UX Designer

Description

Vector Solutions is a leading, AI-enabled, performance platform powering safe, compliant, and efficient operations for the public, educational, and commercial sectors. We bring training, safety, and workforce operations together to boost readiness, reduce risk, and drive high-performance results for the everyday heroes who count on us. 

We are seeking a curious, research-minded designer to join our central UX team and own the experience for several of our public safety products.

This role is for someone who would rather talk to a customer than guess. You'll spend real time on customer calls, in discovery sessions, and in usability tests, and you'll turn what you learn into design decisions your product team can act on. Our team works research-first: every designer plans and runs their own research, with coaching from our UX researcher. 

Our team works hard to stay at the leading edge of AI-driven design. We prototype almost exclusively in working code, and we keep exploring new ways AI can make our research and design work faster and better. If you already build this way, great. If you don't yet, we'll teach you. We care more about how you think and the questions you ask than about any one tool.

What You'll Own: 

You'll be the lead designer for three products in our public sector portfolio. Together they serve firefighters, EMS crews, law enforcement officers, and the people who lead them. 

• Target Solutions: our flagship training and compliance platform for public safety agencies 
• Check It: digital checklists and inventory tracking that crews use to keep apparatus and equipment ready 
• Guardian Tracking: documentation and early-intervention tools that help leaders support and develop their people 

These are complex, workflow-heavy products used in high-stakes jobs. Getting them right takes time with the people who use them every day. 

What You'll Do:

Research and discovery (the biggest part of the job) 

• Join customer calls, site conversations, and discovery sessions. Ask good questions, follow up on unexpected answers, and dig for the real problem behind a feature request. 
• Partner with our UX researcher on interviews, usability tests, surveys, and concept validation, and grow into planning and leading your own studies over time. 
• Synthesize what you hear into clear insights, then share them so product managers and engineers can act on them. 
• Use product analytics and support data alongside interviews to see where users struggle. 

Design and prototyping 

• Turn research into design solutions, from problem framing through validated, build-ready designs. 
• Build interactive prototypes in code with AI tools like Claude Code, and put them in front of users early and often. 
• Use and contribute to our shared design system and UX patterns so our public sector products feel consistent. 

Collaboration 

• Work closely with product managers, product owners, and engineers in an agile environment. Help shape what gets built, not just how it looks. 
• Explain your design rationale and research findings clearly to stakeholders and partners. 
• Take part in team critiques and research share-outs, and help shape how our team works. 

Requirements

What We're Looking For:

• 3+ years designing digital products, ideally in enterprise or SaaS 
• Hands-on UX research experience: you've planned studies, run interviews or usability tests yourself, and turned what you learned into product decisions 
• A portfolio and/or case studies that show your process, including how research shaped your design decisions 
• Deep curiosity about people and their work. You can join a customer call cold, build rapport quickly, and ask open, non-leading questions. 
• Comfort with ambiguity. You can frame a fuzzy problem, decide what to learn first, and move forward. 
• Clear communication and storytelling with customers, stakeholders, and technical partners 
• Interest in AI-assisted design and a willingness to learn to prototype in code. Prior coding experience isn't required. 
• Experience working in agile product teams 
• Experience with research tools such as Dovetail, UserBrain, User Interviews, or Respondent 
• Familiarity with accessibility principles and designing for scale 
• Bachelor's degree in Design, HCI, Human Factors, Psychology, Anthropology, or a related field, or equivalent experience  

Nice to have 

• Experience prototyping with Claude Code or other AI coding tools, or basic HTML, CSS, or JavaScript 
• Experience with product analytics tools such as Heap 
• Figma proficiency 
• Experience in public safety, e-learning, or compliance-driven industries 

What You Can Expect From Us:

• Friendly, open, and casual work environment
• Comprehensive benefits package effective the first of the month after hire
• Matching 401(k) retirement plan
• Healthy work-life balance with flexible work arrangements and generous time off
• Generous referral incentive program
• Tuition Reimbursement Program
• Pet Insurance
• OnePass Gym/Wellness Discount Program
• Calm Health-Employee Membership
• Company social events
• Employee Resource Groups
• Philanthropic opportunities

What We Value:

• Teamwork - Above all, we’re a team. We give and value feedback. We support each other, respect each other and work together to accomplish our common goals and serve our customers. Once we make decisions, we align behind them as a team.
• Customers First - Our customers’ success is our success. They are why we are here. We work to earn the trust of our customers and always deliver on our commitments.
• Make a Difference - It’s not a job, it’s a calling. We have passion for our mission, for our customers, for our work, and for sharing a fulfilling experience with our fellow team members.
• Inclusiveness - Uniqueness is powerful. We support an environment of respect, belonging, and community that promotes a variety of perspectives and crucial conversations, leading to better outcomes.
• Act Now - We act with urgency. The best time to get something important done is now. We don’t wait and let perfection be the enemy of good.
• Curiosity - We love a good challenge. We’re scrappy, we stretch ourselves to be the best, ask questions, learn from our mistakes, and are dedicated to continually improving and growing.
• Ownership - We own the outcome and don’t pass the buck. The score matters. We hold ourselves and each other accountable. We treat company resources like they are our own.

Vector Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, (including gender identity), sexual orientation, gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, marital status, or status as a protected veteran.

The base salary range provided is a good-faith estimate at the time of posting. Actual pay may vary based on factors such as skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. Compensation will always comply with applicable state and local pay laws, including but not limited to those in California, Colorado, New York, and Washington