Product Designer, AI

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer, AI
Company: Benchling
Location: San Francisco, CA
Job Type: Full-Time
Category: Product Design / GTM Operations
Date Posted: 2025-12-07
Experience Level: Mid to Senior Level (5+ years)
Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end user experience design for cutting-edge AI features within the Benchling R&D Cloud, directly impacting scientific innovation.
• Drive product strategy and roadmap definition in close collaboration with Product Management, Engineering, and Go-To-Market teams in a dynamic, agile environment.
• Conduct in-depth user research and testing to inform design decisions, ensuring solutions are intuitive, scalable, and address complex scientific workflows.
• Contribute to and evolve Benchling's comprehensive design system, promoting consistency and efficiency across the platform.

📝 Enhancement Note: While this role is for a Product Designer, its focus on AI features, GTM collaboration, and enhancing scientific workflows places it at the intersection of product development and GTM operations, requiring a strong understanding of how design impacts user adoption and business objectives. The emphasis on AI implies a need to consider the operational implications of integrating intelligent features into existing scientific processes.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Define product strategy, scope, and prioritization for AI initiatives by collaborating with Product Management and Engineering teams in a startup-like environment.
• Own the design process for high-impact AI features, encompassing research, concept development, wireframing, high-fidelity mockups, and ensuring seamless implementation.
• Rapidly prototype ideas in real-time with Engineers to validate product directions and gather early user feedback, accelerating the design-validation cycle.
• Execute user research and interviews to deeply understand scientist needs, identify pain points, and inform iterative improvements for enhanced usability and efficiency.
• Actively use and contribute to the evolution of Benchling's design system, identifying gaps and creating reusable design components that offer high utility across the entire product suite.
• Clearly articulate and present design rationale, insights, and recommendations to cross-functional teams, including Product and Design leadership.
• Effectively communicate and collaborate within a hybrid work environment, balancing in-person teamwork with remote work flexibility.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong need for cross-functional collaboration, a hallmark of effective GTM operations. The emphasis on "defining product strategy" and "prioritization" indicates a strategic role that influences the product roadmap, which in turn impacts sales enablement and market positioning.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• A Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience:

• 5+ years of progressive experience in designing SaaS, mobile, or AI-driven products, with a proven track record of simplifying complex product architectures or workflows.
• Demonstrated success in designing for products that leverage high-traffic conversion funnels for growth is highly desirable.

Required Skills:

• Expertise in end-to-end product design, from user research and ideation to wireframing, prototyping, and high-fidelity mockups.
• Strong portfolio showcasing a deep understanding of user experience (UX) principles and their application to complex, data-intensive applications.
• Proficiency in contributing to and advocating for design systems to ensure product consistency and scalability.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex design decisions clearly and persuasively.
• Experience working effectively within agile development methodologies and cross-functional teams.
• A genuine curiosity about emerging technologies, particularly AI, and their practical application to solve user problems.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing AI-first features or products, understanding the unique challenges and opportunities they present.
• Familiarity with the biotechnology or life sciences industry, providing context for scientific workflows.
• Experience with user research methodologies and tools to gather actionable insights.
• Knowledge of design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar.
• Ability to prototype interactive experiences to validate design concepts.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "5+ years of experience" is presented with flexibility, indicating the company values demonstrated skills and experience over strict tenure. This approach aligns with many modern tech companies that focus on impact and capability, particularly in fast-evolving fields like AI and product design. The mention of "high traffic conversion funnels" suggests a need to understand user acquisition and retention strategies, which are critical for GTM success.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio that clearly demonstrates your ability to design for powerful functionality, growth, and conversion.
• Showcase examples of simplifying complex product architectures or workflows through thoughtful design solutions.
• Include case studies that highlight your end-to-end design process, from initial research and concept development to final implementation and iteration.
• Provide evidence of your contributions to design systems, illustrating how you've promoted consistency and scalability.

Process Documentation:

• Documented examples of your contributions to product strategy definition and roadmap prioritization.
• Case studies detailing your experience with user research, including methodologies used and insights gained.
• Visual representations of your design process, such as user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity mockups for complex features.
• Examples of how you've collaborated with engineering and product teams to bring designs to life, with a focus on iterative development and rapid prototyping.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Product Designer role with a GTM operations intersection, the portfolio should not only showcase design aesthetics but also demonstrate strategic thinking and an understanding of how design decisions impact user adoption, efficiency, and ultimately, business growth. This means including case studies that quantify impact where possible, such as improvements in user task completion times or conversion rates.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $170,000 to $230,000 per year.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans for employees and their dependents.
• Fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits to support growing families.
• Four months of fully paid parental leave, promoting work-life balance for new parents.
• 401(k) plan with employer match to support long-term financial planning.
• Commuter benefits for in-office employees and a generous home office setup stipend for remote employees.
• Robust mental health benefits, including therapy and coaching, for employees and dependents.
• Monthly Wellness stipend to encourage healthy lifestyles.
• Learning and development stipend to support continuous professional growth and skill enhancement.
• Generous and flexible vacation policy to ensure adequate rest and rejuvenation.
• Company-wide Winter holiday shutdown for collective time off.
• Sabbaticals offered at 5-year and 10-year anniversaries, recognizing long-term commitment.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours, likely around 40 hours per week, with flexibility. The hybrid work arrangement (3 days in-office) suggests a structure that balances focused work with collaborative time.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is competitive for a Product Designer role in San Francisco, aligning with industry benchmarks for experienced professionals. The extensive benefits package, particularly the parental leave, wellness, and learning stipends, reflects a company culture that invests in employee well-being and professional development, which is attractive to operations professionals seeking long-term career stability and growth.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Biotechnology / Life Sciences Software (SaaS). Benchling operates at the critical intersection of cutting-edge science and technology, providing essential software infrastructure for research and development. This industry is characterized by rapid innovation, significant investment, and a drive to accelerate discovery. Company Size: Benchling is a growing, well-funded technology company. Its size suggests a dynamic environment with opportunities for impact while maintaining established processes and a clear organizational structure. Founded: Benchling was founded in 2012. Its establishment date indicates a company that has matured beyond its startup phase, possesses a proven product-market fit, and has developed robust operational practices, while still retaining an innovative and agile spirit.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is integral to Benchling's product development lifecycle, working closely with Product Management and Engineering.
• Designers are expected to collaborate cross-functionally with GTM teams (Sales, Marketing, Customer Success) to ensure product-market fit and successful adoption.
• The reporting structure likely involves a Design Lead or Director, with designers working on specific product areas or feature sets.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: Emphasizes user research, A/B testing, and analytics to inform design decisions and measure impact.
• Agile Development: Iterative product development cycles that prioritize flexibility, rapid feedback, and continuous improvement.
• Design System Excellence: Commitment to creating and maintaining a scalable, consistent, and user-friendly design system to ensure cohesive experiences.
• User-Centricity: Deep focus on understanding and serving the needs of scientists, translating complex scientific workflows into intuitive software.

Company Website: https://www.benchling.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Benchling's focus on biotechnology implies a culture that values scientific rigor, innovation, and a mission-driven approach. For operations professionals, this translates to a need for precision, a commitment to data integrity, and an understanding of how technology enables scientific breakthroughs. The company's growth stage suggests opportunities for process improvement and career advancement.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is for an experienced Product Designer, likely falling into a Mid-Level to Senior individual contributor track. The scope involves owning significant features, contributing to strategy, and influencing design systems, indicating a level of autonomy and responsibility. For operations, this translates to a role that requires strategic input into how products are designed to meet market needs and drive adoption. Reporting Structure: The Product Designer will report to a Design Lead or Director, working within a Product team that includes Product Managers and Engineering Leads. Collaboration with GTM teams is a key aspect, meaning exposure to sales enablement, marketing messaging, and customer success strategies. Operations Impact: The design of AI features directly impacts the efficiency, speed, and quality of scientific research. This has a downstream effect on Benchling's ability to acquire and retain customers, influencing revenue growth and market share. A well-designed AI feature can be a significant differentiator in sales conversations and a driver of customer satisfaction.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI product design, user research for complex scientific domains, and advanced design system development.
• Leadership Potential: Transition into a Senior Product Designer role, lead design initiatives, or mentor junior designers.
• Cross-Functional Mobility: Gain exposure to product strategy, GTM operations, and customer success, potentially leading to roles in Product Management or Design Leadership.
• Industry Expertise: Develop specialized knowledge in the rapidly evolving field of biotechnology and its intersection with AI.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth trajectory offers a blend of deep design expertise and broader strategic exposure, appealing to operations-minded individuals who seek to understand the full product lifecycle and its business impact. The emphasis on AI design specifically opens doors to high-demand skills in the tech industry.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid work environment, requiring 3 days per week in the San Francisco office. This setup aims to balance the benefits of in-person collaboration and team cohesion with the flexibility of remote work. Office Location(s): San Francisco, CA. This location places Benchling within a major technology hub, offering access to talent, networking opportunities, and a vibrant ecosystem.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Spaces: The office environment is likely designed to foster collaboration, with meeting rooms, shared workspaces, and areas for spontaneous interaction.
• Technology & Tools: Access to industry-standard design software, hardware, and potentially specialized tools for AI and prototyping.
• Team Interaction: Opportunities for regular interaction with designers, product managers, engineers, and GTM stakeholders, facilitating knowledge sharing and problem-solving.

Work Schedule:

• Standard full-time, with an expectation of 3 days per week in the San Francisco office. The exact daily schedule may offer some flexibility, common in tech companies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is typical for tech companies aiming to capture the benefits of both in-office and remote work. For operations-focused individuals, this environment necessitates strong self-management, effective communication across different work modes, and an ability to contribute meaningfully regardless of location.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter will review your application, focusing on your resume and portfolio alignment with the role requirements.
• Hiring Manager Interview: A conversation with the hiring manager to assess your experience, design philosophy, and fit with the team and company culture.
• Portfolio Presentation & Design Exercise: You will likely present your portfolio, highlighting relevant case studies, and may be given a design challenge to solve, assessing your problem-solving skills, design process, and ability to articulate your rationale. This often involves real-time collaboration with engineers or product managers.
• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with Product Managers, Engineers, and potentially GTM stakeholders to evaluate collaboration skills and understanding of product strategy.
• Final Interview: A discussion with Design or Product leadership to assess strategic thinking, leadership potential, and overall fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Showcase how your designs have solved problems, improved user workflows, or driven business outcomes. Quantify results where possible (e.g., improved task completion time, increased feature adoption).
• Demonstrate Process: Clearly articulate your design process, from research and ideation to iteration and final execution. Explain why you made certain decisions.
• Highlight AI & Complexity: For this role, emphasize any experience with AI features or designing for complex, data-intensive applications. Show how you simplify these.
• Design System Contribution: Detail your experience with design systems, including how you've contributed to them and ensured their effective use.
• Tailor to Benchling: Research Benchling's product and target users (scientists) and tailor your presentation to show how your skills are relevant to their specific challenges.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the User: Be prepared to think deeply about the target user (scientists) and their unique workflows and needs.
• Problem Framing: Practice breaking down ambiguous problems into smaller, manageable components.
• Ideation & Iteration: Demonstrate a strong ability to brainstorm multiple solutions and iterate based on feedback.
• Communication: Clearly articulate your thought process, design decisions, and rationale. Be ready to explain trade-offs.
• Prototyping Skills: If the challenge involves prototyping, be ready to use common design tools efficiently.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process emphasizes not just design skills but also strategic thinking, collaboration, and the ability to translate user needs into tangible product features that align with business objectives. For operations candidates, this means highlighting how design contributes to product adoption, efficiency, and customer success.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

• Figma: Likely the primary tool for UI design, wireframing, prototyping, and collaboration, especially given its prevalence in modern design teams.
• Sketch: Potentially used, though Figma is increasingly preferred for collaborative workflows.
• Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop): Useful for asset creation, image editing, and visual design elements.

Prototyping Tools:

• Figma/Sketch's built-in prototyping: For interactive mockups.
• InVision, Principle, or similar: May be used for more advanced interactive prototypes.

User Research & Testing Tools:

• UserTesting.com, Lookback, Maze: For remote usability testing and feedback collection.
• SurveyMonkey, Typeform: For creating surveys and gathering user feedback.
• Qualtrics: For more advanced market research and analytics.

Design System Management:

• Zeroheight, Storybook (for developers): Tools used to document and manage design system components.
• Internal tools/documentation: Benchling likely has its own system for design token management and component libraries.

Collaboration & Project Management:

• Jira, Asana, Trello: For tracking design tasks and project progress within agile workflows.
• Confluence: For documentation and knowledge sharing.
• Slack: For real-time team communication.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in modern design tools like Figma is crucial. For operations professionals, understanding how these tools integrate into broader development and project management workflows is key. The mention of AI features suggests potential exploration of AI-assisted design tools in the future.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Scientific Rigor & Precision: A deep respect for accuracy and detail, reflecting the scientific nature of Benchling's users and mission.
• Innovation & Curiosity: A drive to explore new technologies (like AI) and creative solutions to complex problems.
• Collaboration & Transparency: Open communication and teamwork across disciplines to achieve shared goals.
• User-Centricity: A relentless focus on understanding and solving the needs of scientists, ensuring the product delivers maximum value.
• Bias for Action & Iteration: A willingness to experiment, learn quickly from failures, and continuously improve.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Designers work hand-in-hand with Product Managers and Engineers throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Feedback-Rich Environment: Encourages constructive feedback from peers, leadership, and stakeholders to refine designs.
• Shared Ownership: A collective responsibility for product success, from initial concept to market adoption.
• Data-Informed Decision Making: Designs are validated through user research and data analysis, fostering a culture of evidence-based design.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on scientific rigor and user-centricity aligns with the core tenets of effective operations, which demand accuracy, efficiency, and a deep understanding of stakeholder needs. The collaborative and iterative approach is also crucial for operations roles that often involve cross-functional project management and process optimization.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Designing for AI Complexity: Translating sophisticated AI capabilities into intuitive and actionable user experiences for scientists, who may have varying levels of technical expertise.
• Simplifying Complex Workflows: Benchling serves complex scientific R&D processes; simplifying these through design without sacrificing power or precision is a constant challenge.
• Balancing Innovation with Consistency: Evolving the design system and introducing new AI features while maintaining a cohesive and familiar user experience across the platform.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring seamless collaboration and shared understanding across Product, Engineering, and GTM teams, especially in a hybrid environment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI Design Specialization: Deepen expertise in designing AI-powered products, learning about machine learning interfaces, data visualization for AI insights, and ethical AI design considerations.
• Biotechnology Domain Expertise: Gain in-depth knowledge of scientific workflows and challenges within the biotech industry, enhancing product relevance.
• Design System Leadership: Contribute to the strategic direction and expansion of Benchling's design system, potentially leading initiatives.
• Product Strategy Involvement: Participate in defining product vision and roadmap, gaining exposure to business-level decision-making.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are common in high-growth tech companies, particularly those integrating advanced technologies like AI into complex domains. These challenges also present significant growth opportunities for individuals who can navigate them effectively, developing highly sought-after skills in product design, AI, and domain expertise.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach designing an AI feature that helps scientists identify potential drug targets faster? What are the key user needs and potential pitfalls?" (Focus on user-centricity, AI capabilities, and process simplification.)
• "Describe a time you had to simplify a complex product workflow. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Highlight your problem-solving methodology and ability to translate complexity into usability.)
• "How do you balance contributing to a design system with the need to innovate and introduce new patterns for AI features?" (Assess your understanding of design systems and their role in scalable innovation.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Benchling and the biotechnology industry?" (Show genuine interest in the company's mission and the scientific domain.)
• "How do you approach collaboration with engineers and product managers in a hybrid environment?" (Demonstrate your communication and teamwork skills.)
• "How do you ensure your designs are user-centric, especially when working with highly technical users like scientists?" (Highlight your user research and empathy skills.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: Organize your presentation logically, starting with an overview of Benchling and the role, then diving into 2-3 of your most relevant case studies.
• Storytelling: For each case study, tell a clear story: the problem, your process, your solutions, and the impact.
• Focus on AI & Complexity: Emphasize projects that involved AI, complex data, or intricate workflows. Explain how you tackled these challenges.
• Demonstrate Impact: Where possible, use metrics to show the success of your designs. If no hard metrics are available, articulate the expected benefits or qualitative improvements.
• Design System Contribution: Clearly showcase your involvement with design systems and how you ensured consistency.
• Q&A Readiness: Anticipate questions about your design choices, trade-offs, and how you handle feedback.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparing for this role involves not just showcasing design skills but also demonstrating an understanding of the product's strategic importance, its impact on scientific operations, and the ability to collaborate effectively within a tech-centric, hybrid environment. Highlighting experience with AI and complex systems will be particularly valuable.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer, AI position at Benchling:

• Submit your application through the provided Greenhouse link.
• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest projects that best demonstrate your experience with complex workflows, AI features (if applicable), SaaS products, and design systems. Tailor your case studies to highlight your end-to-end design process, focusing on problem-solving, user research, and impact.
• Optimize Your Resume: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 5+ years of relevant experience, highlighting key skills such as product design, UX, AI product design, design systems, user research, and agile methodologies. Use keywords from the job description.
• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies. Focus on storytelling, clearly explaining the problem, your process, your solutions, and the results. Be ready to discuss your design rationale and any trade-offs made.
• Research Benchling: Thoroughly understand Benchling's mission, its R&D Cloud platform, its target users (scientists), and its company culture. Consider how AI can specifically enhance scientific workflows.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with Benchling before making application decisions.