First Full-Time Designer (Hardware-Software Interaction)

Key Responsibilities

You will be FORT’s first full-time designer, responsible for building the design platform from 0→1 across hardware interaction, operator-facing software, and AI-assisted workflows. This role spans all three product pillars: Control, Intelligence, and Ecosystem. You will not be decorating screens; you will define how people interact with our hardware, software, and the autonomous systems that run on both.

• Build FORT’s design foundation from scratch: design system, interaction model, and component library across FORT Manager and future platform surfaces.
• Design the physical interaction layer of FORT hardware, how operators read device state, safety status, and control affordances through button layout, LED signaling, and tactile feedback.
• Define human-robot interaction (HRI) patterns: how operators monitor, trust, intervene in, and recover autonomous systems, across both hardware and software surfaces.
• Design AI-forward workflows: AI Assistant interface, fleet observability dashboards, anomaly surfacing, and operator guidance experiences. Use AI tools actively to prototype and iterate faster.
• Conduct field research with industrial operators and OEM engineers in real deployment environments; run usability testing and translate findings directly into design decisions.
• Map end-to-end platform journeys across all user types: floor operators, OEM integration engineers, fleet administrators, and safety stakeholders.
• Partner daily with Product, Firmware, Software, Hardware, and Operations; translate technical constraints into design decisions without sacrificing usability.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of product or interaction design experience, including at least 2 years in hardware-software combined environments, robotics, IoT, industrial automation, automotive, or similar.
• Built a design system or component library from scratch, not inherited one.
• Physical interaction design experience: designed how a hardware product communicates state, intent, or safety status to a human.
• Field research experience: contextual inquiry, operator shadowing, or usability testing in real-world environments.
• Proficient in Figma or equivalent, Claude; prototypes complex, multi-step workflows at high fidelity.
• AI-first approach: uses AI tools to accelerate design, prototyping, and research synthesis as a standard workflow, not a novelty.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in safety-critical or regulated product environments (human factors, IEC 62366, or equivalent).
• Background in human-robot interaction, autonomous systems, or physical AI platforms.
• Familiarity with front-end basics (HTML/CSS) for tighter design-engineering handoff.