Product Designer, Defense

Summary

Product Designer

Physical AI is the next wave beyond LLMs, and the stakes are highest in defense: fragmented systems cause missed threats, and clunky interfaces cost operators time they can't get back. Applied is one of a small number of companies with the product surface, field access,and engineering depth to fix this.

The Defense team has proven its autonomy, simulation, and onboard systems in real deployments. Now we're turning bespoke, program-driven wins into products that scale across customers, platforms, and theaters — and design carries a lot of that weight.

We're hiring a Product Designer to own that experience end to end, across two connected surfaces:

• Real-time operator interfaces for command, control, and situational awareness — on tablets, ground stations, and shipboard/airborne environments with constrained compute and connectivity.
• Enterprise web platforms that defense engineering teams, customers, and partners use to build, simulate, test, and ship autonomy.

You don't need to arrive as a defense expert — you need to be a fast, rigorous learner who can turn a complex domain into a clear point of view. You'll conduct primary research with warfighters, analysts, and engineers, and pair with a strong PM and engineering bench to ship. Expect up to 25% travel, including internationally, to bases, ranges, and customer sites.

Reports to the head of product design; partners with PMs across DroneStack, Defense OS, autonomy platforms, and simulation, plus the engineers building each system.

What You'll Do

• Own the design of one or more Defense products end to end — research, interaction and visual design, prototyping, shipped UI.
• Become the voice of the operator through primary research, ride-alongs, and exercises with warfighters and partners.
• Design real-time edge interfaces that reduce cognitive load and shorten the decide-act loop under contested comms and limited compute.
• Design the trust model for agentic autonomy — approval and escalation patterns that keep humans meaningfully on the loop.
• Design the enterprise tools used to build, simulate, validate, and ship autonomy.
• Extend the Defense design system to serve both real-time and enterprise workflows without splintering.
• Turn one-off program deliveries into repeatable products.
• Represent design at demos, program reviews, and industry events; help grow the design practice as the vertical scales.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years of product design experience across at least two meaningfully different environments (industries, product types, stages, or customer segments).
• Track record shipping products end to end — research through launch and iteration — including hard calls on what not to build.
• Strong research instincts: proven ability to learn a new domain from scratch and turn findings into design direction.
• A portfolio showing judgment on information density, decision UI, and multi-user workflows.
• Comfort learning and designing for technically complex systems (no autonomy/robotics background required).
• Strong engineer collaboration and ability to partner with EMs/tech leads on tradeoffs.
• Clear communication — from design briefs to presentations for senior leadership.
• Proficiency with modern prototyping tools.

Security Requirements

• U.S. citizenship required.
• Must hold or be eligible for a U.S. security clearance (TS/SCI target; Applied will sponsor).

Nice To Have

• Active DoD Secret/Top Secret/TS-SCI clearance.
• Experience with defense, intelligence, maritime, aerospace, or first-responder users.
• Background in C2, air traffic, cockpit/EFB, geospatial, or real-time simulation interfaces.
• Experience with developer platforms, MLOps, data labeling, or test/observability tools.
• Design experience for edge/constrained-compute environments.
• Experience shaping trust/approval patterns for AI copilots or agentic systems.
• Prior military, intelligence, or fleet operational service.
• Experience helping build a design practice from the ground up.

Compensation

Includes base salary, equity, and benefits (medical/dental/vision/life/disability, 401(k) match, learning/wellness stipends, PTO). Base salary range for this Sunnyvale-based role: $150,000–$200,000. Actual salary depends on experience, skills, and level.

Don't meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact people@applied.co. We will work with you!

Job Description

Product Designer

Physical AI is the next wave beyond LLMs, and the stakes are highest in defense: fragmented systems cause missed threats, and clunky interfaces cost operators time they can't get back. Applied is one of a small number of companies with the product surface, field access,and engineering depth to fix this.

The Defense team has proven its autonomy, simulation, and onboard systems in real deployments. Now we're turning bespoke, program-driven wins into products that scale across customers, platforms, and theaters — and design carries a lot of that weight.

We're hiring a Product Designer to own that experience end to end, across two connected surfaces:

• Real-time operator interfaces for command, control, and situational awareness — on tablets, ground stations, and shipboard/airborne environments with constrained compute and connectivity.
• Enterprise web platforms that defense engineering teams, customers, and partners use to build, simulate, test, and ship autonomy.

You don't need to arrive as a defense expert — you need to be a fast, rigorous learner who can turn a complex domain into a clear point of view. You'll conduct primary research with warfighters, analysts, and engineers, and pair with a strong PM and engineering bench to ship. Expect up to 25% travel, including internationally, to bases, ranges, and customer sites.

Reports to the head of product design; partners with PMs across DroneStack, Defense OS, autonomy platforms, and simulation, plus the engineers building each system.

What You'll Do

• Own the design of one or more Defense products end to end — research, interaction and visual design, prototyping, shipped UI.
• Become the voice of the operator through primary research, ride-alongs, and exercises with warfighters and partners.
• Design real-time edge interfaces that reduce cognitive load and shorten the decide-act loop under contested comms and limited compute.
• Design the trust model for agentic autonomy — approval and escalation patterns that keep humans meaningfully on the loop.
• Design the enterprise tools used to build, simulate, validate, and ship autonomy.
• Extend the Defense design system to serve both real-time and enterprise workflows without splintering.
• Turn one-off program deliveries into repeatable products.
• Represent design at demos, program reviews, and industry events; help grow the design practice as the vertical scales.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years of product design experience across at least two meaningfully different environments (industries, product types, stages, or customer segments).
• Track record shipping products end to end — research through launch and iteration — including hard calls on what not to build.
• Strong research instincts: proven ability to learn a new domain from scratch and turn findings into design direction.
• A portfolio showing judgment on information density, decision UI, and multi-user workflows.
• Comfort learning and designing for technically complex systems (no autonomy/robotics background required).
• Strong engineer collaboration and ability to partner with EMs/tech leads on tradeoffs.
• Clear communication — from design briefs to presentations for senior leadership.
• Proficiency with modern prototyping tools.

Security Requirements

• U.S. citizenship required.
• Must hold or be eligible for a U.S. security clearance (TS/SCI target; Applied will sponsor).

Nice To Have

• Active DoD Secret/Top Secret/TS-SCI clearance.
• Experience with defense, intelligence, maritime, aerospace, or first-responder users.
• Background in C2, air traffic, cockpit/EFB, geospatial, or real-time simulation interfaces.
• Experience with developer platforms, MLOps, data labeling, or test/observability tools.
• Design experience for edge/constrained-compute environments.
• Experience shaping trust/approval patterns for AI copilots or agentic systems.
• Prior military, intelligence, or fleet operational service.
• Experience helping build a design practice from the ground up.

Compensation

Includes base salary, equity, and benefits (medical/dental/vision/life/disability, 401(k) match, learning/wellness stipends, PTO). Base salary range for this Sunnyvale-based role: $150,000–$200,000. Actual salary depends on experience, skills, and level.

Don't meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact people@applied.co. We will work with you!