Lead Product Designer

About Rune

Rune Technologies builds mission-critical software for military logistics and sustainment. Our flagship product is TyrOS, an AI-enabled logistics command and control platform that gives commanders a single, real-time operating picture of their sustainment fight, from inventory and distribution to medical and operational planning, even in degraded and contested environments.

We're not a traditional defense contractor. We're a small, fast-moving team that combines deep operational experience in and with the DoD with the software discipline of the best product companies, and we apply that combination to a customer set that desperately needs it. We stay close to our users by embedding directly with military units during exercises and rotations, and we ship constantly based on what we learn.

The U.S. military and its allies face a real logistics modernization problem. We're building the software to solve it.

About the Role

A soldier routing a resupply convoy through contested terrain needs to make the right call in seconds - often with incomplete information, no connectivity, and no formal logistics training. That's the design problem at Rune.

We believe software quality is a strategic advantage. The difference between a clear interface and a confusing one can determine whether a mission succeeds. Design isn't a downstream function here - it's central to the bet we're making on TyrOS.

We're looking for a lead designer with high agency, great taste, and the craft to back it up. As our Lead Product Designer, you'll have deep ownership over the TyrOS product experience - across web and edge-deployed systems, building solutions around maps, real-time data, forecasting, mission planning, and convoy routing. You'll have more direct access to real users in real conditions than almost anywhere else you could work.

What you'll do

• Own end-to-end design for critical TyrOS workflows, from problem framing and discovery through prototypes, shipped UI, and iteration
• Work directly with logisticians, planners, and operators through field feedback, embedded research, and direct collaboration to understand their mental models, constraints, and environments
• Design interfaces, user journeys, and interaction models for complex, stateful workflows across planning, monitoring, and decision-support scenarios
• Shape and evolve our design system: patterns, components, interaction principles, and visual language
• Collaborate tightly with product and engineering to scope iterations and ensure high-fidelity implementation
• Bring a strong point of view to roadmap discussions - advocate for user needs, clarity, and simplicity in high-stakes contexts

Qualifications

• 6-10+ years designing complex digital products, with a portfolio showing real shipped work, clear problem framing, and strong visual craft
• Deep interaction design and IA skills - you can untangle dense, stateful workflows and make them feel obvious
• Strong visual and systems design instincts: typography, spacing, hierarchy, and motion that feel cohesive
• Experience as a true cross-functional partner to PM and engineering, not a downstream service
• Proficiency in Figma and comfort moving between rapid exploration and high-fidelity, polished work
• Clear communicator across audiences - designers, engineers, and operational stakeholders alike

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with AI-enabled prototyping
• Experience designing tools for logistics, operations, defense, healthcare, or other complex operational domains
• Familiarity with geospatial or time-based data visualization (maps, timelines, charts)
• Experience working in fast-paced environments with evolving requirements and mission-driven goals

Benefits

Rune offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees to include a full suite of insurance options at no cost for employees and low-cost to spouses and dependents. Highly competitive equity grants are also included in the majority of full time offers and are considered part of Rune's total compensation package. Benefits include:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans; premiums 100% covered by Rune for all employees; exceptionally low premiums for spouses and dependents
• Basic life insurance and disability 100% covered for all employees by Rune; option to purchase additional life insurance available
• 'Take the time off that you need, when you need it' paid time off, not accrual based
• Generous company holiday calendar including a holiday shutdown in December
• Supportive leave of absence program including time off for military service, medical events, and parental leave
• Full 401(k) retirement plan for all full-time eligible employees
• Company-funded commuter benefits
• Free access to on-site gym at office