Job description

ABOUT CYVL The best infrastructure is invisible. You only notice it when it fails. For decades, the people responsible for our roads, bridges, and sidewalks have been asked to manage the physical world with tools that can't see it. CYVL is the Physical AI company changing that. We help governments build infrastructure faster with hardware, software, and AI — turning street-level capture into living intelligence that 500+ cities and towns across the country use to see what's out there, direct the work, and fix problems before they fail. We believe in a future where infrastructure keeps up with society. Every street, sidewalk, bridge … everywhere. The proof isn't a dashboard. It's a smoother commute, a safer walk to school, public dollars going where they matter most. We're a fast-moving team in Boston building for the real world. If you believe technology's highest calling is public good, come build with us. THE ROLE You'll be Cyvl's only product designer, and you'll own how customers experience Cyvl, from the sensor on their vehicle to the platform on their screen. Reporting to our VP of Product, you'll work daily with PMs and engineers in pitch-based build cycles. PMs frame the problem; you get in front of public works teams, shape the answer, and ship it. As we grow, you'll build and lead Cyvl's design function. This is pure product design, not marketing or brand: what you ship is what public works crews use to fix real streets. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Run discovery with public works teams to learn what they're trying to get done and where our product gets in their way. - Build pitches with product and engineering and take them all the way to production, often in the code yourself. - Turn LiDAR, imagery, and condition data into interfaces a busy public works director gets in seconds. Prototype fast with Claude Code or similar tools. - Dig into product analytics and customer data to find friction and make the call on what to fix. - Own the design system and the platform's future look and feel, and help shape the field-capture experience with our hardware team. WHAT YOU BRING - Startup experience. 5+ years designing B2B enterprise software, with real time inside a high-growth, VC-backed startup. Have 3+ years plus a background in PM, engineering, or industrial design? Let's talk. - Customer obsession. You'd rather watch a public works crew in the field than guess in Figma. You turn what you hear into sharp business decisions, and customers trust you in the room. - You build and ship. You push UX changes to production code yourself, not just hand off files. - A portfolio that shows you take messy, complex systems and make them feel effortless. - Fluency in data and AI. Comfortable in a codebase, at home in the analytics, and you understand data models and AI/ML well enough to design for them. We use Figma, Claude Code, or PostHog, but we care about the outcomes, not the tool. NICE TO HAVE - You've designed across hardware and software, or you bring an industrial design sense. - You've designed agentic or AI-driven experiences, and ready to build for what comes next. WHY CYVL Hard tech. Real streets. Your name on it. - Hard problems in the real world. You build end-to-end: our own hardware, software and AI, with work that shows up on the street in the real world. - Ownership that compounds. You own outcomes, not tasks. You work directly with customers and across our team, and you'll own more, sooner, than almost anywhere else. - Intense, with heart. We're building a category, so it's not a place to coast. We also take care of each other, have genuine fun together, and believe in what we are doing. WHAT WE ASK - Cross lanes. "Not my job" doesn't exist here. - Own without a playbook. The plan is still being written, often by you. - Try, miss, try again. We make big bets. Some won't land, and we learn fast. - Be in the room. We're on-site in Somerville about 90% of the time. We're a startup building a category. If that sounds like the draw, not the risk, we'd love to talk. BENEFITS - Equity. You'll own a piece of what you're building. - Health, dental, and vision. Cyvl covers most of the premium for you and your family. - 401k with a real match, vested day one. Your money is yours from the start. - Generous PTO & Paid Parental leave. Doing hard work well includes stepping away from it. - Learning stipend. Spend it on whatever makes you sharper. - Paid to live close. A monthly bonus for living near our Boston office. - Team events. Time together in Boston with a team you’ll love working with. OUR VALUES - Real: Authentic and transparent. Focused on solving real problems with simple, effective solutions. - All Out: Bold, driven, and committed to delivering results that matter. - Accelerating: Always learning, growing, and moving with intention. - Reliable: We follow through and deliver at a consistently high bar. - Empowering: We lift each other up and help governments build infrastructure they can be proud of. SEE OUR WORK - How Atlanta cut downtown potholes by 60% cyvl.com - How Buffalo turned a campaign promise into a paving plan cyvl.com - How to rebuild US infrastructure smarter theengineer.co.uk We build for every community, so we hire from all of them. The best people for this work come from different backgrounds, paths, and places, and many of them don't check every box. If this role excites you, apply anyway. If you need an adjustment to our interview process, tell us and we'll make it work.

Requirements

Must-haves

Run discovery with public works teams to learn what they're trying to get done and where our product gets in their way.
Build pitches with product and engineering and take them all the way to production, often in the code yourself.
Turn LiDAR, imagery, and condition data into interfaces a busy public works director gets in seconds. Prototype fast with Claude Code or similar tools.
Dig into product analytics and customer data to find friction and make the call on what to fix.
Own the design system and the platform's future look and feel, and help shape the field-capture experience with our hardware team.
Startup experience. 5+ years designing B2B enterprise software, with real time inside a high-growth, VC-backed startup. Have 3+ years plus a background in PM, engineering, or industrial design? Let's talk.
Customer obsession. You'd rather watch a public works crew in the field than guess in Figma. You turn what you hear into sharp business decisions, and customers trust you in the room.
You build and ship. You push UX changes to production code yourself, not just hand off files.
A portfolio that shows you take messy, complex systems and make them feel effortless.
Hard tech. Real streets. Your name on it.
Hard problems in the real world. You build end-to-end: our own hardware, software and AI, with work that shows up on the street in the real world.
Ownership that compounds. You own outcomes, not tasks. You work directly with customers and across our team, and you'll own more, sooner, than almost anywhere else.
Intense, with heart. We're building a category, so it's not a place to coast. We also take care of each other, have genuine fun together, and believe in what we are doing.
Cross lanes. "Not my job" doesn't exist here.
Own without a playbook. The plan is still being written, often by you.
Try, miss, try again. We make big bets. Some won't land, and we learn fast.
Be in the room. We're on-site in Somerville about 90% of the time.
We're a startup building a category. If that sounds like the draw, not the risk, we'd love to talk.

Nice-to-haves

You've designed across hardware and software, or you bring an industrial design sense.
You've designed agentic or AI-driven experiences, and ready to build for what comes next.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

aidesign systemfigmaml

Platform: ashby
Effort: quick

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Dental

Vision

401k

Pto

Parental Leave