---
title: 'Staff UI Designer (R6055) at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-ui-designer-r6055-shield-ai-san-diego-mr80jf87recc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-26'
---

# Staff UI Designer (R6055) at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** San Diego, CA
- **Compensation:** $117k–$170k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-26
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/39912946-1067-4274-9e77-ae48b6560f1f

## Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description: Shield AI is hiring a Senior UI Designer to lead the design evolution of the Shield AI website and establish the foundational systems that support it. This role owns the digital experience from interface strategy through high-fidelity execution, creating clear, scalable, and cohesive experiences across corporate, product, campaign, and editorial content. You will partner closely with brand, marketing, product, and development teams to translate complex autonomy and defense technology into intuitive web experiences. The ideal candidate brings strong visual design judgment, systems thinking, and a practical understanding of how design decisions translate into performant, accessible digital products.

What you'll do:

- Lead UI design for the Shield AI website across core pages, product experiences, landing pages, campaign content, and microsites
- Define the website’s visual and interaction standards, ensuring a cohesive experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Create foundational design systems in Figma, including component libraries, design tokens, responsive patterns, templates, and documentation
- Establish reusable page frameworks and modular content patterns that enable teams to build new web experiences efficiently and consistently
- Design high-fidelity user interfaces, interaction states, prototypes, and responsive layouts for new and existing site experiences
- Partner with developers to ensure accurate implementation, provide design QA, and refine interfaces through launch
- Collaborate with brand and content teams to translate complex technical narratives into clear information hierarchies, visual storytelling, and user journeys
- Improve the usability, accessibility, navigation, and overall clarity of the Shield AI web experience
- Support the design of interactive content, data visualizations, motion concepts, and product storytelling in collaboration with creative and development partners
- Audit existing website experiences and identify opportunities to improve consistency, component reuse, accessibility, and visual quality
- Maintain and evolve design documentation, file organization, naming conventions, and workflows that support a scalable design practice
- Advise stakeholders on UI best practices, responsive design, accessibility, technical feasibility, and system-level design decisions

Required qualifications:

- 5–8 years of experience in UI, web, or digital product design, with experience leading major website or digital-platform initiatives
- A portfolio demonstrating strong visual design, interface design, responsive web design, and design-system thinking
- Advanced proficiency in Figma, including components, variants, auto layout, variables, prototyping, libraries, and developer handoff workflows
- Experience designing for WordPress, WP Engine, or other CMS-driven website environments
- Experience creating and maintaining scalable design systems, component libraries, templates, and reusable interface patterns
- Strong understanding of typography, layout, hierarchy, grids, interaction design, and responsive behavior across screen sizes
- Experience designing complex marketing, corporate, product, or editorial websites with multiple content types and stakeholder needs
- Practical knowledge of front-end implementation, including HTML, CSS, responsive frameworks, CMS constraints, and browser behavior
- Experience collaborating closely with developers and conducting design QA through implementation
- Familiarity with accessibility standards, including WCAG principles, semantic hierarchy, contrast, focus states, and inclusive interaction patterns
- Ability to simplify complex information into clear page structures, navigation systems, and user flows
- Strong communication, presentation, stakeholder-management, and project-management skills
- Ability to balance brand expression, user needs, technical constraints, and business priorities

Preferred qualifications:

Experience designing digital experiences for enterprise SaaS, defense, aerospace, robotics, autonomy, or other complex technology sectors

Familiarity with front-end frameworks and development workflows, including component-based architectures and design-to-code handoff

Experience working with design tokens and systemized theming across design and engineering teams

Experience developing motion and interaction concepts for the web using tools such as After Effects, Lottie, GSAP, Principle, ProtoPie, or Figma prototypes

Experience with data visualization, technical diagrams, product interfaces, or interactive storytelling

Experience designing localized or region-specific web experiences

Familiarity with analytics, experimentation, conversion-oriented design, and iterative optimization

Experience establishing design operations, governance models, or contribution workflows for shared design systems

## #LI-AD7

#LD

Full-time regular employee offer package: Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

###

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

## About Shield AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Shield AI builds AI pilots and autonomous systems for military aircraft to protect service members and civilians.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G, venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: San Diego, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Defense technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, aerospace
- Target customers: U.S. Department of Defense, allied nations’ military forces (B2G / Government)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.”

## Products & Services
- **Hivemind**: A combat‑tested, modular autonomy stack for aircraft – self‑driving technology for drones, jets, and helicopters. Includes path‑planning, mapping, state‑estimation, computer vision, and reinforcement learning. Type: Software (AI/autonomy).
- **V‑BAT**: A vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system (UAS) designed for persistent ISR and strike missions. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **X‑BAT**: An advanced unmanned aircraft system with extended endurance and payload capacity, built for multi‑domain operations. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **Hivemind Vision Systems**: Computer‑vision and sensor‑fusion capabilities integrated into Hivemind for GPS‑denied environments. Type: Software + sensors.
- **Hivemind Enterprise**: A deployable version of Hivemind for third‑party platforms and commercial applications. Type: Software.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). Total funding raised: $3.6B (as of Series G in March 2026).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue ~$21.7M (estimated, private) | Total Funding $3.6B (including $2B Series G led by JP Morgan Chase and Advent International, March 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: JP Morgan Chase, Advent International, Blackstone, Riot Ventures, SnowPoint Ventures, Disruptive (55+ investors total). Strategic partners include U.S. DoD and allied defense forces.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 68.3% YoY to 1,283 employees; 338 active job postings (+57.2% YoY); operates in 5 countries (U.S., Australia, UAE, Norway, Ukraine); recent acquisitions of Sentient Vision Systems (2024), Heron Systems, MARTIN UAV.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Combat‑proven autonomy**: Hivemind has been tested in live military operations, providing a first‑mover advantage in contested, GPS‑denied environments.
- **Full‑stack integration**: Combines software (AI pilot), hardware (V‑BAT, X‑BAT), and sensor systems, creating a tightly integrated product ecosystem.
- **Cross‑functional engineering culture**: Engineers work across AI, robotics, aerospace, and defense – not siloed – enabling rapid iteration and field deployment.
- **Top talent pipeline**: Employees drawn from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Amazon, Anduril, and other leading defense/tech firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale AI pilots across all domains**: Extend Hivemind from aircraft to ships, satellites, and ground vehicles (“every military asset”).
- **International expansion**: Growing presence in Australia, Europe, and Middle East via mission autonomy centers and partnerships.
- **Deepen autonomy stack**: Continued investment in reinforcement learning, simulation, and computer vision to maintain leadership in contested‑environment autonomy.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑driven work**: Directly contribute to protecting service members and civilians with cutting‑edge AI and robotics.
- **Cross‑functional teams**: Engineers collaborate across disciplines (AI, hardware, software, systems) on real‑world defense challenges.
- **Benefits**: Excellent medical coverage, mental health EAP, paid parental leave, pet insurance, flexible work hours, gym discounts (SD) / on‑site gym (DC), free parking, competitive compensation, 401k with match, stock benefits.
- **Work policy**: Flexible work hours; some offices (e.g., San Diego HQ, Arlington, DC) have on‑site facilities. Remote/hybrid options available depending on role.
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapidly scaling (68% headcount growth) with hundreds of open roles across engineering, operations, and program management.

## Sources
1. [shield.ai/about](https://shield.ai/about/)
2. [shield.ai/careers](https://shield.ai/careers/)
3. [LinkedIn – Shield AI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai)
4. [CBInsights – Shield AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/shield-ai)
5. [Lever – Shield AI Jobs](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai)

## Other roles at Shield AI

- [Deputy Chief Engineer, X-BAT](https://feeny.ai/job/deputy-chief-engineer-x-bat-shield-ai-seattle-np4z3j7435km) — Seattle, WA
- [RF Engineer I (R6108)](https://feeny.ai/job/rf-engineer-i-r6108-shield-ai-seattle-ptt9cne70a9x) — Seattle, WA
- [Associate Facilities Coordinator (R6110)](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-facilities-coordinator-r6110-shield-ai-washington-r39vpnk0p2n4) — Washington, DC
- [Staff Data & Analytics Engineer, Domain Enablement (R6112)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-data-analytics-engineer-domain-enablement-r6112-shield-ai-dallas-nntsk7w066jv) — Dallas, TX
- [Staff Electrical Engineer, Hardware Test](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-electrical-engineer-hardware-test-shield-ai-seattle-03pr9g3y2m10) — Seattle, WA
- [Lead Mechanical Engineer, Hardware Test (X-BAT)](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-mechanical-engineer-hardware-test-x-bat-shield-ai-seattle-h3bkxw4zfekx) — Seattle, WA
- [Sr. Supervisor, Facilities Operations, U.S. East (R6094)](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-supervisor-facilities-operations-u-s-east-r6094-shield-ai-washington-h7x9sb59h5zf) — Washington, DC
- [Sr. Supervisor, Facilities Operations, U.S. Central (R6095)](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-supervisor-facilities-operations-u-s-central-r6095-shield-ai-dallas-ggwrsv73rtph) — Dallas, TX
- [Lead, Enterprise Strategy and Operations (R6096)](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-enterprise-strategy-and-operations-r6096-shield-ai-san-diego-14cmpepkyf3p) — San Diego, CA
- [Senior Lead, Enterprise Strategy and Operations (R6097)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-lead-enterprise-strategy-and-operations-r6097-shield-ai-san-diego-hnh362hehp7b) — San Diego, CA