Director Of Product Design Jobs in District of Columbia
Director Of Product Design jobs in District of Columbia draw from one of the most policy-driven and technology-forward markets in the country, with consistent demand from federal contractors, civic technology firms, and advocacy-focused digital product teams. Most hiring concentrates in Washington D.C. itself, where established employers like Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture Federal Services, and ICF have long-standing design practices shaping enterprise and public-sector products. The most in-demand specialties are service design, design systems leadership, and user research strategy at the senior and executive level. Scan the live roles below and apply to whichever ones fit.
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Showing 5 of 33+ Director Of Product Design jobs
About Us
Quartermaster is building the world's most comprehensive maritime intelligence platform. Our SmartMast system transforms commercial and civilian vessels into a persistent, distributed sensing network—combining HD video, AI, radar, RF sensing, and AIS to deliver real-time maritime domain awareness at global scale. With 600+ sensors deployed across 25+ countries and more than 400,000 vessels identified outside of AIS, we are setting a new standard for what ocean surveillance and safety can look like. We are a mission-driven, high-velocity team building dual-use technology for defense agencies, coast guards, and commercial maritime operators.
Job Description
We are looking for a Senior Design Engineer who thrives at the intersection of operational complexity, user interface design, and front-end engineering. Reporting to the CTO and working cross-functionally with the Head of Product, you'll live at the intersection of design and engineering—translating high-fidelity design intent into production-quality interfaces that empower analysts and operators in complex maritime environments. You'll build the components, tooling, and prototypes that make mission-critical experiences feel seamless and perform under pressure. Good design here is not cosmetic—it is operationally significant, and requires production-grade technical execution.
Key Responsibilities
Build and ship production-ready UI components from design specs, prioritizing performance, reusability, and scalability across our web portal.
Develop and maintain our design system as living code—keeping design tokens, component libraries (React/TypeScript), and documentation in sync across our maritime intelligence applications.
Prototype novel interactions and data visualizations—including live sensor feeds, event timelines, and tracking dashboards—to pressure-test new product proposals in real, interactive environments.
Bridge design and engineering by implementing high-fidelity features like map interfaces and radar overlays that preserve design intent in high-density data environments.
Build tooling and automation that accelerate the design-to-development workflow between product and core engineering.
Iterate on implementations based on direct operator feedback, field testing, and rigorous performance insights from defense and government customers.
Conduct and synthesize user research to inform technical design decisions, turning complex maritime workflows into highly performant and clear user journeys.
Establish and enforce accessibility standards (WCAG), performance optimization guidelines, and responsive design practices across the front-end repository.
Qualifications (Preferred)
5+ years of experience in product design, UI/UX engineering, or front-end design engineering, paired with a designer's eye and a portfolio demonstrating mastery of data-rich web application interfaces.
Strong front-end engineering competencies: Deep fluency in HTML, CSS/Tailwind, and modern JavaScript/TypeScript, with hands-on experience building components in React.
Deep proficiency in Figma, including advanced component libraries, auto-layout, token management, and the tooling that keeps code components consistent with their design source of truth.
A strong visual design foundation—typography, color, layout, and hierarchy—especially when designing for dense, operationally critical environments where information clarity and software performance are non-negotiable.
Fluency in UX principles: interaction design, information architecture, and the technical ability to translate complex data workflows into simple, intuitive interfaces.
Experience designing and building geospatial or map-based interfaces; comfort handling layered, overlapping data visualizations and Canvas/WebGL rendering paradigms.
Comfort working in iterative processes, incorporating user research, field feedback, and performance data to refine and evolve your work.
Bonus Points:
Experience designing for defense, maritime, aviation, or other mission-critical operational domains requiring precision, clarity, and real-world impact.
Background in designing for data visualization, sensor dashboards, or real-time monitoring systems.
Experience with motion design, micro-interactions, or advanced layout automation for operational interfaces.
Work Environment
Distributed team environment working asynchronously.
Start-up atmosphere with autonomy given to engineers
In office and flexible hours
Compensation Range: $180K - $230K
About Us
Quartermaster is building the world's most comprehensive maritime intelligence platform. Our SmartMast system transforms commercial and civilian vessels into a persistent, distributed sensing network—combining HD video, AI, radar, RF sensing, and AIS to deliver real-time maritime domain awareness at global scale. With 600+ sensors deployed across 25+ countries and more than 400,000 vessels identified outside of AIS, we are setting a new standard for what ocean surveillance and safety can look like. We are a mission-driven, high-velocity team building dual-use technology for defense agencies, coast guards, and commercial maritime operators.
Job Description
We are looking for a Senior Design Engineer who thrives at the intersection of operational complexity, user interface design, and front-end engineering. Reporting to the CTO and working cross-functionally with the Head of Product, you'll live at the intersection of design and engineering—translating high-fidelity design intent into production-quality interfaces that empower analysts and operators in complex maritime environments. You'll build the components, tooling, and prototypes that make mission-critical experiences feel seamless and perform under pressure. Good design here is not cosmetic—it is operationally significant, and requires production-grade technical execution.
Key Responsibilities
Build and ship production-ready UI components from design specs, prioritizing performance, reusability, and scalability across our web portal.
Develop and maintain our design system as living code—keeping design tokens, component libraries (React/TypeScript), and documentation in sync across our maritime intelligence applications.
Prototype novel interactions and data visualizations—including live sensor feeds, event timelines, and tracking dashboards—to pressure-test new product proposals in real, interactive environments.
Bridge design and engineering by implementing high-fidelity features like map interfaces and radar overlays that preserve design intent in high-density data environments.
Build tooling and automation that accelerate the design-to-development workflow between product and core engineering.
Iterate on implementations based on direct operator feedback, field testing, and rigorous performance insights from defense and government customers.
Conduct and synthesize user research to inform technical design decisions, turning complex maritime workflows into highly performant and clear user journeys.
Establish and enforce accessibility standards (WCAG), performance optimization guidelines, and responsive design practices across the front-end repository.
Qualifications (Preferred)
5+ years of experience in product design, UI/UX engineering, or front-end design engineering, paired with a designer's eye and a portfolio demonstrating mastery of data-rich web application interfaces.
Strong front-end engineering competencies: Deep fluency in HTML, CSS/Tailwind, and modern JavaScript/TypeScript, with hands-on experience building components in React.
Deep proficiency in Figma, including advanced component libraries, auto-layout, token management, and the tooling that keeps code components consistent with their design source of truth.
A strong visual design foundation—typography, color, layout, and hierarchy—especially when designing for dense, operationally critical environments where information clarity and software performance are non-negotiable.
Fluency in UX principles: interaction design, information architecture, and the technical ability to translate complex data workflows into simple, intuitive interfaces.
Experience designing and building geospatial or map-based interfaces; comfort handling layered, overlapping data visualizations and Canvas/WebGL rendering paradigms.
Comfort working in iterative processes, incorporating user research, field feedback, and performance data to refine and evolve your work.
Bonus Points:
Experience designing for defense, maritime, aviation, or other mission-critical operational domains requiring precision, clarity, and real-world impact.
Background in designing for data visualization, sensor dashboards, or real-time monitoring systems.
Experience with motion design, micro-interactions, or advanced layout automation for operational interfaces.
Work Environment
Distributed team environment working asynchronously.
Start-up atmosphere with autonomy given to engineers
In office and flexible hours
Compensation Range: $180K - $230K
See All 33 Director Of Product Design Jobs in District of Columbia
Find roles in District of Columbia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find JobsDirector Of Product Design Jobs by City in District of Columbia
Where District of Columbia roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Director Of Product Design Job Market in District of Columbia
A snapshot from current District of Columbia openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- KBR2
- Booz Allen Hamilton2
- NPR1
- GuROO1
- Bohler1
Top Industries Hiring
- Consulting & Professional Services6
- Aerospace & Defense2
- Technology & Software1
- Marketing & Advertising1
- Construction & Real Estate1
What District of Columbia Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in director of product design jobs across District of Columbia.
- Ten or more years of product design experience with at least three leading design teams
- Demonstrated portfolio of shipped digital products across web and mobile platforms
- Experience managing multidisciplinary design teams and mentoring senior individual contributors
- Proficiency in Figma and familiarity with design system governance and documentation practices
- Ability to partner with product management and engineering at the executive stakeholder level
- Bachelor's or master's degree in interaction design, human-computer interaction, or a related field
Director Of Product Design Jobs in District of Columbia: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a director of product design in District of Columbia?
The director of product design role in District of Columbia requires no state-issued license, so the path runs through accumulated design leadership experience and a strong portfolio. Most D.C. hiring organizations expect a decade or more of hands-on product design work followed by years managing teams. Employers in the federal contracting and civic tech sectors also favor candidates familiar with accessibility standards and government digital service requirements, which are widely applied across D.C.-based product organizations.
Which companies hire director of product designs in District of Columbia?
Employers hiring director of product designs in District of Columbia right now include KBR, Booz Allen Hamilton, and NPR, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of July 2026. D.C.'s concentration of federal agencies, large consulting firms, and mission-driven technology organizations makes it one of the more active markets for senior design leadership on the East Coast.
Which District of Columbia cities have the most director of product design jobs?
The cities with the most director of product design openings in District of Columbia are Washington, Washington Navy Yard, and Naval Research Laboratory. Washington D.C. anchors nearly all of the demand, driven by its dense cluster of federal contractors, government technology offices, and digital-first nonprofits that maintain sizable in-house product and design functions, with nearby suburban areas in Maryland and Virginia contributing openings from satellite offices of those same organizations.
Are there remote director of product design jobs in District of Columbia?
Yes, and more than many senior leadership roles, since design leadership work centers on collaboration tools, reviews, and strategic planning that translate well to distributed settings. About 53% of director of product design openings tied to District of Columbia are remote or hybrid as of July 2026, reflecting how broadly this has become accepted across the industry. Design system oversight, stakeholder alignment, and portfolio reviews are the functions most commonly handled fully remotely.
How can I get hired as a director of product design in District of Columbia with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is moving up through senior individual contributor roles at D.C.-based organizations before stepping into a director title. Federal contractors like Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture Federal Services regularly bring in senior designers who take on informal team lead responsibilities before formal promotion. Building experience with government accessibility standards, leading design critiques, and owning a design system component are the specific contributions that D.C. employers treat as proof of readiness for a director-level hire.
Where can I find and apply to director of product design jobs in District of Columbia?
You can find and apply to director of product design jobs in District of Columbia on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from employers actively hiring in the area. Search through the roles posted, identify the ones that match your background and the types of organizations you want to work with, and apply directly to the ones that fit.
See All 33 Director Of Product Design Jobs in District of Columbia
Find roles in District of Columbia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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