Senior/Principal AI Product Designer

Are you passionate about cutting-edge AI and machine learning in digital services, and want to deliver positive real-world value to the UK? We are looking for a Senior UX Designer to join our team and help solve a variety of interesting problems in the national security space. At BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, we work with a wide range of government customers, across defence, space, and government. In our national security AI team, we undertake a variety of projects covering exploratory research into AI methods and approaches, bespoke solutions to complex customer problems, and infrastructure projects working across large customer datasets. We’re looking for a talented designer with experience of delivery AI products or features to help shape the next generation of digital products for Government and National Security customers.

If you’re passionate about solving complex problems, crafting elegant user experiences, and guiding teams towards thoughtful, research-driven design decisions, you’ll thrive here. You’ll join a collaborative, multidisciplinary design community working at the forefront of AI‑enabled systems, data-rich platforms, and digital services.

• Design intuitive AI‑powered experiences, applying Human‑Centred AI principles to ensure transparency, trust, and ethical use.
• Build client understanding of AI, clearly framing capabilities, limitations, and responsible design choices.
• Translate research and business requirements into user interface and visual design concepts that maintain brand consistency and visual quality.
• Direct and oversee interface interactions through an iterative, evidence‑based approach, drawing insight from interviews, analytics, usability studies, and user feedback.
• Guide and support creation of user‑centred design artefacts such as wireframes, information architecture (e.g. site maps and navigation models), and interactive prototypes.
• Take ownership of major areas of work, ensuring consistent high‑quality delivery with minimal direction from senior management.
• Lead, coach and develop less experienced team members, building capability in design and research practices.
• Represent BAE DI in senior client engagement, presenting research findings, design rationale, and user needs clearly to teams, stakeholders and sponsors.
• Champion user‑centred and agile design practices, driving a collaborative environment across delivery teams.
• Keep pace with emerging trends in AI, ML, and interface design, evaluating new tools, interaction patterns and responsible‑AI practices to identify opportunities within secure government contexts.
• Evaluate and improve existing digital products with a focus on usability, inclusivity, and accessibility.

You’re an experienced UX, Service, or Product Designer who thrives on bringing structure to complexity and communicates with clarity. You’re comfortable leading workshops, crafting prototypes, and clearly articulating design rationale for a range of audiences. You apply User‑Centred Design (UCD) methodologies across all phases of delivery, from research through to implementation, ensuring alignment between user needs, business objectives, and technical feasibility.

• Designing intuitive interfaces for AI‑powered features and products, translating complex capabilities into clear, user‑friendly experiences.
• Performing research to understand user types, behaviours, and needs — ensuring that digital experiences are truly user‑led, whilst balancing business and technical constraints.
• Champion Human‑Centred AI principles, ensuring AI features are transparent, ethical, and genuinely useful.
• Leading end‑to‑end design across discovery, concept development, interaction design, and delivery.
• Directing and overseeing tasks such as persona development, needs analysis, site mapping, wireframing, and prototyping, ensuring quality and consistency across outputs.
• Translating research and insights into visual and interactive concepts that evoke engagement and response, leveraging imagery, motion, and interaction.
• Guiding and influencing cross‑functional teams and senior clients in consuming and acting on research insights to improve policy, service design, and digital product outcomes.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Working effectively in a fast‑paced, team‑driven environment.

• A degree in Interaction Design, Human‑Computer Interaction, or related field.
• Proficiency in design software such as Figma.
• Familiarity with ethical AI frameworks and data privacy principles.
• Working on government or national security projects.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies.
• Familiarity with front‑end technologies (HTML/CSS, basic JavaScript).

If you are not currently Security Cleared, you will need to be willing and eligible to go through the process.

Work‑life balance is important; you can work around core hours with flexible and part‑time working. As many of our customers work predominantly in the office, we expect all of our staff to work at least 3 days per week in the office. You’ll get 25 days holiday a year and the option to buy/sell and carry over from the year before. Our flexible benefits package includes private medical and dental insurance, a competitive pension scheme, cycle to work scheme, taste cards and more. You’ll have a dedicated Career Manager to help you develop your career and guide you on your journey through BAE. You’ll be part of our company bonus scheme. You are welcome to join any/all of our Diversity and Support groups. These groups cover everything from gender diversity to mental health and wellbeing.

Our people are what differentiates us; they are resourceful, innovative and dedicated. We have a mix of generalists and specialists and recognise that this diversity contributes to our success. We recognise the benefits of forming teams from a mix of disciplines, which allows us to come up with cutting‑edge, high‑quality solutions. Our breadth of work across the Public Sector provides diverse opportunities for our people to develop their careers in new areas of expertise and with new clients. You’ll be part of a big company, but we try to create a culture that feels like a small one. The work will stretch you and be challenging, but we encourage a healthy work‑life balance. Most of all, we know teams who work well together also perform well. We’ll do everything we can to ensure you have fun at work, and in social activities outside of it whether that’s virtually or in person, as conditions allow.