To succeed in this role, you are a curious and rigorous problem solver who values outcomes over process, exercises exceptional judgment when balancing competing priorities, and thrives in ambiguous, high-stakes, empowered environments.
This role is a full-time position located out of our office in Arlington, VA / Pittsburgh, PA / San Francisco, CA / Anywhere in the US.
This role may require up to 75% travel.
Scope of Responsibilities
Partner with other forward-deployed roles (engineers, data scientists) to scope research, frame hypotheses, and translate findings into 0-to-1 product initiatives and prototypes.
Run fast, pragmatic research: contextual inquiry, interviews, usability sessions, and concept tests against working prototypes.
Assess, prioritize, and help correct the most important gaps in solutions under development based on what you hear from users.
Synthesize quickly, share insights early, and iterate—learn fast, adjust, and go again.
Work with core platform researchers, designers, and product managers to distill what’s customer-specific and what needs to become part of our core offering.
Spend 50-75% of time at customer sites to diagnose and deeply understand user needs, workflows, and pain points.
Plan and execute qualitative and mixed-methods research across the end-to-end product development lifecycle.
Build and maintain lightweight, reusable research practices—interview guides, synthesis frameworks, and insight repositories—that scale with the team.
Iterate quickly alongside engineering and design to progressively unlock customer value.
Qualifications
U.S. Citizenship is required
Required Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Design, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Worked in a startup or entrepreneurial environment.
Experience conducting applied UX or product research in a professional setting, including planning studies and synthesizing findings independently.
Strong command of qualitative methods (interviews, contextual inquiry, usability testing) and comfort with mixed-methods work.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and a strong desire to work in a challenging, fast-paced environment.
Excellent communication skills—able to tell a clear, compelling story with research and influence cross-functional partners.
Experience in AIND to generate prototypes and validate
Desired Skills
A current U.S. security clearance, or the ability to obtain one with Air’s sponsorship.
Experience researching complex, domain-heavy, or enterprise software, ideally in defense, government, or other regulated settings.
Experience working within the boundaries of a federally accredited software environment.
Experience in a customer-facing, consulting, or embedded role.
We firmly believe that past performance is the best indicator of future performance. If you thrive while building solutions to complex problems, are a self-starter, and are passionate about making an impact in global security, we’re eager to hear from you.
Air is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans status or any other characteristic protected by law.
