PhD Intern, AI Applied Scientist (2027)

Who this role is best for

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

Skills & requirements

About the role

Figma is growing our team of passionate creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all. Figma’s platform helps teams bring ideas to life—whether you're brainstorming, creating a prototype, translating designs into code, or iterating with AI. From idea to product, Figma empowers teams to streamline workflows, move faster, and work together in real time from anywhere in the world. If you're excited to shape the future of design and collaboration, join us!

The AI Research team at Figma is working on the cutting edge of AI and Design. We work on optimizing agentic systems for design quality and end user experience. We build robust evaluators for Design and post-train models. We are a very collaborative, close-knit and impact-focused team of researchers and research engineers working on some of the most challenging technical problems at the intersection of AI and creativity.

We are seeking PhD interns with expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop innovative AI solutions for design and creative products. Through both fundamental and applied research, your work will contribute to new AI-driven features in Figma products.

This internship can take place in Winter 2027 or Summer 2027 in San Francisco or New York. 

What you’ll do at Figma:

Drive fundamental and applied research in Generative AI with Figma product use cases in mind

Formulate and implement new modeling approaches both to improve the effectiveness of Figma’s current AI models as well as enable the launch of entirely new AI-powered product features

Explore the boundaries of what is possible with the current technology set and experiment with novel ideas

Depending on your project, you may have the opportunity to publish your research in leading AI/ML conferences

We'd love to hear from you if you have:

Are a 4th or 5th year senior Ph.D student in AI, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Human Computer Interaction or a related field

Proven expertise in AI through publications on recent advancements in AI, such as Large Language Models or Agentic systems

Track record in applying machine learning techniques to projects in academia or industry

Experience in Python and machine learning frameworks (such as PyTorch, TensorFlow)

Experience solving sophisticated problems and comparing alternative solutions, trade-offs, and diverse points of view to determine a path forward

While it’s not required, it’s an added plus if you also have:

Related industry experience via a past internship or full-time role

Experience communicating your solutions effectively to different audiences

Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) to write, debug, and optimize code

At Figma, one of our values is Grow as you go. We believe in hiring smart, curious people who are excited to learn and develop their skills. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the points outlined in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Pay Transparency Disclosure

This internship role is based in either Figma’s San Francisco or New York hub offices, and has the hourly base pay rate stated below.  Figma also offers interns a housing stipend and travel reimbursement. Figma’s compensation and benefits are subject to change and may be modified in the future.

Internship$74—$74 USDAt Figma we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our product and our community to flourish. Figma is an equal opportunity workplace - we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to apply for a role, participate in the interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you require accommodation, please reach out to accommodations-ext@figma.com. These modifications enable an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity not only to get a job, but successfully perform their job tasks to the same extent as people without disabilities. 

Examples of accommodations include but are not limited to: 

Holding interviews in an accessible location

Enabling closed captioning on video conferencing

Ensuring all written communication be compatible with screen readers

Changing the mode or format of interviews 

To ensure the integrity of our hiring process and facilitate a more personal connection, we require all candidates keep their cameras on during video interviews. Additionally, if hired you will be required to attend in person onboarding.

By applying for this job, the candidate acknowledges and agrees that any personal data contained in their application or supporting materials will be processed in accordance with Figma's Candidate Privacy Notice.

Application limits: To help candidates focus on the opportunities most relevant to their skills and experience, Figma limits the number and frequency of applications. These limits apply to all roles:

Candidates may submit up to 5 applications during any rolling 30-day period.

Candidates may not reapply to the same role while an application is active or within 90 days of receiving a rejection.

Once the applicable days has passed, candidates are welcome to apply again.

Source: Figma careers (Greenhouse)