Product Designer - Government

About the Role

You will leverage xAI’s models and algorithms to create a new generation of mission-critical AI products and experiences tailored for federal government and enterprise partners, scaling these solutions to support high-stakes operations around the world. This role mirrors the responsibilities of a hands-on designer in an AI startup focused on government missions: you’ll collaborate in a small, agile team to deliver secure, regulated projects, often in classified or compliance-heavy environments.

A typical day may include:

• Distilling insights from user needs, model research, and government requirements into clear product directions, ensuring compliance with customer standards.
• Designing and prototyping interfaces for xAI products, future standalone products, and secure government or enterprise platforms, with an emphasis on usability in regulated settings.
• Specifying and evaluating model behavior, working closely with our research efforts, while benchmarking designs for performance, security, and auditability.
• Enhancing user experiences through iterative design, prompt tuning, or interface refinements, with a focus on secure and scalable deployment.
• Analyzing user feedback, system outputs, or request logs to ensure reliability in mission-critical workflows.
• Building internal design tooling or prototypes to streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks in secure environments.
• Refining xAI design guidelines or developer resources based on government or enterprise feedback, prioritizing usability for stakeholders in regulated contexts.

• A passion for solving complex, real-world problems—particularly those tied to government missions or enterprise objectives—delivering measurable impact through AI-driven design.
• Proven ability to ship high-quality, secure designs and complete projects in challenging, regulated, or ambiguous environments.
• Adaptability to shifting priorities and requirements in a fast-paced, mission-driven startup setting.
• Exceptional communication skills to interface with customers—including government stakeholders—clarifying design requirements and driving projects to completion.
• Expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust, scalable, and secure AI-driven user experiences that meet stringent compliance and operational standards.

• Government Partnership
  
  Experience:
  
  Demonstrated success working with government agencies, DoD, or federal contractors on AI, software, or design projects.
• Clearance Required:
  
  Active U.S. security clearance (e.g., Top Secret, Top Secret SCI) is a requirement for this role
• 6+ years of design experience, ideally in environments requiring high reliability or security.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with experience documenting design solutions for diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to translate business, product, or mission needs into design solutions, particularly for government or enterprise clients.
• Proven experience implementing AI or machine learning interfaces with APIs, back-end systems, and front-end prototypes.
• Strong understanding of secure design principles and user experience in regulated contexts.
• Robust design background, preferably in fields such as Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Computer Science, or related disciplines.

• Experience building evaluation frameworks for AI-driven designs and assessing usability in regulated or high-stakes contexts.
• Deep understanding of machine learning fundamentals—model interaction, evaluation, and user-facing tuning—with a focus on production-ready deployments.
• History of deploying AI-enhanced designs to production, ideally in secure or cloud-based government environments.
• Expertise in writing design documentation or maintaining resources for technical audiences, including government stakeholders.
• Ability to work with complex datasets, optimize user flows for performance, and scale designs for high-throughput, mission-critical workloads.
• Familiarity with secure design tools or infrastructure, particularly in government-aligned deployments.
• Strong portfolio showcasing your work in fast-paced, collaborative…