PhD Intern, Software Engineer
Figma
This job at a glance
- Who can apply
- New grads and up to 1 year
- Must know
- ExpressFigmaNetworkingEmbedded systemsMachine learning
- Nice to have
- Git
- Work
- On-site in New York · internship
- Pay
- Not stated by the employer.
- Skill demand
- Networking12%Embedded systems6%Figma3%of 33 similar entry-level jobs posted in the US this week
- Listed
- Nov 4, 2026 · still open
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About the Role
Figma's Interaction Design team focuses on enabling designers to express how interactive experiences behave, from single interactions to complex animated transitions. The team investigates and identifies new ways to visualize and manage state, animations, interactions, and prototypes. As a PhD intern, you will combine HCI research with hands-on engineering to help define the next generation of interactive experience design tooling. This is a 12 or 16-week internship for Summer 2027, based in San Francisco or New York.
Key Responsibilities
- Be fully embedded onto a Figma team working on problems that intersect with your research area.
- Drive projects that apply research insights to meaningful product challenges.
- Collaborate with engineers, PMs, designers, and researchers to scope and execute your work.
- Develop, validate, and document solutions from prototypes to production-ready systems.
- Share your expertise through presentations, design reviews, and cross-functional collaboration.
- Deliver a project with real impact by the end of your internship.
Requirements & Tech Stack
- Current enrollment as a 4th or 5th year senior PhD student pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a related field.
- Demonstrated ability to translate complex research concepts into practical, scalable solutions.
- A track record of rigorous problem-solving through academic or applied research.
- Proficiency in at least one general purpose coding language.
Additional Details (Nice to Have)
- A creative portfolio of work consisting of time-based media, animation, game development, digital illustration, or another creative field.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated experience collaborating across functions.
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) to write, debug, and optimize code.
- Applied engineering skills via industry experience, prior internships or similar experience.
- First-author publications in top academic conferences related to the team’s focus areas.