Product Designer - New Grad (Summer 2027)
Product, Design · Intern
Texas, USA · Los Angeles, CA, USA · New York, NY, USA · Austin, QC, Canada
Posted on Oct 15, 2026
Product Designer - New Grad (Summer 2027)
New York, NY • Los Angeles, CA • Austin, TX
Design
In office
Intern
About Nominal
Nominal is building the connected test and operations platform powering the world's most advanced hardware systems, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation defense programs. Our platform gives hardware engineering teams a single place to ingest data, analyze performance, automate test execution, and collaborate across every phase of development, so they can move faster without sacrificing safety or precision. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.
We serve top-tier commercial and defense customers, from autonomy leaders like Anduril and Shield AI to next-generation aerospace teams like Hermeus and REGENT, and performance engineering teams like Pratt Miller Motorsports, alongside mission partners within the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force on programs where failure isn’t an option. We’re backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence.
The role
We’re looking for designers graduating in 2027 or sooner with solid visual and product design fundamentals to join Nominal full time.
You’ll own design work for defined features and product improvements, with support from experienced designers and close collaboration with engineering and product. You’ll help bring new capabilities to life, learn directly from customers, and grow your judgment as a product designer. Your work will support engineers testing and validating complex hardware systems, including nuclear reactors, rockets, and supersonic aircraft.
🚀 What you’ll do
- Turn complexity into clarity. Dive into high-frequency, high-volume hardware and data workflows and translate them into intuitive product experiences.
- Design alongside real users. Partner with engineers and customers to understand their workflows, identify pain points, and test potential solutions.
- Partner with design, engineering, and product to research, prototype with AI, and contribute directly to product improvements and features.
- Own the design of defined features from initial exploration through implementation, working with your team to clarify scope and make tradeoffs.
- Collaborate with engineers throughout development to refine interactions and deliver thoughtful, usable experiences.
- Evolve our design system. Contribute reusable patterns and components that improve consistency and usability across the platform.
- Help shape our design culture by sharing work early, giving constructive feedback, and using customer insights to inform product decisions.
🎯 Reach out if…
- You’re graduating in 2027 (or sooner) and seeking a full-time product design role as a new graduate or early-career designer.
- You have a portfolio that demonstrates strong visual design fundamentals and product thinking through academic work, personal projects, internships, or professional experience.
- You can translate a user problem into clear flows, detailed interface designs, and prototypes.
- You can explain your design decisions and refine them based on feedback, user needs, and technical constraints.
- You take initiative to clarify unfamiliar problems and collaborate with others to move work forward.
🌟 Bonus, not required
- You’ve collaborated with engineers to bring a design into a working product.
- You’ve used AI tools to explore ideas or build prototypes.
- You’ve designed data visualizations, complex workflows, or tools for technical users.
✨ Benefits/Perks
- 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Unlimited PTO and sick leave
- Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
- Professional Development Stipend
- 401k Plan
- In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
- Annual company retreat
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
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This position requires access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls. Are you any of the following “protected individual(s)” as defined in the Immigration and Naturalization Act, 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)? *
U.S. Work Authorization - Are you authorized to work in the United States? *
Will you require sponsorship from Nominal for employment now or in the future? (e.g, OPT, H1B visa)? *
Clearance Eligibility - Do you presently hold an active U.S. security clearance, or are you eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance? *
If you have held a U.S. security clearance in the past, what clearance level have you held? *
2027 Product Design New Grad Question: Please share a link to your portfolio. *
2027 Product Design New Grad Question: Do you have any pending offers or deadlines we should know about? If so, what companies and dates? *
2027 Product Design New Grad Question: What design tools do you prefer for UI/UX work? *
2027 Product Design New Grad Question: Why are you interested in Nominal? We want to know why you want to work here and what skills you hope to develop in your first full-time role out of school, a great answer is around 100 words max. Feel free to reference specific things about our product, mission, or team. *
2027 Product Design New Grad Question: Tell us about a time feedback or testing changed your design. What did you learn, what did you change, and how did you assess whether it improved the experience? *
Voluntary Self-Identification
To comply with government reporting requirements, we invite candidates to participate in the self-identification survey below. Your completion of this form is entirely optional, and your decision will neither influence the hiring process nor any subsequent stages. Any information you choose to share will be kept confidential and stored in a secure file. As outlined in our Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we uphold a commitment to non-discrimination based on any protected group status specified in applicable laws.
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VEVRAA requires Government contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment protected veterans. To help us measure the effectiveness of our outreach and recruitment efforts of veterans, we are asking you to tell us if you are a veteran covered by VEVRAA. If you believe that you belong to any of the following categories of protected veterans, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.
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Disabled veteran
A veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military and is entitled to disability compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to disability compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disabilityRecently separated veteran
A veteran separated during the three-year period beginning on the date of the veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S military, ground, naval, or air serviceActive duty wartime or campaign badge veteran
A veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge was authorized under the laws administered by the Department of DefenseArmed Forces service medal veteran
A veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military ground, naval, or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985 (61 Fed. Reg. 1209).Veteran status
Req ID: R155