PhD Intern: Generative AI for Design

Figma; New York (NY); On-site; USD 87,000 - 117,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing stipend

Travel reimbursement

Job summary

Figma is seeking PhD interns to advance Generative AI for design and creative products. You will conduct fundamental and applied research, focusing on agentic systems and AI-powered features, with potential publication opportunities in top conferences.

The role can take place in Winter 2027 or Summer 2027 in San Francisco or New York, with on-site hubs. The internship requires being a 4th/5th year PhD student in AI/ML-related fields, publications in AI, and strong Python + ML framework

Qualifications

• 4th or 5th year senior Ph.D student in AI, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Human Computer Interaction or a related field.
• Proven expertise in AI through publications on recent advancements in AI, such as Large Language Models or Agentic systems.
• Track record in applying machine learning techniques to projects in academia or industry.
• Experience in Python and machine learning frameworks (such as PyTorch, TensorFlow)
• Experience solving sophisticated problems and comparing alternative solutions, trade-offs, and diverse points of view to determine a path forward.

Responsibilities

• Drive fundamental and applied research in Generative AI with Figma product use cases in mind
• Formulate and implement new modeling approaches both to improve the effectiveness of Figma’s current AI models as well as enable the launch of entirely new AI-powered product features
• Explore the boundaries of what is possible with the current technology set and experiment with novel ideas
• Depending on your project, you may have the opportunity to publish your research in leading AI/ML conferences

Education

PhD candidate in AI/ML/CV/NLP/HCI (PhD student)

Python

Machine Learning

Generative AI

Agentic systems

Publications in AI/ML

Problem solving

Communication

Industry internship experience

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

GitHub Copilot

ChatGPT

Claude

Job description

Figma is seeking PhD interns to advance Generative AI for design and creative products. You will conduct fundamental and applied research, focusing on agentic systems and AI-powered features, with potential publication opportunities in top conferences.

The role can take place in Winter 2027 or Summer 2027 in San Francisco or New York, with on-site hubs. The internship requires being a 4th/5th year PhD student in AI/ML-related fields, publications in AI, and strong Python + ML framework