Product Design Lead

Product Design Lead 

Location: Hybrid | New York, NY

Clearance: U.S. Citizenship required (no exceptions). Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. DoD security clearance (Secret or higher)

Employment Type: Full-time, salaried, with full benefits

The Company & Mission:

We’re partnering with an early-stage, venture-backed technology company building AI-powered software that helps teams navigate dense, unstructured information and execute critical decisions in environments where speed, accuracy, and auditability matter.

This is a rare chance to join a small, elite team working directly with end users to solve real-world problems—where product decisions have immediate, tangible impact.

This is a zero-to-one design role where you’ll define how modern, AI-native product design actually works in practice

What This Role is All About:

This is not a traditional product design role.

You’ll operate as a hybrid designer–builder, owning the end-to-end user experience while redefining how design integrates with engineering. The goal: eliminate bottlenecks and build systems that allow the team to move faster without sacrificing quality.

You’ll be responsible for creating AI-native, code-ready design systems that enable engineers to move fast and make high-quality product decisions independently.

What You’ll Be Doing:

Build a Scalable Design System

• Create and own a component-driven design system aligned with modern frontend frameworks (e.g., React)


• Ensure designs are directly usable by engineers and compatible with AI-assisted development workflows


• Translate product decisions into reusable, production-aligned components—not static mockups

Accelerate Product Development

• Introduce rapid prototyping workflows to test ideas before heavy engineering investment


• Partner closely with engineering to review and shape frontend implementations

Own the Design Function

• Establish a design process that scales with a fast-moving, early-stage team


• Remove design as a bottleneck by building systems—not one-off deliverables

Drive Product Quality

• Translate complex, stateful workflows into intuitive, usable experiences


• Build tight feedback loops with internal stakeholders and end users to continuously improve usability

What You Bring:

• 3–5+ years designing complex digital products with a strong portfolio of shipped work


• Hybrid skillset: strong UX/product thinking plus working knowledge of frontend (React, TSX/CSS, etc.)


• Ability to simplify dense, operational workflows into clean, intuitive interfaces


• Strong visual and systems design instincts (typography, hierarchy, interaction patterns)


• Comfortable collaborating deeply with engineers—not operating as a downstream function


• High ownership mindset with a bias toward action and building scalable solutions


• Proficiency in Figma and modern design tooling

Bonus Points:

• Experience using AI tools to accelerate design or prototyping workflows


• Background in complex domains (e.g., operations, logistics, defense, healthcare, or regulated industries)


• Experience in early-stage or high-growth startup environments

Benefits:

• Define your own role and roadmap as the organization scales


• Flexible remote work environment with East Coast time zone alignment


• Comprehensive healthcare, 401(k), and unlimited PTO


• Monthly reimbursement for home internet and phone (up to $150)


• Parental leave: 4 months for birthing parent, 3 months for non-birthing


• $100/month wellness stipend


• WeWork membership access