Senior Product Designer

Location: Remote, New York City, or Oakland, CA

Role Type: Full-time

Compensation:  $124,900

Visa sponsorship: Not available

Hires remotely in: United States

Experience: 7+ years of experience in product design or UX

Recidiviz is thrilled to be hiring a Sr. Product Designer to join our team! We’re a small, fast-moving group focused on reducing the amount of people in prison in the US. That’s where you come in. We’re looking for someone with a strong understanding of human-centered design to help us build a future where incarcerated people can successfully reintegrate back into their communities. Are you curious about what that work could look like? Here’s a case study.

About us

Recidiviz is creating safer, healthier communities by improving outcomes for people in the criminal justice system. We build technology to reduce the number of people in prison and to help criminal justice leaders embrace data-driven decision-making. 

Using software tools and thoughtful product design, we’ve been able to safely and permanently reduce incarceration and improve outcomes. We work side-by-side with leaders of the criminal justice system, people in prison and on supervision, and ecosystem partners to build a better path forward. In addition to the revenue we earn from state partners, some of the most respected philanthropists and foundations support our work.

People who succeed at Recidiviz lead with kindness and humility, assume good intent, learn from failure, and fix problems when they see them. They are excited to work arm in arm with government leadership and staff to improve outcomes. They are great listeners. They build deep relationships with and empathy for the people we work with and the people who our mission serves, even when those two groups feel at odds. 

About the role

As a Senior Product Designer on our team, you’ll explore how seemingly simple interactions and interventions can have a meaningful impact on criminal justice outcomes. You’ll dive into ambiguous systemic problems and lead projects from research through ideation to bring new products to life. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of navigating complexity while supporting continuous product development cycles.

Please note: You will be expected to travel domestically in the United States 1 to 3 times per quarter, for 2 to 4 days each trip. We expect these trips to include visits to prisons and parole offices.

Core responsibilities

• Partner closely with cross-functional teammates to lead qualitative and quantitative research studies (interviews, surveys, usability testing) across various initiatives. This includes supporting iterative design improvements, validating hypotheses, and measuring success.
• Translate your insights into clear, actionable user-centered solutions for development and align with the product vision and the goals of the organization. This might involve creating a document synthesis, a presentation, or prototypes.
• Identify and advocate for sustained incremental changes that mindfully renovate the system (finding the smallest nudge for the biggest effect). This means avoiding inertia and supporting a healthy cadence of product improvements.
• Become an expert on the product’s target users in order to solve for their specific needs and pain points. This involves defining key problems, ethical risks, and impactful opportunities.
• Contextualize technical constraints, policy implications, and the influence of other actors in the system. This might involve creating user journeys, storyboards, and other mapping techniques.
• Willing to travel: We expect this role will require 10-25% of time spent traveling domestically across the US, about 1-3 trips per quarter. These trips include visits to prisons and parole offices.

Wild success

Here are a few things you might accomplish in your first year at Recidiviz that would demonstrate wild success in this role:

• Your proactive diligence will have helped ship multiple contributions to our product.
• Your research findings will have translated into tangible value for justice-involved people navigating the criminal justice system.
• Your emphasis on teamwork will have advanced product initiatives in several Department of Corrections across the country.

Minimum qualifications

• Excellent communication skills to articulate research findings and recommendations.
• Leads by example, treats partners with respect, and seeks constructive feedback.
• Comfortable switching between self-directed work and teamwork.
• Proficiency in data collection techniques (such as surveys and interviews).
• Proficiency in qualitative research methods.
• Knowledge of research ethics and guidelines.
• Deeply curious and highly attuned to human behavior and emotion.
• Strong empathy and the ability to understand users' perspectives.
• Knowledge of usability testing methodologies.
• Experience with quantitative research techniques.
• Familiarity with user-centered design principles.
• Strong analytical skills for data interpretation.
• Highly collaborative across functions (engineers, data analysts, etc.).
• Fluent with Figma and other prototyping tools.

Preferred qualifications

• 4+ years of experience working in complex spaces (such as “govtech”)
• 1+ year of experience working with artificial intelligence
• Involved with, impacted by, or proximity to, the criminal justice system
• Passionate about working with marginalized communities and tackling challenges related to poverty and inequity
• A lifelong learner, passionate about experimenting with new research methods and pushing their craft in new ways
• Multidisciplinary

Compensation

Compensation is standardized based on roles and responsibilities. This ensures equitable compensation and responsible stewardship of our resources. As such, we do not negotiate compensation offers. 

The compensation for this role is: $124,900.

What we offer

• Effective, extremely thoughtful colleagues, working together on a mission that matters
• 90% medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage for you and your dependents
• Flexible time off, including 20 days of PTO, 3 days of paid volunteering time, and 13 paid holidays per year
• 401(k) retirement plan with 5% company match and no vesting period
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• Complimentary One Medical membership (availability based on location)
• Partnership with Carrot to provide employees with inclusive fertility and family-forming benefits, as well as a small but growing number of hormonal health and gender-affirming care benefits
• Monthly ClassPass credit for personal wellness
• Free mental health support via Talkspace
• Well-located offices in Oakland and Manhattan, with the flexibility to work remotely or go into either office as you choose
• An annual company offsite and other ad-hoc gatherings
• All the exhilarating challenges and stretch opportunities of a tech startup, combined with the mission-driven heart of a nonprofit

More about Recidiviz

Recidiviz was an all-volunteer effort until early 2019, when Clementine, Andrew, and Joshua founded the organization. Since then, we’ve built an A-team of software engineers, designers, product managers and domain experts, from companies like Google, Apple, Dropbox, Opower, and Sidewalk Labs. Recidiviz was part of Y-Combinator’s 2019 class and has received support from some of the most respected philanthropists and foundations, including Ford Foundation, Mackenzie Scott, Schmidt Futures, Arnold Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Mozilla Foundation.

Today, Recidiviz works with (and earns revenue from) over 18 state partners – big and small, red and blue – and covers more than 40% of the US incarcerated population. We have helped to get tens of thousands of people out of the criminal justice system, safely and equitably, and saved states nearly $1 billion. In the next five years, Recidiviz plans to partner with 40 states and help 250,000 people who are stuck in the system to get out and stay out. In addition to partnering with state Departments of Corrections, Recidiviz collaborates with and learns from partners – from organizations like the Correctional Leaders Association (CLA) to community based organizations and justice-impacted individuals, whose perspectives guide our work.

To learn more about how we do what we do, check out our 2024 Year in Review, read some press coverage, or watch our TED Talk. And if you’re really keen to see our work, you can dive into our Github :).

An important note

Lasting change is always built on diversity. Recidiviz recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, gender identity and all protected status as required by applicable law. We consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a special need that requires accommodation, please let us know in your application. Even if you don't think you meet all the criteria above, drop your resume, and we'll take a look – you might be great for another role or another time!