If you work in Drupal, UX, and front-end theming, this one is worth your attention.
The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) has released an RFP for a major Drupal website revamp, and it’s the kind of project many of us love: modern UX real design impact complex, enterprise-grade Drupal and a client that understands what they’re asking for
The Technical Picture (aka: not a “quick reskin”)
This is an enterprise Drupal 10 site, hosted on Pantheon, with a planned upgrade to Drupal 11. The work is a cosmetic and UX-focused overhaul, but within a sophisticated ecosystem:
- Custom Drupal theme with Pattern Lab
- Component-driven architecture (300+ SCSS partials)
- Heavy Twig customization
- Layout Builder (with openness to Drupal Canvas)
- Real-time Salesforce data rendered via Views
- Solr search, Redis caching, CI/CD with BackstopJS + Cypress
Translation: this is not brochureware. They want a partner who knows Drupal deeply and respects existing architecture.
What They’re Looking For
NASWA is seeking a partner to handle:
- UX discovery & research
- Information architecture and navigation improvements
- Modern, accessible, responsive design
- Front-end implementation inside an existing Drupal ecosystem
- Strong collaboration with an in-house Drupal developer
This is a design-led, UX-first engagement with real influence over how a national association presents itself to members, partners, and policymakers.
Let’s Talk Budget (Educated Guess)
While the RFP doesn’t state a number, based on:
- Enterprise Drupal complexity
- UX + design + front-end scope
- Association scale (50 states, DC, territories)
- Multi-month timeline
A realistic range likely lands somewhere in the $150k–$300k+ zone, depending on approach, team composition, and depth of UX work. This feels aligned with mid-to-large Drupal agencies or highly experienced consultancies—not bargain work, and that’s a good thing.
Key Dates
- Proposal deadline: February 9, 2026
- Anticipated start: April 15, 2026
There’s time to assemble a thoughtful response—but not time to sleep on it.
Who Should Pay Attention?
- Drupal agencies with strong theming + UX chops
- Teams comfortable working inside existing complex architectures
- Designers and front-end leads who enjoy component systems and accessibility
- Firms that do well with associations, nonprofits, and policy-driven orgs
If that sounds like you—or someone in your network—this is absolutely worth a look.
If you are interested, go directly to their website and check out the opportunity (RFP). It's closing pretty quickly, so you need to jump in it.