Product Designer, AI Models

Figma builds collaborative tools that help teams move from early ideas and brainstorming through design, prototyping and product development.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into the design process, Figma is also developing AI capabilities that help designers create, iterate and move from ideas to finished products more efficiently.

About the Role

Figma is hiring a Product Designer, AI Models to help improve the design capabilities of its AI systems.

This is an unusual Product Design position sitting directly between design craft and AI research.

Rather than focusing exclusively on designing interfaces or individual product features, you'll help Figma's AI researchers understand what constitutes high-quality design and translate that knowledge into principles, evaluation methods and feedback that can improve AI-generated results.

You'll act as a bridge between designers and AI researchers, helping Figma build AI models that become more capable creative partners for designers.

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What You'll Do

Improve AI Models Through Design Expertise

You'll collaborate directly with Figma's AI research teams to evaluate and improve model performance from a design perspective.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Assessing the quality of AI-generated design outputs.
• Identifying opportunities to improve model behavior.
• Providing design-focused feedback to AI researchers.
• Helping determine what high-quality AI-generated design should look like.
• Translating design concepts into guidance that can be understood and applied by technical teams.

Develop Design Principles for AI

One of the most interesting parts of the position is turning design expertise into structured principles that AI systems can use.

You'll:

• Develop design principles and heuristics.
• Document those principles clearly.
• Help translate subjective concepts such as craft and visual quality into more systematic evaluation criteria.
• Establish frameworks for evaluating AI-generated designs.
• Create repeatable approaches for testing improvements in model output.

The objective is to help AI systems develop stronger design capabilities rather than simply generate more content.

Evaluate AI-Generated Design

You'll help establish rigorous methods for measuring the quality of designs created with AI.

That includes:

• Developing evaluation methodologies.
• Reviewing AI-generated outputs.
• Maintaining quality standards.
• Improving evaluation processes over time.
• Guiding external partners involved in design evaluations.
• Identifying weaknesses and patterns across model outputs.

Your design judgment will therefore influence how Figma measures progress in its AI models.

Connect Design & AI Research

You'll operate between two different disciplines.

On one side are designers, thinking about craft, usability, visual quality and creative workflows.

On the other are AI researchers, working on model capabilities and technical performance.

You'll help both sides understand each other by:

• Explaining technical AI concepts to designers.
• Translating design principles for researchers.
• Connecting model performance with real design expectations.
• Coordinating initiatives spanning multiple products and teams.

What They're Looking For

Figma is particularly interested in designers who combine strong craft with systems-level thinking.

Relevant experience includes:

• Developing design principles and heuristics.
• Leading design initiatives spanning multiple products.
• Working across complex product ecosystems.
• Using AI models as part of the design process.
• Experience with coding models or image-generation models.
• Managing complex cross-functional projects.
• Coordinating work across organizational boundaries.
• Managing contractors and multiple simultaneous projects.
• Strong visual and product-design judgment.
• Excellent attention to detail.

AI Experience

Hands-on experience using AI for design tasks is an important part of the position.

Additional experience with the following is particularly valuable:

• AI-generated design.
• Evaluating AI-generated outputs.
• AI/ML concepts.
• Applying AI models to design workflows.
• Technical collaboration with AI researchers.
• Improving AI evaluation processes.

You don't necessarily need to be an AI researcher yourself, but you should be comfortable working closely with technical AI teams.

Additional Strengths

Figma also values candidates who can:

• Navigate ambiguous problems.
• Turn open-ended challenges into clear objectives.
• Improve operational processes.
• Communicate complex ideas clearly.
• Work effectively with both technical and non-technical teams.
• Apply strong design taste across different product contexts.

Location

This is a full-time US position.

Candidates can work remotely within the United States or from one of Figma's US hubs.

New hires are required to attend onboarding in person.

Compensation

Annual base salary: $169,000–$303,000 USD

Final compensation depends on factors including experience, skills, qualifications, scope, expected impact and location.

Figma also offers equity and additional benefits.

Benefits

Figma's compensation package may include:

• Employee equity.
• Health, dental and vision coverage.
• Retirement benefits with company contributions.
• Parental and family-planning support.
• Mental health and wellness benefits.
• Paid time off.
• Paid sick leave and holidays.
• Flexible PTO for eligible employees.
• Company recharge days.
• Phone and home-internet reimbursements.
• Lifestyle spending accounts.
• Annual bonus eligibility for qualifying non-sales positions.

Why This Role Stands Out

This is a particularly interesting example of how AI is creating entirely new responsibilities for Product Designers.

The designer isn't simply expected to use AI to work faster.

Instead, design expertise itself becomes an input into improving the AI model.

Figma needs someone capable of translating design taste, principles and heuristics into systems for evaluating and improving AI-generated design.

That makes this a genuine Design × AI Models role rather than a traditional Product Designer position with AI added to the requirements.