Top Talent like Sam CJ are on Pangea

Pangea, a YC company, connects companies with fractional talent. Fractional hiring allows companies to move faster and work with more specialized talent, while giving talent more flexibility and independence. If you are talent open to fractional work, apply here. If you’re a company looking for high-quality fractional talent, learn more here.

Sam CJ Walker

UX Designer • Product Designer • Portland, OR, US
Design Strategy
Product Design
Service design
Information Architecture
Accessibility
Research Design
UX research
Design Systems
UI/UX Design
Planning
UX Writing
Analytics
User Research
Wireframing
User Personas
User Flows
Heuristic Evaluation
Journey Mapping
Figma
Balsamiq
Sketch
Design
UX
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Contracts
Lead UX Designer | Greenfield Products, Design Ops, Accessibility, Service Design
Experienced UX Designer with a focus on user experience design for federal agencies, including the Library of Congress and the VA. Skilled in accessibility, research, and design operations, with a history of working in SaaS products and academic research tools. Background in urban planning and transportation, enhancing design thinking with a strategic perspective.

Work History

D

Information Architect - Consultant

Department of Veteran's AffairsJan 2024 - Jan 2025 • 1 yr 1 moMentored designers and engineering teams, empowering them to deliver work that aligned with the VA's Design System and Accessibility standards. Focused especially on the Service Design and Information Architecture of va.gov - assuring consistent navigation, page placement, and workflows for the millions of veterans who rely on the site.
L

Lead User Experience Designer - Consultant

Library of CongressJan 2022 - Jan 2024 • 2 yrs 1 moI had the opportunity to consult on two contracts for the Library of Congress. A future-facing strategic contract, identifying usability improvements in patrons’ experience of searching for Library items. In collaboration with a researcher and two developers, I delivered detailed documentation of issues and opportunities in the current solutions, and proposed user-centered design recommendations for the next 2-5 years of the Library's technical roadmap. A modernization effort for the Library of Congress's National Library Services for the Blind and Print-Disabled (NLS), consisting of an accessibility-focused, screenreader-first update of the library circulation software serving 350,000 blind and low-vision library patrons.
P

Senior Product Designer

Puppet LabsJan 2021 - Jan 2022 • 1 yr 1 moGreenfield work on a new tool, in the B2B SaaS and on-prem DevOps tools space, supporting infrastructure as code. Designed a brand new product for a niche market segment in Configuration Management. Working with a small team of engineers, and collaborating closely with Product and Marketing, designed and developed a working prototype from scratch in 3 months.
C

Senior Product Designer

Cayuse LLCJan 2018 - Jan 2021 • 3 yrs 1 moB2B SaaS and on-prem software for electronic research administration -spanning grant applications, research project management, federal compliance, auditability, and data reporting. Cayuse was in a stage of high growth - while I was steering the UX practice, we expanded from 5 freestanding products to an integrated suite of 23 products. I introduced Design Operations including establishing an in-house design system and integrating UX into Agile practices. And I hired, mentored, and scaled the UX department from a solo practice to a team of 5. I design greenfield apps, legacy uplifts, and integrated acquired products. And I defined the accessibility business case and technical implementation needs to meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
Z

UX Designer

ZapprovedJan 2017 - Jan 2018 • 1 yr 1 moCreated SaaS products for corporate legal teams. Defined features, assisted with user stories and feature requirements, created journey maps and low-fidelity concept sketches, designed features, maintained a high-fidelity product prototype, created detailed specifications for developers, performed UX validation on release candidates. Worked collaboratively with Product and an Agile dev team. Managed a UX intern.
Z

UX Content Strategist

Zoho CorporationJan 2017 - Jan 2018 • 1 yr 1 moUser experience education and evangelism for product managers, UI developers, and marketers new to user-centered design. UI microcopy localization for 40 SaaS apps.
F

UX Designer and Researcher

FreelanceJan 2012 - Jan 2017 • 5 yrs 1 moModerated focus groups and 1:1 interviews for research projects in education, transportation, and public health. Recommended updates to qualitative research methodology, wrote and revised interview guides, performed qualitative and mixed methods data analysis, and reported findings to stakeholders. Identified key performance indicators and designed interactive reporting dashboards for nonprofits and public sector departments. Conducted usability audits for mobile and web apps, and presented UX design recommendations and UI responsiveness improvements to stakeholders including founders, product owners, and developers. Designed websites using Wordpress and Weebly.
O

Administrative Coordinator

Oregon Health and Science UniversityApr 2016 - Dec 2016 • 9 mosManaged faculty scheduling for 2 clinics and 2 critical care units, coordinated faculty hiring searches, monitored HIPAA and research grant funding compliance.
T

UX Content Strategist

The GoodJan 2016 - Jan 2016 • 1 moDesigned and implemented usability assessments focused on conversion rate optimization. Conducted qualitative analyses of clients' user engagement data.
E

UX Researcher

Empirical UX Design & ResearchJan 2015 - Jan 2015 • 1 moUsability research with a focus on user testing: study design, recruitment, moderation, analysis and reporting. Work in consumer & enterprise software, mobile apps, IoT, and e-commerce spaces for clients including Intel and Jaguar Land Rover.

Education

P

Portland State University

Master’s Degree, Urban Planning / Behavioral Research Methods
M

Marlboro College

Bachelor’s Degree, Urban Planning / Anthropology
C

Code Fellows

Full-stack bootcamp2017
R

Rewired

Object-Oriented UX (OOUX)2025

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call
Lead UX Designer | Greenfield Products, Design Ops, Accessibility, Service Design
Experienced UX Designer with a focus on user experience design for federal agencies, including the Library of Congress and the VA. Skilled in accessibility, research, and design operations, with a history of working in SaaS products and academic research tools. Background in urban planning and transportation, enhancing design thinking with a strategic perspective.

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call

Top Talent like Sam CJ are on Pangea

Pangea, a YC company, connects companies with fractional talent. Fractional hiring allows companies to move faster and work with more specialized talent, while giving talent more flexibility and independence. If you are talent open to fractional work, apply here. If you’re a company looking for high-quality fractional talent, learn more here.

Sam CJ Walker

UX Designer • Product Designer • Portland, OR, US
Design Strategy
Product Design
Service design
Information Architecture
Accessibility
Research Design
UX research
Design Systems
UI/UX Design
Planning
UX Writing
Analytics
User Research
Wireframing
User Personas
User Flows
Heuristic Evaluation
Journey Mapping
Figma
Balsamiq
Sketch
Design
UX
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Contracts

Work History

D

Information Architect - Consultant

Department of Veteran's AffairsJan 2024 - Jan 2025 • 1 yr 1 moMentored designers and engineering teams, empowering them to deliver work that aligned with the VA's Design System and Accessibility standards. Focused especially on the Service Design and Information Architecture of va.gov - assuring consistent navigation, page placement, and workflows for the millions of veterans who rely on the site.
L

Lead User Experience Designer - Consultant

Library of CongressJan 2022 - Jan 2024 • 2 yrs 1 moI had the opportunity to consult on two contracts for the Library of Congress. A future-facing strategic contract, identifying usability improvements in patrons’ experience of searching for Library items. In collaboration with a researcher and two developers, I delivered detailed documentation of issues and opportunities in the current solutions, and proposed user-centered design recommendations for the next 2-5 years of the Library's technical roadmap. A modernization effort for the Library of Congress's National Library Services for the Blind and Print-Disabled (NLS), consisting of an accessibility-focused, screenreader-first update of the library circulation software serving 350,000 blind and low-vision library patrons.
P

Senior Product Designer

Puppet LabsJan 2021 - Jan 2022 • 1 yr 1 moGreenfield work on a new tool, in the B2B SaaS and on-prem DevOps tools space, supporting infrastructure as code. Designed a brand new product for a niche market segment in Configuration Management. Working with a small team of engineers, and collaborating closely with Product and Marketing, designed and developed a working prototype from scratch in 3 months.
C

Senior Product Designer

Cayuse LLCJan 2018 - Jan 2021 • 3 yrs 1 moB2B SaaS and on-prem software for electronic research administration -spanning grant applications, research project management, federal compliance, auditability, and data reporting. Cayuse was in a stage of high growth - while I was steering the UX practice, we expanded from 5 freestanding products to an integrated suite of 23 products. I introduced Design Operations including establishing an in-house design system and integrating UX into Agile practices. And I hired, mentored, and scaled the UX department from a solo practice to a team of 5. I design greenfield apps, legacy uplifts, and integrated acquired products. And I defined the accessibility business case and technical implementation needs to meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
Z

UX Designer

ZapprovedJan 2017 - Jan 2018 • 1 yr 1 moCreated SaaS products for corporate legal teams. Defined features, assisted with user stories and feature requirements, created journey maps and low-fidelity concept sketches, designed features, maintained a high-fidelity product prototype, created detailed specifications for developers, performed UX validation on release candidates. Worked collaboratively with Product and an Agile dev team. Managed a UX intern.
Z

UX Content Strategist

Zoho CorporationJan 2017 - Jan 2018 • 1 yr 1 moUser experience education and evangelism for product managers, UI developers, and marketers new to user-centered design. UI microcopy localization for 40 SaaS apps.
F

UX Designer and Researcher

FreelanceJan 2012 - Jan 2017 • 5 yrs 1 moModerated focus groups and 1:1 interviews for research projects in education, transportation, and public health. Recommended updates to qualitative research methodology, wrote and revised interview guides, performed qualitative and mixed methods data analysis, and reported findings to stakeholders. Identified key performance indicators and designed interactive reporting dashboards for nonprofits and public sector departments. Conducted usability audits for mobile and web apps, and presented UX design recommendations and UI responsiveness improvements to stakeholders including founders, product owners, and developers. Designed websites using Wordpress and Weebly.
O

Administrative Coordinator

Oregon Health and Science UniversityApr 2016 - Dec 2016 • 9 mosManaged faculty scheduling for 2 clinics and 2 critical care units, coordinated faculty hiring searches, monitored HIPAA and research grant funding compliance.
T

UX Content Strategist

The GoodJan 2016 - Jan 2016 • 1 moDesigned and implemented usability assessments focused on conversion rate optimization. Conducted qualitative analyses of clients' user engagement data.
E

UX Researcher

Empirical UX Design & ResearchJan 2015 - Jan 2015 • 1 moUsability research with a focus on user testing: study design, recruitment, moderation, analysis and reporting. Work in consumer & enterprise software, mobile apps, IoT, and e-commerce spaces for clients including Intel and Jaguar Land Rover.

Education

P

Portland State University

Master’s Degree, Urban Planning / Behavioral Research Methods
M

Marlboro College

Bachelor’s Degree, Urban Planning / Anthropology
C

Code Fellows

Full-stack bootcamp2017
R

Rewired

Object-Oriented UX (OOUX)2025

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call
Pangea empowers fractional work across the world for marketing and design roles.