Lead Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer

Company: Firefly

Location: New York City, New York, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / UX / UI

Date Posted: 2026-08-18

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end design of the Ember platform, encompassing conceptualization, exploration, and launch of new features.

• Evolve the product's design language and define holistic user experiences across mobile and web platforms.

• Architect software solutions that seamlessly integrate physical hardware, real-time environments, and digital interfaces for enhanced physical safety.

• Champion user-centric design principles, focusing on the emotional and situational context of users during high-stakes moments.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a foundational member of Firefly's Product Design team, with significant autonomy and responsibility for shaping the core Ember platform. The emphasis on "shipping fast" and designing for "high-stakes, time-sensitive moments" indicates a need for designers comfortable with rapid iteration and a deep understanding of user psychology in critical situations.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end design process for the Ember platform, from initial concept and exploration to final launch and iteration.

• Define and evolve the product's design language, ensuring consistency and scalability across all user interfaces.

• Develop comprehensive user workflows that bridge physical and digital interactions across multiple participants and devices.

• Champion design excellence by applying strong fundamentals in visual hierarchy, typography, layout, and information clarity to create intuitive interfaces.

• Drive iterative design processes, prioritizing immediate impact while planning for long-term system evolution through testing and feedback.

• Plan and execute user research with installers, operators, and end-users to inform product decisions and defend user needs.

• Foster a collaborative design culture by working closely with founders, hardware teams, ML engineers, and software developers.

• Design for complex edge cases, potential failures, and operational constraints to ensure the safety and clarity of split-second decision-making for safety operators.

• Develop and scale interface components that safety operators can interpret quickly and rely on during critical events.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic product vision and tactical execution. The emphasis on "designing for safer communities" and "multi-touchpoint user journeys" suggests a need for a designer adept at systems thinking and understanding complex operational environments. The requirement to "design with our customers" underscores the importance of user research and customer-centric product development.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Not specified, but a degree in Design, HCI, or a related field is typically expected for this level.

Experience: 6+ years in Product Design, Interaction Design, UX, or equivalent roles, with a proven track record of shipping complex software products.

Required Skills:

• Deep understanding of software design principles, system architecture, and interaction design.

• A strong portfolio showcasing shipped products with a high bar for visual craft, system design, and workflow optimization.

• Proficiency in the full product design lifecycle: product strategy, design ideation, wireframing, system architecture, design systems, workflow design, and visual execution.

• Experience designing holistic user journeys across multiple touchpoints, including journey maps, service blueprints, and ecosystem diagrams.

• Strong visual design skills, with an emphasis on polish, delight, simplicity, and a keen eye for color, type, layout, data visualization, and information hierarchy.

• Technical literacy, enabling effective collaboration with engineering teams and understanding of production constraints.

• Deep user empathy, with a process integrating behavioral insights from user research, testing, and analytics.

• Demonstrated ownership of outcomes, comfort with ambiguity, and ability to make confident design decisions with incomplete data.

• Inclusive collaboration skills, adept at integrating cross-functional constraints and non-design perspectives.

• Strong ability to defend design decisions with rationale and user-centric framing. Preferred Skills:

• Experience in enterprise hardware, IoT, or connected-device companies where software and hardware ship together.

• High-caliber visual design polish and experience developing new brand systems.

• Experience designing agentic workflows or AI-native products.

• Experience planning, leading, and synthesizing primary research, including co-design and UX landscape studies.

• Versatility and eagerness to learn new tools/skills and adapt to shifting requirements.

• Proven experience working and shipping quickly and iteratively.

• Exposure to hospitality, healthcare, education, public safety, or other regulated or trust-driven markets.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize a blend of hard UX/UI skills, strategic thinking, and soft skills essential for a lead role in an early-stage startup. The portfolio requirement is particularly crucial, with specific mention of demonstrating thinking and process beyond just the final outcome. Experience with hardware-software integration, AI, and regulated industries is a strong plus.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase shipped products with a deep understanding of software design, system architecture, and interaction principles.

• Demonstrate a high bar for visual craft, including examples of complex logic, layout, and architecture problems solved.

• Present your thinking and design process, illustrating how you approach problem-solving and iterate on solutions.

• Include examples of system architecture, design systems, and workflow designs that you have developed.

• Highlight case studies that demonstrate your ability to translate user needs and complex requirements into intuitive interfaces. Process Documentation:

• Provide evidence of your ability to design for multi-touchpoint user journeys, potentially through journey maps, service blueprints, or ecosystem diagrams.

• Illustrate your iterative design approach, showcasing how you prioritize for immediate impact while planning for future evolution.

• Detail your user research methodologies, including how you plan and conduct research with customers and translate findings into product decisions.

• Demonstrate your process for driving design excellence through visual hierarchy, typography, layout, and information clarity.

• Showcase examples of how you've collaborated with engineering and technical teams, adapting design to production limitations.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio is a critical component for this role. Candidates should focus on demonstrating their ability to handle complexity, think systemically, and execute with a high degree of craft. Specific examples of user journey mapping, iterative design processes, and customer-centric research will be highly valued.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $160,000 – $200,000 annually.

Benefits:

• Equity options

• Health Insurance

• Additional benefits are likely available but not explicitly detailed in the provided information.

Working Hours: Full-time, typically 40 hours per week, with an expectation of in-office presence.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is competitive for a Lead Product Designer role in New York City with 6+ years of experience. The inclusion of equity is standard for startup roles and offers significant upside potential. The fixed in-office work arrangement is a key factor for candidates.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (Physical AI, Safety & Security Solutions)

Company Size: Growing startup (less than 50 employees, based on funding and stage, but specific number not provided).

Founded: Less than two years ago (as of August 2026), indicating an early-stage, fast-paced environment.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is being established, suggesting the Lead Product Designer will play a key role in shaping its initial structure and processes.

• The role requires close collaboration with founders, hardware teams, ML engineers, and software developers, indicating a highly cross-functional and integrated team environment.

• Reporting structure likely involves direct interaction with senior leadership or founders given the early stage. Methodology:

• Emphasis on rapid iteration and shipping directly with customers ("Want to ship, fast.").

• Design approach extends beyond the interface to encompass the entire ecosystem ("Love designing beyond the interface.").

• Strong focus on user emotion and context, especially during critical moments ("Center users’ emotion.").

• High value placed on craft, speed, and building technology that matters in the real world.

• Data-driven decision-making, informed by user research and analytics.

Company Website: https://firefly.co/

📝 Enhancement Note: Firefly is positioned as a mission-driven company focused on solving a critical societal problem (physical safety) with innovative AI and hardware. The culture appears to be fast-paced, collaborative, and execution-oriented, with a strong emphasis on user impact and design excellence. The establishment of the Product Design team suggests an exciting opportunity to influence design direction from the ground up.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Lead Product Designer. This signifies a senior individual contributor role with significant ownership and influence over product direction, particularly within the design domain. It's a role that requires not only strong design execution but also strategic thinking and the ability to mentor and guide future design hires.

Reporting Structure: Likely reports directly to a Head of Product, VP of Engineering, or one of the company's founders, given the early stage and the establishment of a new design function.

Operations Impact: The Lead Product Designer will have a direct and substantial impact on Firefly's core product, Ember platform. Their work will directly influence how organizations perceive and utilize physical safety technology, potentially saving lives and improving operational efficiency. The design of the user experience is paramount to the adoption and effectiveness of Firefly's AI-native solutions.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Opportunity to build and lead the Product Design team as the company scales, defining design processes, hiring, and mentoring.

• Strategic Influence: Shape the product vision and strategy through design-led innovation, influencing the direction of the company's AI and hardware offerings.

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in designing for complex, real-time, AI-driven systems, connected hardware, and high-stakes environments.

• Industry Impact: Contribute to building a defining physical AI company and making a tangible difference in real-world safety.

• Career Progression: Potential to move into a Design Director or Head of Design role as the company grows.

📝 Enhancement Note: This is a pivotal role for a designer looking to make a significant impact and grow with a rapidly scaling startup. The opportunity to build a design function from its early stages offers substantial career development potential beyond traditional product design roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: In-Office. The role explicitly states "New York City, NY (In-Office)" and "You ❤️ NYC: You want to work on-site with our team in New York City five days a week." This indicates a strong preference for in-person collaboration.

Office Location(s): New York City, New York. Specific office address is not provided but is implied to be a central hub for the company's operations.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The emphasis on in-office work suggests a dynamic environment designed to foster spontaneous collaboration, brainstorming, and rapid problem-solving. Proximity to hardware teams, ML engineers, and software developers is key.

• Tools & Technology: While specific tools are not listed, expect a modern design stack (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite) and access to development environments for collaboration with engineers. The nature of the product (AI-native, physical hardware integration) may also involve specialized tools for simulation or data visualization.

• Team Interaction: Daily interaction with a multidisciplinary team is expected, fostering a culture of shared learning and collective problem-solving.

Work Schedule: Full-time, on-site in New York City. The "ship, fast" mentality suggests a potentially demanding but rewarding work pace.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "in-office" requirement is a defining characteristic of this role and company culture. Candidates should be comfortable with and value in-person collaboration as a core driver of Firefly's speed and innovation.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process: (Inferred based on typical lead/senior design roles in startups)

• Initial Screen: A brief call with a recruiter or hiring manager to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Review & Design Challenge: A deeper dive into the candidate's portfolio, often accompanied by a take-home design challenge or an in-person/virtual design exercise. This assesses problem-solving skills, design process, and execution.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Meetings with key stakeholders, including engineering leads, product managers, founders, and potentially other designers, to evaluate collaboration, technical understanding, and strategic thinking.

• Final Round/Leadership Interview: A conversation with senior leadership (e.g., CEO, CTO) to assess strategic alignment, leadership potential, and long-term vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Process: Clearly articulate your design thinking, problem definition, research methods, ideation, iteration, and rationale behind design decisions.

• Highlight Impact: Quantify the impact of your designs where possible (e.g., user adoption, efficiency gains, problem resolution).

• Systemic Thinking: Demonstrate your ability to design complex systems, user journeys, and interconnected workflows, not just isolated screens.

• Visual Craft: Ensure your portfolio reflects a high standard of visual design, typography, and layout, aligning with Firefly's emphasis on polish.

• Tailor to Firefly: Emphasize projects that relate to complex software, hardware integration, AI, safety, or enterprise solutions.

Challenge Preparation:

• Anticipate challenges that require designing for high-stakes situations, real-time data, or multi-user collaboration.

• Be prepared to articulate your design decisions, trade-offs, and how you would iterate based on feedback.

• Practice presenting your work concisely and effectively, focusing on the user problem and the solution's impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to deeply articulate their design process and the impact of their work. The portfolio is paramount, and demonstrating an understanding of Firefly's mission and the unique challenges of designing for physical safety will be crucial.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Likely Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator), and prototyping tools like InVision or Principle.

• User Research & Testing: Tools for user interviews, surveys, usability testing platforms (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback).

• Collaboration & Project Management: Tools such as Slack, Jira, Asana, Trello, Confluence, or similar for team communication and workflow management.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly mentioned, expect to work with product analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics) to understand user behavior and inform design decisions.

• Data visualization tools might be relevant for presenting complex information. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to a Product Designer role, but understanding how CRM and automation tools might interface with the Ember platform could be beneficial.

📝 Enhancement Note: While specific tools aren't listed, proficiency in industry-standard design software is a given. Given the "AI-native" and "connected hardware" focus, familiarity with tools that support these areas (e.g., data visualization, simulation) would be advantageous.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Impact-Driven: A strong bias towards action and delivering tangible results that improve safety.

• Craftsmanship: A deep commitment to quality, detail, and excellence in design and execution.

• User Empathy: Designing with a profound understanding of users' emotional states and situational contexts, especially in critical moments.

• Collaboration: Working inclusively across disciplines to achieve shared goals.

• Speed & Iteration: Embracing rapid development cycles and continuous improvement.

• Ownership: Taking responsibility for outcomes and navigating ambiguity with confidence.

Collaboration Style:

• Highly cross-functional, involving close partnership with founders, engineers (software and ML), and hardware teams.

• Emphasis on in-person collaboration to foster rapid feedback loops and shared understanding.

• Open to critical feedback and constructive debate, with a focus on user-centric framing and rationale.

• A culture of shared learning and mutual respect, building a foundation for design within the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: Firefly's culture appears to be a blend of startup agility and a serious mission focus. The values emphasize delivering real-world impact through high-quality, user-centric design, achieved through intense collaboration and iterative development.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Establishing Design Foundation: As a foundational member of the design team, you'll be responsible for setting up design processes, standards, and potentially building the team.

• Designing for High Stakes: Creating interfaces for critical safety situations requires extreme care, foresight, and a deep understanding of human behavior under duress.

• Hardware-Software Integration: Designing seamless experiences that span physical devices and digital interfaces presents unique technical and user-experience challenges.

• Rapid Iteration in an Early-Stage Startup: Balancing the need for speed with the requirement for thoroughness and user empathy can be demanding.

• Defining AI-Native Experiences: Shaping intuitive and effective user interactions within AI-driven systems.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Leadership & Team Building: Opportunity to grow into a design leadership role, shaping the future of design at Firefly.

• Industry Expertise: Gaining deep knowledge in the physical AI, safety technology, and IoT sectors.

• Complex System Design: Mastering the design of integrated hardware-software ecosystems and AI-powered workflows.

• Cross-functional Mastery: Developing strong collaborative skills with engineering, product, and leadership teams.

• Mentorship: Potential to learn from experienced founders and team members from top tech companies.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant challenges that are also rich with growth potential. The opportunity to build something foundational in a critical industry is a major draw for ambitious designers.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you designed a complex system or workflow. What were the key challenges, and how did you approach them?" (Focus on your process, user research, and systemic thinking.)

• "How do you balance the need for rapid iteration with the requirement for thoroughness and user empathy, especially in high-stakes scenarios?" (Highlight your iterative process and user-centric approach.)

• "Walk us through a project where you had to integrate hardware and software design. What were the unique considerations?" (Showcase your understanding of cross-device experiences.)

• "How would you approach designing an AI-native interface for a safety-critical application?" (Demonstrate your understanding of AI UX and safety considerations.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Firefly's mission of physical safety?" (Connect your passion to their mission.)

• "What does 'craft' mean to you as a product designer, and how do you ensure it in your work?" (Align with their value of craftsmanship.)

• "How do you handle constructive criticism or disagreements with engineering or product teams?" (Show your collaborative and problem-solving approach.)

• "What excites you about working in an early-stage startup environment?" (Demonstrate your comfort with ambiguity and desire for impact.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: Structure your portfolio presentation around a compelling story for each case study, starting with the problem, your approach, the solution, and the outcome/impact.

• Focus on Process: Dedicate significant time to explaining your thought process, research, ideation, and iteration. Use visuals to illustrate key stages.

• Demonstrate Systemic Thinking: Clearly show how your designs fit into a larger ecosystem or user journey, not just isolated screens.

• Highlight User Empathy: Explain how user needs and emotional context informed your design decisions.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, present metrics or qualitative feedback that demonstrate the success of your designs.

• Be Concise and Engaging: Practice your presentation to ensure it flows well and stays within the allotted time. Be ready to answer in-depth questions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on articulating your design process, demonstrating systemic thinking, and aligning with Firefly's mission and values. The portfolio is your primary tool, so practice presenting it with confidence and clarity.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Prepare your Portfolio: Curate a selection of your strongest projects, focusing on those that demonstrate experience with complex workflows, system architecture, user journeys, and ideally, hardware-software integration or AI-driven products. Ensure your portfolio clearly articulates your design process and the impact of your work.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your 6+ years of experience in Product Design, Interaction Design, or UX, emphasizing achievements and skills relevant to Firefly's mission and the requirements outlined. Use keywords like "Product Design," "UX," "System Architecture," "User Research," "AI," and "IoT."

• Research Firefly: Familiarize yourself with Firefly's mission, product (Ember platform), target market (physical safety), and company culture. Understand their focus on AI-native solutions and consumer-grade polish in enterprise software.

• Practice Your Narrative: Be ready to articulate why you are a great fit for this role, how your experience aligns with the challenges of designing for physical safety, and what excites you about Firefly's vision. Prepare to walk through your portfolio projects with confidence.

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