Senior Product Designer

You will be FORT’s first full-time designer, responsible for building the design platform from 0→1 across hardware interaction, operator-facing software, and AI-assisted workflows. This role spans all three product pillars: Control, Intelligence, and Ecosystem. You will not be decorating screens; you will define how people interact with our hardware, software, and the autonomous systems that run on both.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Build FORT’s design foundation from scratch: design system, interaction model, and component library across FORT Manager and future platform surfaces.

Design the physical interaction layer of FORT hardware, how operators read device state, safety status, and control affordances through button layout, LED signaling, and tactile feedback.

Define human-robot interaction (HRI) patterns: how operators monitor, trust, intervene in, and recover autonomous systems, across both hardware and software surfaces.

Design AI-forward workflows: AI Assistant interface, fleet observability dashboards, anomaly surfacing, and operator guidance experiences. Use AI tools actively to prototype and iterate faster.

Conduct field research with industrial operators and OEM engineers in real deployment environments; run usability testing and translate findings directly into design decisions.

Map end-to-end platform journeys across all user types: floor operators, OEM integration engineers, fleet administrators, and safety stakeholders.

Partner daily with Product, Firmware, Software, Hardware, and Operations; translate technical constraints into design decisions without sacrificing usability.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

5+ years of product or interaction design experience, including at least 2 years in hardware-software combined environments, robotics, IoT, industrial automation, automotive, or similar.

Built a design system or component library from scratch, not inherited one.

Physical interaction design experience: designed how a hardware product communicates state, intent, or safety status to a human.

Field research experience: contextual inquiry, operator shadowing, or usability testing in real-world environments.

Proficient in Figma or equivalent, Claude; prototypes complex, multi-step workflows at high fidelity.

AI-first approach: uses AI tools to accelerate design, prototyping, and research synthesis as a standard workflow, not a novelty.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience in safety-critical or regulated product environments (human factors, IEC 62366, or equivalent).

Background in human-robot interaction, autonomous systems, or physical AI platforms.

Familiarity with front-end basics (HTML/CSS) for tighter design-engineering handoff.