Government technology has failed the public for decades, and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services.
Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation, and now we're building toward something much larger — the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service.
Our platform reaches 55 million Americans across 50+ agencies. Our goal: build technology that touches the lives of 100 million residents by the end of the year.
Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We're builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn't be a luxury in government. It's how you earn trust back.
Location
This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).
The Role
As a Senior Product Designer, you'll play a foundational role in crafting exceptional user experiences for government staff and members of the public. This high-agency opportunity will allow you to impact every aspect of design at the company: from scoping and shipping products with our engineers, to building innovative prototypes for the sales team, to creating marketing assets as we evolve our brand. In true startup fashion, you’ll wear many hats, including partnering closely with our implementation team on customer deployments and helping to define our product roadmap strategically.
What You’ll Do
Lead design work end-to-end, including:
Driving research and discovery sessions with our customers
Writing clear, well-scoped product requirement documents
Designing and iterating upon high-fidelity flows and prototypes
Collaborating side-by-side with our wonderful engineering team to bring the work to life
Contributing to Trailmix, our internal design system
Partner with our implementation team on critical customer deployments by providing hands-on project management, product strategy, and customer communications
Work with the business development team to define the future of the product with robust prototyping for RFP responses and demos
Work with the leadership team to create marketing assets for socials, one-pagers for conferences, and other branded materials
What You’ll Bring
4-6 years of experience in product design, preferably in a high-growth startup or agency environment
Experience designing administrative tooling
Experience designing scalable solutions for SaaS products for desktop and mobile
Experience in client services and excitement to work directly with customers
Proficiency in Figma for both design and prototyping
Workflows powered with AI tooling (ChatGPT, Figma Make, Lovable, etc.)
Strong Candidates May Also Bring...
Experience with AI coding tools like Cursor to make your own contributions to the codebase
What Kaizen Offers
Health & Insurance
100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.
$100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.
Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.
Family & Time Off
16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!)
Closed for all federal holidays.
Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
Company offsites throughout the year.
Office & Remote Setup
Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
$50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
Expensed lunch while in the office.
Company-provided laptop of your choice.
Wellness
Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us. For remote employees, $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.
Stipends
$100/month utility stipend.
$500/year professional development.
$250/year recreation.
$300/quarter pet care stipend.