Product Designer

About SimpliGov

SimpliGov is the intelligent operations platform for government. We started by helping public sector agencies digitize paper-based processes — permits, licensing, case management, payments, signatures — into configurable digital workflows. Now we're integrating AI across the platform to move agencies from automation to intelligence. Named to the GovTech 100, backed by JMI Equity, and deployed across 100+ government agencies serving millions of residents.

That transformation raises the stakes for design. The platform is end-to-end: a workflow designer, form builder, administration, case management, e-signature system, dashboards, and reporting — used by the agency staff who configure and run them, and the residents whose permits, licenses, and benefits depend on them. As we layer AI into that surface, the experience needs to feel not just functional but intuitive, trustworthy, and coherent — it can't be a black box.

Role Overview

You'll own product design at SimpliGov, and the bar is exceptional UX. You'll set that standard, build the practice that holds it, and influence product direction along the way. That means end-to-end design work — research, interaction design, information architecture, usability testing, visual design — and evolving how design operates: the system, the process, the quality bar. You're not inheriting a playbook. You're writing it.

AI fluency isn't a nice-to-have for this role, it's the operating model. You'll use AI to research faster, explore more directions, and ship at a pace that wasn't possible two years ago. Your primary job is making complex government workflows intuitive for the agency staff who configure and run them, and the residents who depend on them. You'll also shape AI-powered experiences across the platform — equally comfortable designing for AI as you are designing with AI.

Core Responsibilities

• Own product design end-to-end across every platform surface — workflow designer, form builder, administration, case management, e-signature system, dashboards, and reporting.
• Simplify inherently complex systems — multi-stage workflows with conditional routing, role-based permissions, and approval chains. Make that power usable, not hidden.
• Design AI-powered experiences — shape how AI surfaces to users: intelligent recommendations, conversational interfaces, assisted configuration, document intelligence. Work through the AI-specific UX challenges (trust, transparency, graceful failure) with support from product and engineering.
• Lead UX research — own usability testing and design validation; partner with product on broader user discovery. Talk to agency staff and residents to understand constraints that don't exist in consumer apps: compliance, accessibility mandates, legacy integrations, multi-tenant configurations.
• Establish the design practice — build a design system, define research and critique cadences, set documentation standards. Use AI tools to accelerate research, prototyping, and design workflows.
• Ship with engineering — no handoff culture. You're embedded with the team from problem framing through production. You'll use Figma, Cursor/Claude, and Lovable to keep design at engineering's pace.

What This Is NOT:

• Not a UI factory. You won't receive specs and produce screens. You'll be in the room when the problem is framed.
• Not a role for someone waiting to be told. You'll set the direction and own the decisions — High trust, high autonomy, high accountability.

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years designing complex software products (SaaS, enterprise, or B2B)
• Strong UX fundamentals: information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, usability testing, visual design, and accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508)
• Demonstrated ability to take ambiguous problems from research through shipped, validated solutions
• AI-native design workflow — you use AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Figma AI, Cursor, Lovable, or equivalent) as daily infrastructure, not novelty. You can articulate how AI changes your process and output, not just that you've tried it.
• Portfolio that shows design judgment and customer impact — how you framed problems, what shipped, and what changed for users
• Clear, direct written communication — design decisions explained without jargon, specs that engineers can build from

Strong signals:

• You've designed for power users — software where people configure, customize, or build, not just consume content
• Experience with or interest in government, civic tech, legal technology, or other regulated, complex domains
• You've been the sole or founding designer somewhere before, and thrived with the ownership and ambiguity
• You've built or meaningfully contributed to a design system
• Comfortable with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — enough to understand engineering constraints and design within them
• Experience designing AI-powered features or thinking deeply about AI-specific UX challenges (trust, transparency, graceful failure)
• Product thinking, not just design execution — you push back on requirements when needed

What We Offer

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans, with significant employer contribution for employees AND dependents (contributions based on base-level plan; buyup plans available at additional costs) 

• Company-sponsored life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance 

• 11 Paid holidays 

• Flexible time off  

• 401k plan with 4% employer match 

• Monthly stipends for home office expenses 

• Monthly wellness stipends  

Legal Disclaimers

SimpliGov does not currently sponsor applicants for work visas.  

The compensation for this full-time, US position is up to $120,000 + benefits. Individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.   

SimpliGov participates in the federal government's E-Verify program, which confirms employment authorization of all newly hired employees and most existing employees through an electronic database maintained by the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security. For new hires, the E-Verify process is completed in conjunction with the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification on or before the first day of work. E-Verify is not used as a tool to pre-screen candidates.