Principal Product Designer - CTJ - Secret

Microsoft•,

4d•$142,800 - $304,200

About The Position

Microsoft is seeking a Principal Product Designer to lead human-centered design for defense industrial base customers. The role translates complex customer needs into clear, accessible experiences and shapes design strategy from discovery through delivery. The designer connects customer priorities with Microsoft technologies and brings strong craft to solutions for complex workflows and consequential work. The position combines human-centered design expertise with practical use of AI-enabled design tools and workflows. The designer uses research, problem framing, co-design, prototyping, and iterative validation to ensure teams address the right problems. They also help shape AI-powered experiences that provide appropriate user understanding, control, and confidence, while protecting customer trust, accessibility, security, and design quality. As a design leader, the Principal Product Designer sets direction across complex initiatives, influences multidisciplinary partners, mentors designers, and remains hands-on where appropriate. They work with customers and teams across product, engineering, research, and customer-facing functions to deliver evidence-based solutions. The role requires an active U.S. Government Secret Security Clearance, U.S. citizenship verification, and successful Microsoft Cloud background checks.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or a related field and 6+ years of product or service design experience; or a bachelor’s degree in one of these fields and 8+ years of product or service design experience; or equivalent experience.
Must have an active U.S. Government Secret Security Clearance and meet applicable Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements.
Must pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
Must verify U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions.
Work samples or portfolio materials must be appropriate to share and must not contain classified or restricted information.

Nice To Haves

Command of human-centered design methods, with evidence of using research and iterative evaluation to improve customer outcomes.
Hands-on experience applying current AI-enabled design tools to ideation, prototyping, or other design activities, including evaluating output quality and limitations.
A portfolio or equivalent presentation demonstrating interaction design, systems thinking, design craft, and the reasoning behind consequential design decisions.
Experience supporting defense industrial base customers, government organizations, or other highly regulated enterprises.
Experience designing enterprise applications, complex workflows, or AI-powered products and services.
Demonstrated ability to lead design across multiple related initiatives, establish a shared vision, and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
A track record of adapting to rapidly changing tools and technologies and helping others adopt effective new practices.
Advanced proficiency in Figma or comparable tools, including interactive prototyping, component libraries, and design systems.
Experience designing for accessibility and working within security, privacy, and compliance constraints.
Experience mentoring designers and improving design practices across multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

Own design direction across complex customer engagements and related initiatives, connecting customer needs, business goals, and technical constraints to a coherent experience vision.
Lead discovery, research synthesis, problem framing, journey mapping, co-design, prototyping, and usability evaluation; use evidence to challenge assumptions, prioritize opportunities, and guide decisions throughout delivery.
Develop a deep understanding of defense industrial base customers’ roles, workflows, operating environments, and constraints, and translate complex requirements into usable solutions with technical, security, and compliance stakeholders.
Integrate current AI-enabled tools into research synthesis, ideation, interaction design, prototyping, and design-to-development workflows; validate generated outputs and use tools and data practices approved for the relevant environment.
Help teams design AI-powered experiences that address user control, transparency, trust, uncertainty, and recovery.
Evaluate emerging tools and capabilities, distinguish meaningful advances from novelty, and share repeatable practices that improve quality and accelerate learning.
Create interaction patterns, prototypes, and reusable components aligned with Microsoft design systems and accessibility standards while meeting customer needs.
Align customers, product managers, engineers, researchers, and leadership around design priorities; communicate design rationale, resolve ambiguity, and guide trade-offs using evidence and sound judgment.
Lead constructive critiques, mentor designers, and establish practices that help teams deliver consistently strong work; provide leadership through expertise and influence, with or without direct reports.
Define success criteria with partners and use customer feedback, usability findings, and adoption signals to evaluate results and guide improvements.
Embody Microsoft’s culture and values.