Digital Product Designer

AJAIA•New York, NY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Ajaia is an AI implementation consultancy and product studio that helps organizations move from AI experimentation to measurable return on investment. The Digital Product Designer runs discovery and design on client engagements and Ajaia’s own product suite. The role involves speaking with and observing people doing the work, translating findings into user journeys, wireframes, and prototypes that engineers can build, and testing designs with real users before production code is written. The designer works hands-on across research and design and owns the standard for how Ajaia’s products look and behave. AI tools are a core part of the role and are used daily to support research, synthesis, wireframing, and prototyping. The designer is expected to evaluate AI output, keep work current with new design and prototyping tools, and apply human judgment where needed. The role also requires designing human approval checkpoints into workflows, challenging stakeholder feature requests when evidence points elsewhere, handing off build-ready design work, and staying involved during implementation to ensure the product remains true to the design intent. The position is on-site in New York and includes travel to client sites for discovery work. Compensation is $90,000 to $210,000 base, depending on experience, plus a performance bonus of up to 100% of base salary. A bachelor’s degree is preferred but not required; no minimum years of experience are required.

Requirements

Conduct discovery independently, including interviews, usability testing, and analysis of behavioral data.
Move quickly from synthesis to a working prototype.
Design human checkpoints into workflows rather than adding them later.
Be comfortable presenting and defending evidence-based conclusions when stakeholders disagree or are surprised.
Use AI tools daily for research, synthesis, and prototyping and distinguish useful output from poor-quality output.
Work directly with engineers throughout the build.
No minimum years of experience required; candidates are evaluated on their work.

Nice To Haves

A public portfolio or case studies available for review.
Experience designing AI-native workflows, including determining where human checkpoints belong.
Consulting, agency, or professional services experience with concurrent clients.
Comfort with lightweight front-end implementation.
A bachelor’s degree is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Conduct discovery for client engagements and Ajaia products through interviews, observation, usability testing, and behavioral data.
Synthesize findings into user needs, distinguishing them from what users requested and providing supporting evidence.
Create user journeys, wireframes, and prototypes that engineers can build from without guessing.
Design human sign-off checkpoints directly into workflows.
Test designs with real users before production code is written.
Challenge stakeholder feature requests when research evidence points elsewhere and explain the rationale in actionable terms.
Own and maintain the design standard across Ajaia’s product suite.
Use AI tools by default for research, synthesis, and prototyping, and assess when AI-generated work needs to be corrected or rebuilt.
Hand off design work in a build-ready state and collaborate with engineers during implementation to catch deviations from design intent.
Stay current with design and prototyping tools.