Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company reimagining the way AI is built. After creating and releasing PyTorch Lightning in 2019, Lightning AI was launched to reshape the development of artificial intelligence products for commercial and academic use.

We are on a mission to simplify AI development, making it accessible to everyone—from solo researchers to large enterprises. By removing the complexity of building and deploying AI tools, we empower innovators to focus on solving real-world problems. Our platform is built to scale with the latest AI advancements while staying intuitive and adaptable, so you can bring your ideas to life.

We have offices in New York City, San Francisco, and London and are backed by investors such as Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

• Move Fast: We act with speed and precision, breaking down big challenges into achievable steps.

• Focus: We complete one goal at a time with care, collaborating as a team to deliver features with precision.

• Balance: Sustained performance comes from rest and recovery. We ensure a healthy work-life balance to keep you at your best.

• Craftsmanship: Innovation through excellence. Every detail matters, and we take pride in mastering our craft.

• Minimal: Simplicity drives our innovation. We eliminate complexity through discipline and focus on what truly matters.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a senior product designer to help us design groundbreaking technology that will transform the machine learning ecosystem and fundamentally change how the world experiences software. With a diverse skill set spanning product, interaction, and visual design, you are able to create products that are a joy to use and add tangible value to our users.

You will collaborate across product and engineering to bring user flows and designs to life while working closely with users to test new ideas, conduct research, and gather feedback. You thrive in a fast-paced, start-up environment with a focus on speed, quality, and iteration from proof of concept to release.

You will be joining the Design Team and report to our Chief Creative Officer. This is a hybrid role based in our New York City office with in-office requirements of 2 days per week. The salary range for this role is $160,000-$200,000. 

What You’ll Do

• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to shape the user experience, interface, interactions, and visual design of new and existing features. Act as a key design partner in defining product strategy throughout the end-to-end development process.
• Craft user journeys, flows, prototypes, and designs—sometimes starting from scratch, other times by refining early engineering prototypes or providing design enhancements and guidance as products evolve.
• Proactively identify design opportunities and drive continuous improvement based on business objectives, user requirements, and customer requests.
• Engage with the open source AI community and enterprise AI researchers and builders to understand real-world needs, workflows, and challenges—bringing those insights directly into the product design process.
• Discover creative ways to eliminate friction and reduce papercuts through design, making it easier for users to onboard and utilize our platform from day one.
• Advocate for scalable, user-centered design systems and processes that improve design velocity, consistency, and impact across the product.
  
  

What You’ll Need

• 5+ years of experience designing B2C software or technical platforms, preferably in developer tools, AI/ML, or SaaS environments
• Strong portfolio showcasing end-to-end product thinking across UX, interaction, and visual design
• Experience working with product managers, engineers, and researchers to iterate quickly and ship thoughtfully
• Curiosity and initiative in engaging with the open source AI ecosystem, and a desire to understand the needs of both individual contributors and enterprise AI teams
• Comfort working in ambiguity and across multiple product maturity levels—from early-stage prototypes to production features
• Proficiency in Figma and modern design tools
• Familiarity with technical concepts like machine learning, APIs, or cloud infrastructure (not required, but a plus)
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present design rationale clearly and influence cross-functional teams
• A mindset of continuous learning, user advocacy, and pragmatic design execution
• Experience coding front-end is not required but a big plus!

Benefits and Perks

We offer competitive base salaries and stock options with a 25% one year cliff and monthly vesting thereafter. For our international employees, we work with Velocity Global to pay you in your local currency and provide equitable benefits across the globe.

In the US, we offer:

• Medical, dental and vision
• Life and AD&D insurance 
• Flexible paid time off plus 1 week of winter closure
• Generous paid family leave benefits
• $500 monthly meal reimbursement, including groceries & food delivery services
• $500 one time home office stipend
• $1,000 annual learning & development stipend 
• 100% Citibike membership (NYC only)
• $45/month gym membership 
• Additional various medical and mental health services

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.