---
title: 'PhD Intern, AI Applied Scientist (2027) at Figma'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/phd-intern-ai-applied-scientist-2027-figma-san-francisco-ca-new-york-h6bb7asy31my'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# PhD Intern, AI Applied Scientist (2027) at Figma

- **Company:** Figma
- **Location:** San Francisco CA • New York, NY
- **Compensation:** $74/hr
- **Posted:** 2026-10-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/figma/jobs/6207801004?gh_jid=6207801004

## Job description

Figma is growing our team of passionate creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all. Figma’s platform helps teams bring ideas to life—whether you're brainstorming, creating a prototype, translating designs into code, or iterating with AI. From idea to product, Figma empowers teams to streamline workflows, move faster, and work together in real time from anywhere in the world. If you're excited to shape the future of design and collaboration, join us!

The AI Research team at Figma is working on the cutting edge of AI and Design. We work on optimizing agentic systems for design quality and end user experience. We build robust evaluators for Design and post-train models. We are a very collaborative, close-knit and impact-focused team of researchers and research engineers working on some of the most challenging technical problems at the intersection of AI and creativity.

We are seeking PhD interns with expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop innovative AI solutions for design and creative products. Through both fundamental and applied research, your work will contribute to new AI-driven features in Figma products.

This internship can take place in Winter 2027 or Summer 2027 in San Francisco or New York.

What you’ll do at Figma:

- Drive fundamental and applied research in Generative AI with Figma product use cases in mind
- Formulate and implement new modeling approaches both to improve the effectiveness of Figma’s current AI models as well as enable the launch of entirely new AI-powered product features
- Explore the boundaries of what is possible with the current technology set and experiment with novel ideas
- Depending on your project, you may have the opportunity to publish your research in leading AI/ML conferences

We'd love to hear from you if you have:

- Are a 4th or 5th year senior Ph.D student in AI, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Human Computer Interaction or a related field
- Proven expertise in AI through publications on recent advancements in AI, such as Large Language Models or Agentic systems
- Track record in applying machine learning techniques to projects in academia or industry
- Experience in Python and machine learning frameworks (such as PyTorch, TensorFlow)
- Experience solving sophisticated problems and comparing alternative solutions, trade-offs, and diverse points of view to determine a path forward

While it’s not required, it’s an added plus if you also have:

- Related industry experience via a past internship or full-time role
- Experience communicating your solutions effectively to different audiences
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) to write, debug, and optimize code

At Figma, one of our values is Grow as you go. We believe in hiring smart, curious people who are excited to learn and develop their skills. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the points outlined in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Pay Transparency Disclosure

This internship role is based in either Figma’s San Francisco or New York hub offices, and has the hourly base pay rate stated below.  Figma also offers interns a housing stipend and travel reimbursement. Figma’s compensation and benefits are subject to change and may be modified in the future.

Internship $74—$74 USD

At Figma we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our product and our community to flourish. Figma is an [equal opportunity workplace](https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/EEOC_KnowYourRights_screen_reader_10_20.pdf) - we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to apply for a role, participate in the interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you require accommodation, please reach out to accommodations-ext@figma.com. These modifications enable an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity not only to get a job, but successfully perform their job tasks to the same extent as people without disabilities.

Examples of accommodations include but are not limited to:

- Holding interviews in an accessible location
- Enabling closed captioning on video conferencing
- Ensuring all written communication be compatible with screen readers
- Changing the mode or format of interviews

To ensure the integrity of our hiring process and facilitate a more personal connection, we require all candidates keep their cameras on during video interviews. Additionally, if hired you will be required to attend in person onboarding.

By applying for this job, the candidate acknowledges and agrees that any personal data contained in their application or supporting materials will be processed in accordance with [Figma's Candidate Privacy Notice](https://www.figma.com/legal/candidate-privacy-notice/).

Application limits: To help candidates focus on the opportunities most relevant to their skills and experience, Figma limits the number and frequency of applications. These limits apply to all roles:

- Candidates may submit up to 5 applications during any rolling 30-day period.
- Candidates may not reapply to the same role while an application is active or within 90 days of receiving a rejection.

Once the applicable days has passed, candidates are welcome to apply again.

## About Figma

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Figma is a collaborative, AI-powered interface design and digital whiteboarding platform that enables teams to brainstorm, design, and build digital products together in a web-based environment.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series F, raised $749M total)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2012
- **Founders**: Dylan Field (CEO) and Evan Wallace

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Collaborative design software, product development platforms
- **Target customers**: B2B and B2C; serves designers, developers, product managers, marketers, and educators across enterprises, SMBs, and individual creators. 95% of the Fortune 500 uses Figma [figma.com](https://www.figma.com/).
- **Mission**: To make design accessible to all. The company believes that "nothing great is made alone."

## Products & Services
- **Figma Design**: The core web-based collaborative interface design tool for exploring, iterating, and prototyping digital products. Features include vector editing, prototyping, and design systems.
- **FigJam**: An online digital whiteboard for brainstorming, meetings, and collaborative work, built for all skill levels.
- **Dev Mode**: A dedicated workspace in Figma that helps bridge the gap between design and code, allowing designers and developers to work in different modes within the same files.
- **Figma Sites**: A tool enabling designers to build and publish dynamic websites with limitless interactions and customizations, powered by code and AI.
- **Figma Buzz**: A product for brand and marketing teams to create visual assets at scale while maintaining brand consistency, featuring built-in AI capabilities.
- **Figma Make**: An AI-powered prompt-to-code tool that turns written descriptions or existing designs into working prototypes or apps.
- **Figma Motion**: A new timeline-based animation tool introduced at Config 2026 for creating motion designs directly on the canvas.
- **Figma for Education**: A dedicated offering for educational institutions.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed (the planned $20B Adobe acquisition was blocked by regulators in 2023; subsequent Series F in 2024 was at an undisclosed valuation).
- **Key Metric**: Over $749M in total funding raised across 7 rounds (latest: Series F, $416M, May 15, 2024) [tracxn.com](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/figma/__ax4OtPOcmyjsFUT81_oGsjztypgqH8K3cQ0_zcUnNBo).
- **Notable Investors**: Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital [tracxn.com](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/figma/__ax4OtPOcmyjsFUT81_oGsjztypgqH8K3cQ0_zcUnNBo).
- **Growth Signals**: Over 1,600 employees globally (as of Q1 2025); 2,877 as of April 2026 [tracxn.com](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/figma/__ax4OtPOcmyjsFUT81_oGsjztypgqH8K3cQ0_zcUnNBo). Approximately 85% of monthly active users are based outside the U.S., and over 50% of revenue is from outside the U.S. Two-thirds of monthly active users are not designers, indicating strong cross-functional adoption [figma.com/newsroom](https://www.figma.com/newsroom/). Recently achieved ISO 42001 certification for responsible AI use (July 2026).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Browser-native architecture**: Figma was the first design tool built for the web, enabling real-time multiplayer collaboration without installation or file syncing issues.
- **Massive installed base**: 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Figma, creating a powerful network effect and ecosystem lock-in.
- **Cross-functional adoption**: With 2/3 of MAUs being non-designers, Figma has successfully expanded beyond design teams into product, engineering, and marketing.
- **AI-native platform**: Recent investments in AI (Figma Make, AI design agents, AI-powered code generation) position the platform at the intersection of design and AI.
- **Open ecosystem**: Strong plugin and community ecosystem, plus open-source contributions.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI integration**: Deepening AI capabilities across the entire product suite, including AI-powered design agents, prompt-to-code tools, and automated workflows.
- **Expanding beyond design**: Growing into a full product development platform that spans ideation (FigJam), design (Figma Design), development (Dev Mode, Figma Make), and publishing (Figma Sites, Figma Buzz).
- **Global expansion**: Over half of revenue comes from outside the U.S., with dedicated offices in São Paulo, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, London, Berlin, Paris, and Tel Aviv.
- **Enterprise adoption**: Building out enterprise-grade security (ISO 42001 certified), compliance, and governance features.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values-driven with a focus on "Build Community," "Run with It," "Love Your Craft," "Grow as You Go," and "Play." Emphasis on kindness, connection, and lifting each other up [figma.com/careers](https://www.figma.com/careers/).
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Hiring across global hubs and remotely in the US and Canada. Offices in 13 locations worldwide: San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore, Bengaluru, Sydney, São Paulo, and Tel Aviv.
- **Engineering culture**: Strong investment in engineering with active hiring for AI/ML, distributed systems, graphics, infrastructure, and security roles. Annual "Maker Week" encourages exploration of wild, imaginative ideas.
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary & equity; health, dental, and vision insurance; retirement with company contribution; parental leave & fertility support; mental health and wellness benefits; generous PTO; company recharge days; learning & development stipend; work from home stipend; cell phone reimbursement [figma.com/careers](https://www.figma.com/careers/).
- **Diversity**: Equal opportunity workplace with Figmate Community Groups focused on shared characteristics and life experiences. Dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, or veteran status.
- **Growth**: Fast-growing company (1,600+ to 2,877 employees in ~1 year) with significant opportunities for career advancement and impact.

## Sources
1. [Figma Careers Page](https://www.figma.com/careers/)
2. [Figma Website](https://www.figma.com/)
3. [Figma Newsroom](https://www.figma.com/newsroom/)
4. [Tracxn Company Profile](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/figma/__ax4OtPOcmyjsFUT81_oGsjztypgqH8K3cQ0_zcUnNBo)
5. [Greenhouse Job Board](https://boards.greenhouse.io/figma/jobs/5814274004?gh_jid=5814274004)

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