effective remote/field sessions, synthesizing insights responsibly, and documenting decisions for auditability. Attention to Section 508 accessibility expectations and usability standards common in federal work. - Delivery discipline in hybrid Agile/federal lifecycles: Operating within sprint cadences while meeting program milestones and gate reviews; managing change control, requirements traceability, and definition-of-done for design deliverables (personas, task flows, prototypes, test reports). Handling scope creep and shifting mission priorities without jeopardizing commitments. - Systems thinking and legacy interoperability: Designing end-to-end workflows spanning multiple systems and data sources; balancing usability with security, performance, and reliability; articulating trade-offs and risk mitigation strategies. - Communication and client readiness: Creating clear design rationales, briefing decks, and demos tailored to government audiences; influencing without authority; resolving conflict respectfully; and contributing to a culture of accountability, inclusion, and continuous improvement. Format candidates report: 45–60 minutes, 1:1 video call with hiring manager or UX lead (occasionally panel). Portfolio may be referenced for context, but prompts are behavioral and situational. Expect follow-ups that probe decision quality, documentation rigor, and how outcomes tied to mission impact and contract deliverables.