Design Lead

AE Studio is an LA-based company focused on increasing human agency by making the AGI future go well. We believe that alignment is solvable, and people just haven't tried hard enough. 

We are a full-stack R&D group that combines engineering, data science, and product capabilities. 

We're fully bootstrapped, so profits from our client work go into internal Skunkworks projects, technical research, and policy engagement. This gives us the freedom to pursue high-risk, high-upside ideas that typical funding models neglect. Our alignment efforts include in-house work, clients like Goodfire AI, and collaborations with Redwood Research and researchers at Anthropic and DeepMind.

About the Role

Our client guarantee is that “We'll treat your project or product like it's our own and do whatever it takes, with a founder-level mentality, to make it spectacularly successful,” and we are looking for highly effective people to help us build exceptional products that increase human agency for our clients and internally. 

We're looking for individuals who aren't afraid to embrace new technologies and automate their processes. People who are masters of their craft and have exceptional product sense, strong communication skills, and a can-do attitude, and focus on more impactful work that leverages AI to enhance their strengths and complement their weaknesses, while working closely with clients, project runners, full-stack developers, and data scientists to design products from the ground up. 

Is this you? If so, we’d love to chat.

Summary

We're looking for highly effective product designers who can help us build exceptional products that increase human agency. This is a hybrid role: part product designer, part AI-focused product strategist, and part entrepreneurial leader. You'll own high-leverage projects from end to end, whether they are internal Skunkworks efforts, client projects, or with research partners. You will turn abstract ideas into tangible products, identifying ways for how AI can be built into the products you build, understanding where to use and not to use AI, and ensuring progress is visible and aligned with goals. The ideal candidate has a founder-level mentality, embraces new technologies, and leverages AI to speed up their workflow.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the design process from conception to launch for AI and software projects, ensuring high-quality user experiences and impactful outcomes
• Translate vague product ideas into testable design hypotheses, define design scope, and prioritize user experience needs in collaboration with product managers and developers
• Communicate design rationale clearly and effectively with demanding enterprise clients, aligning stakeholders and managing expectations
• Design product-focused interaction models, wireframes, user flows, mockups, and working prototypes in Agile environments
• Work closely with stakeholders and product managers to identify design opportunities that drive product growth and user adoption
• Efficiently create and manage production assets for multiple devices and viewports 

What We’re Looking For

• A minimum of 7 years of professional experience in product design
• Proven experience in AI product development, agencies, startup environments, or early-stage ventures
• An entrepreneurial mindset with a bias toward action, scrappiness, and experimentation
• A specialized generalist who can go deep into at least one area of product design, but can do whatever it takes to make the product you are designing successful
• You have a strong sense of what makes a product great & consistently make good product judgments, regardless of the domain and amount of information given
• You have a strong understanding of the technology you are designing for, including generative AI concepts like LLMs, RAG stacks, and agentic workflows, and how they impact user experience design, or can quickly understand the underlying intricacies of a new technology
• You are proficient in using AI to make your workflow more efficient or to create working prototypes using code rapidly, leveraging tools like Cursor, Lovable, or MagicPath
• You have a growth mindset and value progress over perfection
• You manage timelines and expectations effectively
• You are a strong communicator: clear with clients, inspiring with teams, and strategic with stakeholders 
• You value direct and honest feedback and can communicate gracefully and effectively, so it betters your partners' (coworkers and clients) work and happiness
• Ability to influence and drive design initiatives across cross-functional teams

Bonus Skills

• Founder/operator experience or deep desire