---
title: 'Founding Product Designer at Obviant'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/founding-product-designer-obviant-arlington-tvc0mrevk2zp'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Founding Product Designer at Obviant

- **Company:** Obviant
- **Location:** Arlington, VA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/obviant/285e482d-14ed-4489-9a32-75aa5d720a48

## Job description

## About Obviant

The defense market is surging, but the data that drives it hasn’t kept up. Companies, government, and investors are forced to perform heavily manual processes and piece together hundreds of disparate sources to make decisions. Obviant is building a data source of truth and AI tools for defense acquisition to solve this. We fuse information from thousands of sources – structured + unstructured – to provide a cohesive picture of budget, programs, the organizations running them, and much more. Whether it’s a company navigating GTM or a program manager developing capabilities, we’re providing all sides with the intelligence they need to execute effectively.

We’re growing fast and backed by top funds and DoD/national security veterans.

We believe that public sector mission sets matter above anything else. If you feel the same way, we’d love for you to join us.

## The Role

We’re looking for a Founding Product Designer to be the foundation of our design efforts and own the end-to-end user experience across our products. As our first design hire, you’ll define our user experience strategy, lead design thinking, and execute all design and product initiatives as we bring cutting-edge technology to the defense sector. Working closely with product, engineering, and leadership, you’ll have the opportunity to shape both our user interface and our core identity in a fast-paced, mission-driven startup environment.

You’ll set the vision, move quickly, and iterate rapidly—ensuring our products are not only functional, but intuitive, engaging, and beautifully crafted. Depending on experience and performance, there is significant opportunity for you to grow into a leadership role with broader influence.

Responsibilities:

- Define and lead the UX and UI strategy for our organization from the ground up, setting design vision and best practices.
- Own end-to-end product design: from discovery and user research, to rapid prototyping, wireframes, visual design, and developer hand-off.
- Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and business stakeholders to translate user needs and business goals into seamless, intuitive experiences.
- Move quickly—generate and iterate on multiple design concepts to solve complex problems and inform product direction.
- Create high-fidelity, production-ready UI and design assets for web-based and/or mobile applications.
- Establish and contribute to a scalable design system and patterns library, ensuring consistency across our products.
- Develop user journeys, interaction models, info architecture, and usability testing processes—which you’ll own and execute.
- Champion a user-centered, data-informed design philosophy, leveraging user research and feedback to continually improve the product experience.
- Set an example of design leadership and proactively identify areas for innovation in usability and aesthetics.
- Stay current with the latest design trends, tools, and best practices, pushing boundaries to create delightful, meaningful user experiences.
- Communicate your design decisions effectively, and inspire confidence and excitement about design at all levels of the organization.

Qualifications:

- 5+ years’ experience in UI/UX design, interaction design, or product design roles (startup or high-growth environment highly preferred).
- Strong, diverse design portfolio demonstrating your process and impact across shipped digital products.
- Proven experience taking products from 0→1, including concepting, prototyping, designing, and iterating in fast-paced environments.
- Expertise with modern design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe products).
- Demonstrated ability to generate and communicate multiple compelling design solutions to complex problems.
- Excellent visual and written communication skills—you can clearly articulate and present your work to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Comfortable working autonomously, managing your own priorities, and proactively identifying areas where design can make the biggest impact.
- Experience designing for enterprise, B2B SaaS, or defense/government markets a strong plus.
- Familiarity with accessibility standards, responsive design, and usability best practices.
- Passion for our mission: building better technology for defense, and willingness to immerse yourself in our users’ needs and challenges.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance

Our Principles

We live these every day. If they don't sound like you, this won't be a fit and we'd both rather know now.

- Impact. Our work matters. We take a lot of pride in building to advance mission outcomes.
- Overdeliver. We go above and beyond in everything we do - creating products and serving our users
- Hustle. We get stuff done, no matter what it takes.
- Empathy. Our users’ problems are our own. We don't push products, we solve problems.
- Humility. We’re not afraid to admit what we don’t know. Our job is to listen and grow.
- Integrity. Transparency & respect above all else. It’s non-negotiable, even when it isn't easy

## Benefits & Structure

- We’re a tight-knit team headquartered in Arlington, VA. We work in the office together most days, and believe being in the same place is a competitive advantage.
- Flexible schedule - We all have other things going on in our lives. Doctor visits, kids’ activities, dog walks - take care of it whenever you have to. And work from home when you need to.
- Sizeable equity - We’re building something with massive upside potential, and you’ll have ownership in that. This is ours.
- Flexible vacation time - Use what you want, as long as you’re taking care of what needs to get done.
- Full health, dental, and vision insurance.

To apply, visit https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fobviant.com%2Fcareersobviant.com/careers http://obviant.com/careers

Obviant is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

## About Obviant

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Obviant unifies thousands of structured and unstructured defense acquisition data sources into a single intelligence platform that helps government agencies, defense contractors, and investors make faster, more informed decisions.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Washington, DC, United States
- **Founded**: 2021 (LinkedIn reports 2021; Built In reports 2023)
- **Founders**: Dylan Taylor (Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Industry**: Defense acquisition, data intelligence, national security technology
- **Target Customers**: Government agencies (civil servants, program offices, warfighters) and defense contractors (incumbents and new entrants) – primarily B2G/B2B
- **Mission**: Equip all sides of the defense market with the tools to execute effectively, delivering better capability to the end-user and advancing national security.

## Products & Services
- **Obviant Platform**: A unified data intelligence platform that synthesizes thousands of structured and unstructured sources (budgets, programs, contracts, vendors, requirements) into real-time, source-backed insights. Provides dashboards, curated reports, analytics, and decision-support tools.
- **Research & Curated Reports**: Analyst-grade intelligence tailored to specific needs, distilling complex data into clear courses of action.
- **Enterprise Intelligence**: Allows organizations to connect their own data with market intelligence for a holistic view of the acquisition landscape.
- **Unmatched Analytics**: Transforms complex data into actionable insights for strategy and tactical execution.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric**: **$7.1M** in Seed funding raised (June 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Led by **Shield Capital**; 6 total investors in the Seed round. Also secured a contract expansion with the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment in February 2026.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - 110% year-over-year headcount growth (16 employees as of mid-2025, +11 people)
  - 560% year-over-year web traffic growth
  - Active job postings increased 700% year-over-year (8 open roles as of early 2026)
  - Awarded a contract expansion with the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment (Feb 2026)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unified Data Source of Truth**: Unlike fragmented manual processes, Obviant provides a single, continuously updated platform covering requirements through contracts across the entire defense acquisition lifecycle.
- **Deep Domain Focus**: Purpose-built for the defense market, with heavy-hitting national security veterans and technology industry advisors.
- **Backed by Defense Leaders**: Investor support from Shield Capital and relationships with key government stakeholders provide credibility and market access.
- **Mission-Driven**: Strong alignment with national security outcomes, attracting top talent motivated by impact.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale the data intelligence platform to serve both government and commercial customers more broadly.
- Expand government contracts (e.g., the recent contract expansion with the Under Secretary of War).
- Grow the team across engineering, mission success, and account executive roles, with emphasis on data engineering, AI/ML, product management, and government-facing roles.
- Continue to digitize and accelerate defense acquisition by replacing manual data gathering with automated intelligence.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-First Culture**: "Our work matters. We take a lot of pride in building to advance mission outcomes." Strong sense of purpose in national security.
- **Values**: Impact, overdeliver, hustle, empathy, humility, integrity. "We get stuff done, no matter what it takes."
- **Work Environment**: In-office presence is expected most days (headquarters in Washington, DC), with flexibility to work from home as needed. Small, agile team (currently ~16 people) with high growth.
- **Tech Stack**: Modern stack including Python, TypeScript, React, Node.js, Kubernetes, Docker, Snowflake, Terraform, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Kafka, and various BI tools.
- **Opportunities**: High-autonomy roles with direct impact on product and national security outcomes. Employees come from Booz Allen, Deloitte, Capital One, AWS, and other top firms.
- **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but the small team and mission focus suggest a tight-knit, driven culture with room for ownership.

## Sources
1. [Obviant.com](https://www.obviant.com/) – main site, platform description
2. [Obviant About](https://www.obviant.com/about-us) – mission, values
3. [Obviant Careers](https://www.obviant.com/careers) – values, open positions
4. [LinkedIn Company Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/company/obviant) – headcount, funding, key executives, growth metrics
5. [Built In Obviant Profile](https://builtin.com/company/obviant) – office policy, tech stack, open roles
6. [Business Wire: $7.1M Seed Round](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250624200000/en/Obviant-Raises-7.1M-in-Funding-to-Scale-its-Data-Intelligence-Platform-for-Defense-Acquisition-Contracting-and-Budgeting) – funding details
7. [FinSMEs: Seed Round](https://www.finsmes.com/2025/06/obviant-raises-7-1m-in-funding.html) – funding confirmation
8. [Business Insider: Selling to Pentagon](https://www.businessinsider.com/selling-to-pentagon-is-messy-and-complex-startups-try-make-easier-2025-6) – market context
9. [Yahoo Finance: Contract Expansion](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/obviant-awarded-contract-expansion-under-100000152.html) – February 2026 contract win

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