Principal Product Designer, AI Features - Axon
Seattle, WA
About the Job
Join Axon and be a Force for Good.
At Axon, we're on a mission to Protect Life. We're explorers, pursuing society's most critical safety and justice issues with our ecosystem of devices and cloud software. Like our products, we work better together. We connect with candor and care, seeking out diverse perspectives from our customers, communities and each other.
Life at Axon is fast-paced, challenging and meaningful. Here, you'll take ownership and drive real change. Constantly grow as you work hard for a mission that matters at a company where you matter.
Your Impact
As a Principal Product Designer, AI Features, you will lead the charge in designing Axon's cutting-edge AI-driven solutions. Your work will not only shape how public safety professionals interact with generative AI but also set the vision for Axon's products for years to come. By aligning advanced AI capabilities with human-centered design principles, you will help officers work smarter, investigators uncover truth faster, and communities experience safer interactions.
Our Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) team is solving difficult cloud and local storage challenges. Axon manages massive amounts of digital files – tens of petabytes from thousands of first responders worldwide. The DEMS team works on improving workflows for the ingestion, playback, management & access control, searching, and sharing of case related files, increasing efficiency within the justice system. If you're looking for ownership and autonomy while collaborating across product teams, this role is for you.
You will own the holistic, end-to-end user experience for Axon's Gen AI products across multiple subject domains, driving strategy, influencing senior leadership, and contributing to Axon's overall UX vision. Your leadership will ensure Axon remains a global leader in public safety innovation.
Learn more about Axon Evidence here: https://vimeo.com/427422866
Check out our future vision for Axon products here: https://vimeo.com/333871354
Check out our future vision for our records product here: https://vimeo.com/221924983
Read about our ethics board: https://www.axon.com/info/ai-ethics
What You'll Do
Location: Work from home as much as you want, live nearby any of our awesome US R&D Hubs (Seattle, Scottsdale, Atlanta, or Boston) so you can easily collab in-person when it's helpful and be an active part of our vibrant Axon culture.
Reports to: Director of Product Design, DEMS & Devices
Direct Reports: None, with opportunities to mentor and influence across teams.
- Set and Drive Long-Term Vision: Define and execute a 3-5 year UX vision for AI-driven solutions, identifying opportunities and ensuring scalability, adaptability, and alignment across Axon's product pillars and ecosystem.
- Own End-to-End Product Design: Lead the entire design process—from research and ideation to prototyping and implementation—for complex, AI-enhanced workflows, delivering cohesive and impactful user experiences.
- Shape Product Strategy: Collaborate with senior leaders in Product, Engineering, and AI/ML teams to influence strategic decisions, ensuring design goals align with Axon's objectives and maximize AI's value for users.
- Engage with Customers: Conduct field research, including ride-alongs and usability testing, to deeply understand public safety professionals' needs, validate designs, and refine solutions based on real-world feedback.
- Promote Transparency and Trust in AI: Design intuitive, human-centered AI interfaces that build user confidence through explainability, ethical considerations, and culturally aware solutions.
- Advance Ethical AI Development: Champion responsible AI practices by being mindful of downstream impacts, societal outcomes, and unintended consequences. Establish processes that balance rapid innovation with risk mitigation to create safe, effective, and equitable AI solutions.
- Evolve Design Systems at Scale: Guide the evolution of Axon's design systems to support AI-driven products, fostering consistency and scalability across platforms.
- Champion Innovation and Best Practices: Experiment with new tools, methodologies, and technologies to push the boundaries of design while defining and evangelizing UX guidelines and best practices across Axon's products.
- Foster Collaboration and Alignment: Facilitate cross-functional workshops and design critiques, aligning teams around user-centered goals and strategies.
- Mentor and Develop Talent: Act as a mentor to designers, raise the team's skill level, and contribute to Axon's recruiting efforts to attract and retain top design talent.
- Prototype Advanced AI Interactions: Rapidly prototype and iterate on AI-driven interactions to simulate behaviors, gather feedback, and align with evolving technologies.
- Analytical Skills: Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot and optimize AI models for specific business needs.
- Data Management Skills: Experience managing large datasets, data preprocessing, and feature engineering, for training effective AI models is a bonus skillset for the ideal candidate.
What You Bring
- Experience: 12+ years of product design experience, including significant leadership in designing for complex AI, ML, or enterprise-level systems. Proven expertise in owning end-to-end user experiences for multiple products, with an emphasis on driving long-term UX strategy.
- Strategic Visionary: Demonstrated ability to set and execute a UX vision that aligns with organizational strategy, balancing user needs and business goals.
- Customer-Centric Approach: Deep experience working directly with customers to gather feedback and validate designs, especially in high-stakes or regulated industries.
- Technical Acumen: Strong knowledge of generative AI, large language models (LLMs), and advanced front-end technologies. Comfortable integrating AI/ML capabilities into user-friendly designs.
- Problem Solving in Ambiguity: Thrives in environments with high ambiguity, identifying opportunities and leading teams to deliver scalable solutions.
- Industry Influence: Expert knowledge of UX standards and best practices, with contributions to advancing the field through publications, conferences, or community engagement.
- Communication and Influence: Exceptional ability to articulate design concepts, lead workshops, and advocate for user needs with senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
- Mentorship and Leadership: Proven success in mentoring designers and elevating the overall skill set of a design organization.
Benefits for You
- Competitive salary and 401k with employer match
- Discretionary paid time off
- Robust parental leave policy
- Medical, Dental, Vision plans
- An award-winning office/working environment
- Fitness Programs
- Emotional & Mental Wellness support
- Learning & Development programs
- And yes, we have snacks in our offices
The Pay: Axon is a total compensation company, meaning compensation is made up of base pay, bonus, and stock awards. The starting base pay for this role is between USD 147,000 in the lowest geographic market and USD 235,200 in the highest geographic market. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: level, function, training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, geographic market, and often a combination of all these factors. Our benefits offer an array of options to help support you physically, financially and emotionally through the big milestones and in your everyday life. To see more details on our benefits offerings please visit www.axon.com/careers/benefits.
Don't meet every single requirement? That's ok. At Axon, we Aim Far. We think big with a long-term view because we want to reinvent the world to be a safer, better place. We are also committed to building diverse teams that reflect the communities we serve.
Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they check every box in the job description. If you're excited about this role and our mission to Protect Life but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification listed here, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
Important Notes
The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all duties, responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. The job description may change or be supplemented at any time in accordance with business needs and conditions.
Some roles may also require legal eligibility to work in a firearms environment.
Axon's mission is to Protect Life and is committed to the well-being and safety of its employees as well as Axon's impact on the environment. All Axon employees must be aware of and committed to the appropriate environmental, health, and safety regulations, policies, and procedures. Axon employees are empowered to report safety concerns as they arise and activities potentially impacting the environment.
We are an equal opportunity employer that promotes justice, advances equity, values diversity and fosters inclusion. We're committed to hiring the best talent — regardless of race, creed, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances — and empowering all of our employees so they can do their best work. If you have a disability or special need that requires assistance or accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email recruitingops@axon.com. Please note that this email address is for accommodation purposes only. Axon will not respond to inquiries for other purposes.