UX Designer, Octopus

About this role

Spacecraft represent the most pressing unmet need across the entire aerospace industry. As more launch vehicles come online and the cost to orbit decreases, more companies launching payloads to space continue to emerge.

For the first time in history, this influx of payload companies combined with reduced launch costs has resulted in a massive increase in need for commercial spacecraft platforms, known as satellite buses. These buses hold the payloads of our customers and are flown on launch vehicles.

Apex manufactures these satellite buses at scale using a combination of software, vertical integration, and hardware that is designed for manufacturing. Our spacecraft enable the future of society: ranging from earth observation to communications and more.

We’d love for you to join us on our mission of providing humankind access to the galaxy beyond our planet. 

ABOUT THE ROLE

Apex is looking for an outstanding UX Designer to research and create the future of Octopus, our proprietary operating system for building spacecraft at scale. Octopus is an integrated suite of engineering, manufacturing, and operations software developed entirely in-house — it links inventory management, production scheduling, quality, and assembly work instructions into a single environment that adjusts dynamically to changing demand. You will be responsible for researching, designing, innovating, and prototyping the experiences that technicians, engineers, planners, and operators depend on every day to build satellites in a way that has never been done before.

Octopus spans the full production lifecycle: part and inventory management, build planning and scheduling, shop-floor work instructions and travelers, non-conformance and quality workflows, supply chain and purchasing, integration and test, and the analytics leadership uses to run the factory. The candidate will be responsible for these internal enterprise tools end to end. Deliverables include design mockups, experience flows, prototyping, design presentations, high-fidelity visuals, and follow-up to ensure high-quality implementation.

Internal software is where manufacturing speed is won or lost. Every extra click, ambiguous screen, and awkward handoff gets multiplied across hundreds of builds and hundreds of people. Your mandate is to make Octopus dramatically better to use: fewer clicks, clearer information hierarchy, workflows that match how the work actually happens, and a set of design standards that keeps the product coherent as it grows. You will collaborate with product managers, software engineers, manufacturing and quality engineers, supply chain, and production leadership as a key contributor and originator. We expect exceptional design skills, creative problem-solving, and a great sense of aesthetics. Octopus should feel fast, information-dense where it needs to be, and unmistakably purpose-built.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Research and define UX strategy for Octopus; contribute to the overall product and design direction from concept through implementation

• Spend time on the factory floor and alongside engineering teams to observe real workflows, then translate what you learn into design solutions that serve users from very different backgrounds and with very different requirements

• Relentlessly optimize existing workflows — fewer clicks, fewer screens, fewer opportunities for error — and prove the improvement in task time, error rate, and adoption

• Design for demanding, high-density operating environments: work instructions and travelers, shop-floor terminals and tablets, cleanroom and gloved use, and desk-based planning and analytics tools

• Constantly measure how designs are performing for the people using them; iterate and improve those experiences as needed

• Define, build, and own the Octopus design system, UX standards, and guidelines; advocate for consistency across team members, new modules, and partner teams

• Work in a highly collaborative environment with engineers and other partners; invest in building relationships and trust with stakeholders and leaders

• Present work to partners, stakeholders, and senior leaders regularly

• Follow work through implementation — review builds, catch regressions, and hold the bar on visual and interaction quality

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Bachelor's degree in the study of design, or a portfolio that shows equivalent project experience

• 5+ years of experience designing interactive applications for web

• An excellent portfolio showcasing user experience with a strong design sensibility and excellent, user-centric storytelling

• Experience designing enterprise, internal, or operational tools — software where the user is doing a job under time pressure, not browsing

• User-focused, with experience using design research methods such as contextual inquiry, shadowing, and usability testing to uncover insight

• Experience building and maintaining a design system, and defining standards that other designers and engineers actually follow

• Effective written and verbal communication skills

• Self-motivated, able to work independently but also collaborative and driven by group critique

• Ability to perform in a fast-paced, high-intensity iterative design process under minimal supervision

BONUS POINTS

• Prior experience designing for manufacturing, MES, ERP, logistics, or other operations software

• Comfort working close to code — reading a component library, prototyping in HTML/CSS, or partnering directly in the front-end codebase

• Interest in hardware, aerospace, or physical production environments

#LI-JC1

WHY JOIN APEX?

Apex believes in creating a work environment that you look forward to embracing every day. Our employees love working at Apex, and we want you to love it too. We're a fast-growing startup that has raised more than $500M in funding, and we invest heavily in our people from day one.

WHAT WE OFFER FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES:

- Shared upside: Receive equity in Apex

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