UX Engineer

Sea Machines is a fast-growing startup that is leading the new high-tech sector of autonomous technology for marine vessels. We are passionate about applying practical A.I. to the massive global ocean transportation market. Our products provide ships and workboats the intelligence to work remotely and give maritime operators the tools to effectively communicate with them. Based in Boston and operating globally, the company is crewed by an experienced team of mariners, engineers, coders, and autonomy scientists.

Sea Machiners get the unique opportunity to work in a very dynamic domain (the ocean world), serve and visit people and places around the planet, and solve challenges not seen in most other robotics sectors.

Job Description We're looking for a creative, technically skilled UX Engineer to help shape how people interact with our autonomous marine technology. You'll play a key role in designing and developing intuitive, efficient, and visually compelling user interfaces that make complex systems easy to understand and operate. This role sits at the intersection of design, engineering, and product development. You'll work closely with software engineers, product owners, and end users to turn sophisticated technology into seamless, user-friendly experiences. We're a fast-moving team, so we're looking for someone who is comfortable with taking ownership and turning ideas into functional solutions. Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop intuitive user interfaces for autonomous vessel control, monitoring, and mission management systems.

• Translate complex technical requirements and operational workflows into clear, user-friendly experiences.

• Collaborate with product owners, software engineers, and stakeholders to define user requirements and improve product usability.

• Create wireframes, prototypes, mockups, and interactive designs to communicate concepts and validate solutions.

• Design and maintain reusable UI components and contribute to a consistent design system across products.

• Conduct usability testing and gather feedback from vessel operators, customers, and internal teams to continuously improve the user experience.

• Design effective visualizations for real-time data, system status, alerts, and operational information.

• Ensure interfaces support situational awareness, efficient decision-making, and safe system operation.

• Work closely with back-end engineers to integrate user interfaces with system APIs and real-time data streams.

• Identify usability challenges and proactively recommend improvements.

• Participate in design reviews, software testing, and iterative product development.

Qualifications Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Software Engineering, UX Design, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Experience in UX/UI design, front-end development, or a hybrid UX engineering role.

• Experience with design and prototyping tools such as Figma.

• Strong understanding of user-centered design principles, interaction design, and usability best practices.

• Ability to translate complex workflows and technical information into intuitive interfaces.

• Experience integrating front-end applications with APIs and back-end services.

• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.

• Familiarity with modern, performative front-end software libraries

• Ability to work collaboratively across engineering, product, and operations teams.

• Comfortable working in a dynamic startup environment with evolving priorities.

Preferred:

• Experience developing interfaces for robotics, autonomous systems, maritime technology, or industrial control systems.

• Familiarity with real-time data visualization, mapping, geospatial interfaces, or telemetry dashboards.

• Experience designing human-machine interfaces (HMI) for mission-critical applications.

• Proficiency with modern front-end technologies such as JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and frameworks such as React.

• Understanding of human factors, situational awareness, and operator-centered design.

• Experience with real-time communications protocols

• Familiarity with Agile software development practices.

• Experience working directly with end users to evaluate and improve operational workflows.

• Experience with 3D graphics or game development.