Lead Product Designer at The Allen Institute for AI

Seattle, Washington, United States

The Allen Institute for AI Logo
$137,520 – $206,280Compensation
Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Artificial Intelligence, Technology, ResearchIndustries

Requirements

  • 8+ years of experience in UX, product, or interaction design for complex digital products
  • A strong portfolio demonstrating modern, user-centered design with measurable product impact
  • Expertise in end-to-end product design, from problem framing through polished UI execution
  • Proficiency in Figma and familiarity with modern design tools
  • Strong UX foundation with excellent interaction and visual design judgement
  • Ability to translate abstract AI concepts into approachable, powerful user experiences
  • Hands-on, thoughtful, and data-driven approach
  • Comfortable mapping user journeys and crafting detailed prototypes
  • Ability to drive clarity in ambiguous problem spaces
  • Strong communication skills to bring cross-functional teams along with clear design rationale

Responsibilities

  • Own the end-to-end design process for complex, multi-surface AI products, from user research and information architecture to interaction design, prototypes, and visual polish
  • Translate complex technical and research concepts into simple, discoverable, and intuitive user experiences
  • Design interaction flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity mockups using modern tools like Figma
  • Partner with PMs, engineers, and researchers to align product strategy, user needs, and technical feasibility
  • Build and maintain reusable design systems, patterns, and components that enable fast iteration and consistent experiences
  • Define and evangelize scalable design frameworks that connect visual and interaction design to Ai2’s broader mission
  • Contribute to and evolve a unified design language across projects
  • Drive design alignment across teams, clarifying priorities and ensuring design quality scales with impact
  • Partner with leadership to shape the long-term user experience strategy for Ai2’s open models and tools
  • Communicate design rationale and trade-offs effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences
  • Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to define mechanisms that improve design collaboration, velocity, and quality

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

Product DesignUX DesignInteraction DesignVisual DesignPrototypingUser JourneysHuman-Centered DesignSystems DesignAI Product DesignFigmaSketch

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What is the salary range for the Lead Product Designer role?

The base salary range is $137,520 - $206,280, with generous bonus plans to provide a competitive compensation package.

Is this a remote position or does it require office work?

Persons in these roles are expected to work from our offices in Seattle.

What key skills are required for this Lead Product Designer position?

The role requires strong UX foundation, excellent interaction and visual design judgement, ability to translate complex AI concepts into intuitive experiences, end-to-end design process ownership including user research, wireframes, prototypes, and design systems using tools like Figma.

What is the company culture like at the Allen Institute for AI?

Ai2 has a small, collaborative design team that works closely with researchers, engineers, and program managers. They value curiosity, collaboration, and a shared commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI-driven design and technology in a fast-paced, innovative environment.

What makes a strong candidate for this Lead Product Designer role?

A strong candidate is a senior individual contributor who can drive end-to-end product design, balance strategic vision with hands-on execution, thrive at the intersection of complex systems and human-centered design, and communicate effectively with cross-functional teams.

The Allen Institute for AI

Advances AI through research and engineering

About The Allen Institute for AI

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) focuses on advancing artificial intelligence through research and engineering. It develops technologies that improve machine reasoning, common sense for AI, and language modeling. AI2 works on various projects, such as AllenNLP for natural language processing and EarthRanger for environmental monitoring. Unlike for-profit companies, AI2 operates as a non-profit, relying on grants and donations to fund its initiatives. This allows them to provide their research and tools to the public for free, promoting collaboration in the AI field. The goal of AI2 is to tackle significant scientific and engineering challenges to benefit society.

Seattle, WashingtonHeadquarters
2014Year Founded
N/ACompany Stage
AI & Machine LearningIndustries
201-500Employees

Benefits

Medical
401(k)
Visa Sponsorship
Time off
Catered meals & free snacks
Training & development
Tuition reimbursement
Remote & hybrid work options

Risks

Competition from OpenAI's QwQ-32B model may reduce AI2's market influence.
AI2's reliance on grants poses financial risks during economic downturns.
Open-source models may face intellectual property risks and misuse.

Differentiation

AI2 focuses on open-source models, promoting transparency and collaboration in AI development.
AI2's projects like AllenNLP and Semantic Scholar address diverse scientific and societal challenges.
AI2 operates as a non-profit, relying on grants and donations for funding.

Upsides

AI2's open-source models attract researchers, enhancing collaboration and innovation.
Tülu3 and OLMo-2 models position AI2 as leaders in open-source AI.
AI2's multimodal models meet the demand for integrated data processing in various fields.

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