UX Product Designer (National Security) Skydio
Autonomous drones for DFR, inspection, and national security.
Permanent
Occasional remote
150K to 200K $ a year
> 3 years
Communication skills
User research
Prototyping
Actively
You'll be part of
United States of America
829 employees
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
Our take
A leader in autonomous flight, Skydio builds drones that can track and film targets while avoiding obstacles. Its products have a wide range of applications, most notably for businesses that need to undertake inspections in unsafe places. The drones are also valuable to search and rescue efforts, police forces, and the US army. Backed by a range of top investors and strategic partners (including Andreesen Horowitz, Levitate Capital, and Next 47) Skydio sets itself apart from its competitors by marketing its products predominantly to businesses. With technology such as 3D scanning and a 360-degree superzoom mode, its drones have a wide range of applications and functionality. The company raised funding in 2023, which has boosted its valuation to over $2B. It has since focussed on R&D, developing and launching the X10 model which is designed for first responders and the military, as well as enhancing its remote control and thermal imaging capabilities. On top of this it's also been awarded two contracts to expand the use of advanced autonomous drones across key operational units by the US Air Force. As the largest American drone company, there is no reason Skydio shouldn't remain a key industry actor for years to come.
You'll be working on
- Skydio isn’t just building drones; we are defining the future of autonomous robotics
- To win, our products must be more than just capable, they must be undeniably reliable
- We are looking for a UX Product Designer who understands that trust isn’t a buzzword; it’s built through absolute system transparency, pragmatic workflows, and giving the operator a clear handle to grab when things get chaotic
- Our UX Product Designers are inventing the interfaces of the future
- You will not be designing generic dashboards
- You will be helping to design the critical trust-bridge between human operators and advanced AI hardware, translating extreme technological complexity into intuitive, reliable, and beautiful experiences
- As a UX Designer, you are a passionate craftsperson who embraces how technology is shifting the design discipline
- You are comfortable taking ownership of complex features, collaborating effectively with Design Leadership and Product Managers, and executing with an incredibly high bar for detail
- You will work closely with Design Leadership, Product Managers, and Engineers to map out Critical User Journeys (CUJs) and build cross-platform experiences (Web, Mobile, Ground Control Stations) that our customers in the national security/defense vertical will implicitly trust
- You will be instrumental in designing intuitive, high-quality user interfaces that bridge complex autonomous systems with streamlined tactical workflows, improving operator decision-making
- As a UX Product Designer, you are a passionate craftsperson who embraces how technology is shifting the design discipline
- Design for Trust: Own the UX execution for key features on our core platforms (including remote operations). You will build interfaces for autonomous flying robots that make the operator trust the job will get done, ensuring every interaction reinforces confidence, reliability, and system transparency
- Solve Unsolved Problems: Tackle complex challenges where there is no existing playbook. You will think pragmatically and creatively to design interfaces for remote hardware sensing, 3D spatial awareness, and AI-driven missions
- Communicate & Defend Rationale: Effectively communicate user needs and frame complex problems. You will present your design solutions clearly, defending your rationale with user data and system logic to align with Engineering and Product Management
- Elevate the Craft: Bring an uncompromising attention to detail and craftsmanship to the team. You will build high-fidelity prototypes to test assumptions quickly, leveraging AI tools as a seamless part of your daily process to move faster and explore wider
- Learn from the Field: Participate in on-site visits with our customers to deeply understand their chaotic, high-stress environments. Bring that “ground truth” back to the studio to inform your design decisions
We're looking for
- Prototyping Chops (“You Build to Think”): You can quickly mock up interactive prototypes to prove out concepts before Engineering writes a line of production code
- Proven Execution: 3-6 years of hands-on UX/UI product design experience, including translating product requirements into clear design concepts and specifications that Engineering has built and shipped
- Comfortable with Complexity: You have experience designing for technical tools being used in the real world. We’d love to see portfolios featuring: mapping or navigation apps, tools that connect to physical devices (IoT/hardware), or complex, multi-step workflows
- First-Principles Problem Solver: You are an out-of-the-box thinker, doer, and builder who loves operating in ambiguous spaces where no existing design patterns exist. You actively explore solutions by conducting research, building prototypes, and running user studies to get continuous feedback
- Uncompromising Craftsmanship: You have a portfolio of work that clearly demonstrates an exceptionally high bar for visual design, complex systems architecture, and attention to detail
- AI Fluency & Boundary-Blurring: You actively integrate AI into your daily workflow, but more importantly, you are excited by how AI is blurring the traditional lines between the functional roles of Product, Engineering, and Design. You use these tools to operate as a true hybrid product thinker, leveraging AI to rapidly build prototypes, accelerate user studies, and tell a more compelling product story to drive outsized impact