How to apply for Senior Product Designer

About Epoch AI

Epoch AI is a research team that studies and forecasts the future development of advanced AI. The work sits at the intersection of AI research and public policy, so the audience includes researchers and policymakers rather than general consumers. This is a fit for someone who wants design work tied directly to technical AI forecasting content.

About the role

You will lead UI/UX design and design strategy, turning complex AI research into interfaces for researchers and policymakers. You own design across the website and data products, run projects end-to-end, and set design processes and quality standards. You also mentor other designers, so this is a lead role, not an execution-only role.

A typical day

A typical day likely involves working on an interface for a data product or the website, meeting with researchers to understand the content, and reviewing work with other designers. Because the role is remote and the company is small, expect written communication and async collaboration to take up a large part of the day. Ask in the interview how the team coordinates across time zones.

Who Epoch AI is looking for

• Has led design projects end-to-end, from problem definition through delivery, not just produced screens.
• Can translate dense technical or data-heavy content into clear interfaces for expert audiences.
• Has defined design strategy for a website or data product and can explain the decisions behind it.
• Has run user research and built design specifications, prototypes, and reusable components.
• Has mentored designers or set design processes and quality standards on a team.

Tips for this application

• In your portfolio, include at least one project where you designed for a technical or data-heavy audience, and explain how you simplified the content.
• Show work where you owned strategy, not just visual output. Epoch AI lists design strategy as a core responsibility.
• Name the research methods you used on past projects. The job lists user research as a requirement, so vague claims will not hold up.
• Describe any process or quality standards you introduced, and any designers you mentored. The role includes establishing processes and mentoring.
• Read Epoch AI's published research and data products before applying, and reference one specific piece in your materials to show you understand the content you would be designing for.

What to cover in your cover letter

Explain why you want to design for AI research and policy audiences specifically. Give one example of leading a design project end-to-end, including how you defined the problem. Describe how you have translated complex or technical material into usable interfaces. State what design processes or standards you have set up and who you mentored.

Research before applying

• Read Epoch AI's published research and forecasting work to understand the subject matter you would be designing around.
• Review Epoch AI's website and any data products or dashboards to assess the current design and identify gaps.
• Look at how other AI research organizations present data and forecasts to expert audiences, and note what works.
• Check who at Epoch AI currently handles design, if anyone, and ask in the interview how the design function is set up.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you would approach designing a data product for AI researchers and policymakers who have different levels of technical knowledge.
• A walkthrough of a project you led end-to-end, including how you defined the problem and measured whether the design worked.
• How you run user research when the users are domain experts, such as researchers or policy staff.
• How you set design processes and quality standards, and how you have mentored other designers.
• How you would decide what to prioritize across the website and multiple data products with limited design resources.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Submitting a portfolio of consumer or marketing work with no example of designing for technical, data-heavy, or expert audiences.
• Describing yourself only as an executor of designs rather than someone who defines strategy and leads projects.
• Claiming user research experience without naming methods, sample sizes, or what changed as a result.