PhD Intern, Software Engineer - Interaction Design (2027) at Figma

The role

This PhD internship combines HCI research with engineering to define the next generation of interactive experience design tooling. You will join the Interaction Design team to investigate new ways to visualize and manage state, animations, and complex transitions.

What you'll do

• Join a Figma team to solve problems at the intersection of your research.
• Apply research insights to address meaningful product challenges.
• Collaborate with engineers and designers to scope and execute work.
• Develop solutions from initial prototypes to production-ready systems.
• Share expertise through presentations and cross-functional reviews.
• Complete a project with real-world impact by the end of the term.

What you'll bring

• Currently enrolled as a fourth or fifth year PhD student.
• Pursuing a degree in Computer Science, HCI, AI, or Machine Learning.
• Ability to translate complex research into practical and scalable solutions.
• Proven track record of rigorous problem-solving through academic research.
• Proficiency in at least one general purpose coding language.

Your impact

You will help shape the future of design collaboration by creating tools that make complex interactive behaviors easier to author and understand. Your work will directly influence how designers express multi-state flows and animations, resulting in a project with tangible impact on the Figma platform.