Product Designer - Internship (Summer 2027)

Nominal; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 28,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mentorship

Office trips to co-locate with team

Free meals and snacks

Intern swag and gift

Hardware lab stipend

Job summary

Nominal in Austin, TX invites a design-focused student for a Summer 2027 internship with potential full-time opportunities after graduation in 2028. You’ll work with designers, engineers, and product partners on a scoped project addressing a real customer need, with mentorship and regular feedback to build your experience in research, prototyping, and detailed design for hardware tooling.

You’ll translate complex hardware data workflows into intuitive experiences, learn from users, and

Qualifications

• Portfolio demonstrating solid visual design fundamentals and problem solving.
• Ability to communicate ideas through flows, layouts, and interactive concepts.
• Curious about unfamiliar technical problems and open to feedback.
• Experience with design and prototyping tools to communicate ideas.
• Interest in contributing to a design system and documentation.

Responsibilities

• Turn complexity into clarity by translating hardware data workflows into intuitive experiences.
• Learn from real users by observing workflows and identifying opportunities.
• Partner with design, engineering and product to research and prototype with AI.
• Lead a scoped design project from exploration to detailed design with mentorship.
• Build your craft by sharing work in critiques and applying feedback.
• Contribute to the design system by refining components and documentation.

Skills

Visual design

Prototyping

User research

Education

Design degree student (class of 2028)

Tools

Figma

Illustrator/Sketch

Job description

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.

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 students graduating in 2028 with solid visual and product design fundamentals who are seeking a Summer 2027 internship and are interested in joining Nominal full time after graduation in 2028.

You’ll work alongside designers, engineers, and product partners on a scoped project that addresses a real customer need. With mentorship and regular feedback, you’ll build experience across research, prototyping, and detailed design while contributing to the tools engineers use to test and validate complex hardware.

What you’ll do

• Turn complexity into clarity. Learn how engineers work with high-frequency, high-volume hardware data and help translate those workflows into intuitive product experiences.
• Learn from real users. Work with the team to understand customer needs, observe workflows, and identify opportunities to improve the product.
• Partner with design, engineering, and product to research, prototype with AI, and contribute directly to product improvements and features.
• Take a scoped design project from exploration through detailed design, with guidance from your design mentor and team.
• Build your craft. Share work in design critiques, incorporate feedback, and explain the thinking behind your decisions.
• Contribute to our design system by applying existing patterns and helping improve components and documentation.

Reach out if…

• You’re graduating in 2028, seeking an internship in Summer 2027, and interested in a full-time product design role at Nominal after graduation.
• You have a portfolio of academic, personal, or internship projects that demonstrates visual design fundamentals and thoughtful problem-solving.
• You can use design and prototyping tools to communicate ideas through flows, layouts, and interactive concepts.
• You’re curious about unfamiliar technical problems and ask questions to understand how people work.
• You’re open to feedback and can show how you’ve used it to improve your work.

Bonus, not required

• You’ve explored AI tools to prototype or test design ideas.
• You’ve worked on data visualization, technical software, or hardware-related projects.

Benefits/Perks

• Receive mentorship from our world-class team
• Trips to co-locate with the team across our different offices
• Free lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks
• A beginning-of-internship swag bag and an end-of-internship intern gift
• In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend

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.