PhD Research Engineer - Interactive Design Tools (Intern)

Borderless; New York (NY); On-site; USD 84,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing stipend

Travel reimbursement

Job summary

Figma is seeking a PhD intern to blend HCI research with hands-on engineering. You’ll work on interactive experience design tooling, embedded with a team across SF or NYC, and contribute to real-world product challenges.

You will collaborate with researchers, engineers, PMs, and designers to translate research into scalable solutions, deliver a project with tangible impact, and present your findings during the internship, with a supported learning environment.

Qualifications

• Enrollment as a 4th or 5th year PhD student pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, HCI, AI, ML or related field.
• Ability to translate complex research concepts into practical, scalable solutions.
• Proven track record of rigorous problem-solving through academic or applied research.

Responsibilities

• Be embedded on a Figma team working on problems intersecting with your research area.
• Drive projects applying research insights to meaningful product challenges.
• Collaborate with engineers, PMs, designers, and researchers to scope and execute your work.
• Develop, validate, and document solutions from prototypes to production-ready systems.
• Share your expertise through presentations, design reviews, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Deliver a project with real impact by internship end.

Skills

Programming language knowledge

Education

PhD student in CS/HCI/AI/ML

Job description

Figma is seeking a PhD intern to blend HCI research with hands-on engineering. You’ll work on interactive experience design tooling, embedded with a team across SF or NYC, and contribute to real-world product challenges.

You will collaborate with researchers, engineers, PMs, and designers to translate research into scalable solutions, deliver a project with tangible impact, and present your findings during the internship, with a supported learning environment.