Product Designer (UX Research + Product Design) - YC Security Startup
Thomas Talent Network, San Francisco, CA, United States
New York, NY or San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)
$150,000 – $225,000 per year
About the Role We are looking for a Product Designer with deep expertise in UX Research and Product Design to join a small, highly technical, and product-focused team. In this role, you will be central to driving the UX and design of an investigator-facing platform — transforming complex investigative data into intuitive, high‑stakes workflows.
This is an early design hire with significant ownership and direct influence over the platform's core UX philosophy. You will work closely with founders and engineers, sitting directly with end users — detectives and investigators — to understand their real‑world needs and ship measurable product improvements.
Responsibilities
Own end-to-end UX design for investigator-facing product features.
Conduct user research directly with detectives, investigators, and analysts to deeply understand investigative workflows.
Translate complex, real-world workflows into clear product flows and interfaces.
Collaborate closely with engineers and founders to define product requirements and iterate quickly.
Produce PRDs and product specs that clearly communicate user problems and proposed solutions.
Prototype and test new ideas quickly with internal teams and external users.
Continuously improve usability and workflow efficiency for high-stakes investigative work.
Help shape the long‑term design system and UX philosophy of the platform.
Required Qualifications
3+ years of experience in product design, UX design, or product UX research.
Experience designing complex workflows or data-heavy software products.
Deep, hands‑on experience conducting user research directly with customers and translating insights into shipped product changes.
Experience working closely with engineers in fast‑moving startup environments.
Ability to write clear product specs or PRDs.
Strong product thinking and problem‑solving ability.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Proven experience working within a top high‑growth startup or elite technology company (e.g., top YC startups, Palantir, Stripe, Ramp, Notion, Figma, Scale AI, Anduril).
Demonstrated track record of conducting user research directly with end users and shipping product changes based on those insights (not through a separate research team).
Ideal Candidate
Independent contributor who thrives owning product problems end-to-end.
Proven record of being directly embedded with end users in the field — conducting your own research and using it to ship measurable improvements.
Has truly thrived in a fast-moving startup environment with high ownership — not just a large company with "startup culture."
Combines UX research and product design into a single, unified workflow.
Strong product intuition and execution ability — builds, ships, and iterates quickly.
Comfortable collaborating daily with founders and engineers without heavy process overhead.
Day-to-Day Activities
Reviewing product usage data or investigator feedback.
Talking directly with users about investigative workflows.
Designing or iterating on product flows and interfaces.
Collaborating with engineers on feature implementation.
Writing product specs for new improvements.
Prototyping new ideas to test with users.
This role works closely with the founders and engineering team. You will collaborate with:
Founders and leadership.
Forward-deployed engineers working directly with investigators.
Backend and AI engineers building the platform.
Growth Opportunities
Shape the core UX philosophy of the platform.
Influence how AI is integrated into investigator workflows.
Potentially grow into Lead Product Designer or Head of Design.
Benefits
Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance.
401(k) / Retirement Plan.
Early-stage startup equity compensation.
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$150,000 – $225,000 per year
About the Role We are looking for a Product Designer with deep expertise in UX Research and Product Design to join a small, highly technical, and product-focused team. In this role, you will be central to driving the UX and design of an investigator-facing platform — transforming complex investigative data into intuitive, high‑stakes workflows.
This is an early design hire with significant ownership and direct influence over the platform's core UX philosophy. You will work closely with founders and engineers, sitting directly with end users — detectives and investigators — to understand their real‑world needs and ship measurable product improvements.
Responsibilities
Own end-to-end UX design for investigator-facing product features.
Conduct user research directly with detectives, investigators, and analysts to deeply understand investigative workflows.
Translate complex, real-world workflows into clear product flows and interfaces.
Collaborate closely with engineers and founders to define product requirements and iterate quickly.
Produce PRDs and product specs that clearly communicate user problems and proposed solutions.
Prototype and test new ideas quickly with internal teams and external users.
Continuously improve usability and workflow efficiency for high-stakes investigative work.
Help shape the long‑term design system and UX philosophy of the platform.
Required Qualifications
3+ years of experience in product design, UX design, or product UX research.
Experience designing complex workflows or data-heavy software products.
Deep, hands‑on experience conducting user research directly with customers and translating insights into shipped product changes.
Experience working closely with engineers in fast‑moving startup environments.
Ability to write clear product specs or PRDs.
Strong product thinking and problem‑solving ability.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Proven experience working within a top high‑growth startup or elite technology company (e.g., top YC startups, Palantir, Stripe, Ramp, Notion, Figma, Scale AI, Anduril).
Demonstrated track record of conducting user research directly with end users and shipping product changes based on those insights (not through a separate research team).
Ideal Candidate
Independent contributor who thrives owning product problems end-to-end.
Proven record of being directly embedded with end users in the field — conducting your own research and using it to ship measurable improvements.
Has truly thrived in a fast-moving startup environment with high ownership — not just a large company with "startup culture."
Combines UX research and product design into a single, unified workflow.
Strong product intuition and execution ability — builds, ships, and iterates quickly.
Comfortable collaborating daily with founders and engineers without heavy process overhead.
Day-to-Day Activities
Reviewing product usage data or investigator feedback.
Talking directly with users about investigative workflows.
Designing or iterating on product flows and interfaces.
Collaborating with engineers on feature implementation.
Writing product specs for new improvements.
Prototyping new ideas to test with users.
This role works closely with the founders and engineering team. You will collaborate with:
Founders and leadership.
Forward-deployed engineers working directly with investigators.
Backend and AI engineers building the platform.
Growth Opportunities
Shape the core UX philosophy of the platform.
Influence how AI is integrated into investigator workflows.
Potentially grow into Lead Product Designer or Head of Design.
Benefits
Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance.
401(k) / Retirement Plan.
Early-stage startup equity compensation.
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