Product Designer

Position Overview

SteerBridge seeks a Product Designer to join our Experience Design team supporting our Aviation Tech team and the continued development and expansion of AIRES, our aviation readiness capability.

In this role, you will create high-fidelity UI prototypes in Figma, help maintain and extend our design system, and translate research findings, operational workflows, and technical requirements into clear, production-ready product experiences.

You will work as part of a small product design team, collaborating closely with a senior product designer who will provide day-to-day direction, design critique, and mentorship. You will also work with UX researchers, engineers, data teams, product stakeholders, and aviation subject-matter experts.

Ideal candidates are strong UI craftspeople who understand how design systems work in practice, are comfortable designing complex data-rich interfaces, are eager to learn, and thrive on clear direction and regular feedback. Over time, this role is expected to grow from executing defined design work to taking greater ownership of product workflows and features.

Design Patterns and Architectural Context

In data and software engineering, a design pattern is a battle-tested blueprint for solving a recurring problem. It is not a specific piece of code, but a standardized mental model that allows teams to skip the trial-and-error phase of architecture.

SteerBridge applies proven patterns such as Medallion Architecture to structure, validate, and operationalize data within mission-critical aviation analytics platforms.

Product designers work within this architectural context to translate complex data, workflows, and system behavior into clear, usable, and decision-ready experiences for operators working in high-consequence environments.

Primary Mission Area

The platform supports aviation readiness and sustainment operations including:

• Fleet readiness monitoring
• Maintenance planning
• Supply chain coordination
• Logistics forecasting
• Operational planning support

Primary users include aviation maintainers, logisticians, planners, and senior decision-makers operating under time pressure and incomplete information.

The work involves complex, data-rich interfaces that help users understand aircraft status, maintenance requirements, supply constraints, readiness risk, and potential courses of action.

Key Responsibilities

• Design high-fidelity prototypes and production-ready interfaces in Figma, translating wireframes, user flows, UX research, operational requirements, and technical constraints into polished product experiences.

• Design complex, data-driven workflows and interfaces supporting aviation readiness, maintenance, logistics, and operational planning.

• Partner with UX researchers and aviation subject-matter experts to translate validated user needs, research findings, and operational workflows into wireframes, interaction models, prototypes, and product designs.

• Support and maintain the team’s design system by applying established components, tokens, visual standards, and interaction patterns consistently and identifying opportunities for new or improved patterns.

• Collaborate with engineers, product stakeholders, researchers, and data teams to evaluate design feasibility, refine solutions, and iterate based on usability testing, stakeholder feedback, technical constraints, and evolving requirements.

• Prepare detailed design handoffs, including states, edge cases, interactions, and expected behaviors, and perform design QA to ensure implemented features align with Figma specifications.

• Manage multiple design tasks and Jira tickets across sprints, working within established priorities, estimating work, tracking progress, and proactively communicating blockers.

• Participate in design reviews and critiques, incorporate feedback into subsequent iterations, and clearly communicate design rationale to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Eligibility requirements: U.S. citizenship is required for this position under applicable federal contract requirements. Candidates must also be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance as required for the role.

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.

• 2-4 years of professional experience in UI or product design; exceptional early-career candidates with strong portfolios will also be considered.

• Portfolio demonstrating strong UI design skills, design system experience, and the ability to organize complex information and design multi-step user workflows.

• Strong proficiency in Figma, including components, variants, auto layout, and interactive prototyping, with experience translating wireframes, workflows, and requirements into high-fidelity, developer-ready designs.

• Strong understanding of design systems and foundational UI principles, including components, tokens, patterns, typography, visual hierarchy, layout, spacing, and color.

• Working knowledge of Section 508 and WCAG accessibility standards and their application to user interface design.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to present and explain design decisions, constraints, and tradeoffs; receive and incorporate feedback and mentorship; and manage assigned work using Jira or similar Agile tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing data-rich applications, dashboards, enterprise software, decision-support tools, or other complex interfaces that present system states, dependencies, alerts, operational status, or similar information clearly and effectively.

• Working knowledge of UX principles, including usability heuristics, information architecture, and interaction design, with the ability to identify potential usability concerns within complex user workflows.

• Working knowledge of HTML/CSS and experience collaborating with engineers to understand implementation feasibility and technical constraints.

• Experience contributing to design systems or component libraries and working within Agile/Scrum environments, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, and retrospectives.

• Experience with rapid prototyping, motion, or interaction design techniques to communicate product concepts and interactions beyond static screens, including AI-assisted tools such as Claude, ChatGPT/Codex, or comparable platforms.

• Experience supporting DoD, federal, aviation, logistics, fleet management, or other government or mission-critical programs.

The Teams Behind the Technology

Aviation analytics platforms succeed when multidisciplinary teams design, build, secure, and refine them with operational intent. SteerBridge’s aviation technology organization brings together software developers, data architects, data scientists, product and UI/UX designers, UX researchers, and aviation subject-matter experts.

Product designers work across these disciplines to translate complex operational requirements, user research, and data into intuitive product experiences. This collaboration is especially important in environments where time pressure, operational risk, and accountability matter.

Tools and Artifacts

• Figma
• Jira
• AI-assisted design, prototyping, and development tools such as Claude, ChatGPT/Codex, or comparable platforms
• Microsoft Office and collaboration tools

What Success Looks Like

• Designs accurately reflect validated user workflows and operational requirements while making complex aviation data clear and actionable.

• Figma prototypes and design documentation provide engineers with clear, implementation-ready specifications and minimize ambiguity during development.

• New features consistently apply and strengthen the AIRES design system, with design QA identifying implementation issues before they negatively affect the user experience.

• Product decisions effectively balance user research, technical constraints, aviation domain expertise, and operational needs.

• The designer collaborates effectively across design, engineering, research, and product teams while progressing from executing defined work to owning increasingly complex workflows and product features.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with matching
• Paid Time Off
• Paid Federal Holidays