Senior AI Product Designer

This role is located in Somerville, MA - We are a hybrid work environment and are in the office 3+ days/per week.

Tulip, the leader in AI-native frontline operations, is helping companies around the world equip their workforce with composable, connected apps, leading to higher quality work, improved efficiency, and end-to-end traceability across operations. Tulip’s cloud-native, no-code platform, powered by embedded AI, is driving the digital transformation of industrial environments through composable, human-centric solutions that go beyond disrupting the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) category.

A spinoff out of MIT, Tulip is headquartered in Somerville, MA, with offices in Germany, Hungary, Singapore, and Israel. Tulip has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Global Innovator, a 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast award winner, one of Energage’s Top Workplaces USA, and one of Built In Boston’s “Best Places to Work” and “Best Midsize Places to Work.”

Product design is in a fundamental shift. Generative AI is changing what designers do - execution (layouts, assets, variations) is increasingly augmented or automated - while making the strategic parts of design more valuable, not less. The best product companies don’t treat design as a handoff phase; they treat it as a full partner in discovery: figuring out what to build, for whom, and whether it’s valuable and usable. We believe the boundaries between product, design, and engineering are breaking down; and we believe the most impactful people combine deep craft in one domain with enough fluency in the others to collaborate in tight loops and ship real products.

About You:

We’re looking for a Senior Product Designer who is built for this world: someone who leads on what to build and what good looks like, not only how it looks on the screen; who thrives in this new environment, and who will help define how design works at Tulip as we embrace AI and the changing landscape of product development.

You’ll be a core member of the Tulip product team (product management, design, engineering) that owns problems end-to-end - from deciding what to work on and discovering solutions to building, testing, and shipping. Your job is not to wait for requirements or hand off specs; it’s to co-create with PM and engineering through prototyping, critique, and iteration so that the right thing gets built and it actually helps users.

We’re optimizing for someone who will thrive as the role of design continues to evolve. These are the attributes that matter most.

• Full partner in the product team
• Design isn’t a downstream phase for you - it’s how the team figures out what to build and why. You work in tight loops with product and engineering to shape direction early, validate value before over-investing in build, and bring clarity to ambiguity. You know when to prototype, when to test, and when to ship.
• You combine strong design craft with product judgment and technical fluency, allowing you to weigh tradeoffs, read a roadmap, and collaborate with engineers as a true peer - not through handoffs. You’re someone we’d trust on a small, high-stakes team to tackle hard problems and define what great looks like.
• AI-augmented mindset
• You see AI as a tool to extend your craft: more time on strategy, discovery, and human impact; less time on repetitive execution. You’re curious about or already using AI-assisted design and workflow tools to prototype and/or ship (e.g. Cursor, Claude code, Figma Make, Figma MCP, Lovable, V0).
• You’re open to learning and teaching: you use new tools to level up, and you help others do the same.
• Design judgment and craft
• You have exceptional design judgment and a high bar for craft - interaction quality, visual coherence, systems thinking, and usability at scale. You know what great looks like, and you’re willing to push back when the bar isn’t met.
• Your fluency in product and engineering doesn’t dilute your craft - it sharpens it. You make deliberate tradeoffs without compromising clarity or usability, and you advocate for the user when it matters most.
• Coaching and raising the bar
• You mentor other designers and cross-functional teammates. You share knowledge, give clear feedback, and help the team get better at discovery, critique, and craft.
• You contribute to how design works at Tulip - including how we evolve in an AI-augmented future - and you help the rest of the company understand what great product design looks like

What skills do I need?

• 5-7+ years of experience shipping products in cross-functional, empowered product teams (product + design + engineering owning problems together).
• Experience mentoring, coaching, and giving feedback to other designers and cross-functional peers.
• Fluency in modern design and prototyping tools (e.g. Figma); strong interaction design and prototyping.
• Strong visual design skills: you can craft beautiful, coherent experiences even when there’s no design system in place - and you help build and evolve systems when they are.
• Experience with AI tools - whether AI-assisted design, AI coding, or other workflows - and a willingness to learn what helps you and the team move faster and focus on higher-impact work.
• Proficient in user research and information architecture; you use research to inform what we build, not only to validate after the fact.
• A portfolio that shows end-to-end design thinking, discovery (prototyping, testing, iteration), strong visual and interaction design decisions, and impact on what shipped and why it mattered.
• Ability to structure, document, and communicate design decisions clearly so product and engineering can move with you.
• A strategic mindset with a bias for action.
• Working knowledge of front-end tech or willingness to learn enough to collaborate effectively with in coded prototypes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Partner with product and engineering in discovery: prototype, test, and iterate to figure out what to build and whether it’s valuable and usable.
• Design thoughtful, cohesive experiences across core workflows and emerging features.
• Help shape and scale Tulip’s design system to be code-integrated, AI-readable, and localization-ready.
• Lead and participate in user research, usability testing, and validation; use data and feedback to refine what we ship.
• Act as a design advocate across the company: coach others, raise the bar, and help define what “great” looks like.
• Mentor designers and cross-functional teammates through feedback, pairing, and critique.
• Contribute to how design works at Tulip as we embrace AI and the evolving product landscape.

Key Collaborators:

• Product Design
• Product
• Engineering
• Customer Team
• Marketing

Working at Tulip

We know even great candidates experience imposter syndrome. Even if you don’t match every requirement, applying gives you the opportunity to be considered.

We’re building a strong, diverse team that values hard work, families, and personal well-being.

Benefits of working with us include:

• Direct impact on product and culture
• Company equity
• Competitive benefits package including Health, Dental, Vision, Short-term Disability, Long-term Disability, Life Insurance, AD&D Insurance, Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Commuter Benefits, Parental Leave, and 401(K)
• Flexible work schedule and unlimited vacation policy
• Virtual company events and happy hours
• Fitness subsidies

We are an equal opportunity employer. At Tulip, we celebrate all. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Help us build an inclusive community that will transform frontline operations.

The compensation information displayed on each job posting reflects the range for new hire pay rates for the position across all US locations. Within the range posted, actual compensation will be determined depending on multiple factors including job-related knowledge & skills, experience, business needs, geographical location, market compensation data, and internal equity. Expected compensation ranges for this role may change over time. Salary range for this position: $100,000 – $160,000 per year.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.