Mechanical Orchard

Europe

Posted on: 14 February 2024

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R&D Product Designer

Mechanical Orchard is a fast-growing startup that takes a fresh view on old problems. We replace legacy computing systems for the Global 2000, with a focus on mitigating risk and creating a genuinely solid foundation for innovating and adapting.

Our background in software development and the impact on the industry is well known, and we've literally helped write the book on XP and other impactful agile practices. We’re applying the same thoughtfulness and rigor in weaving AI into everything we do. We believe in the durable principles behind agile, and embrace the power of cross-functional teams, collective ownership, test driven development, short feedback loops, and continuous improvement.

We are Generous, Ethical, Effective, and Kind.

Mechanical Orchard takes a disciplined approach to legacy modernization, starting with a focused, collaborative discovery phase to create a shared understanding of the existing system. This is followed by a “steel thread” that paves a path to production, cutting through integration, testing, access, and organizational hurdles for the first modernized job or application workload. We then scale up and accelerate the modernization process, gradually reducing risk and steadily unlocking innovation for our customers.

Our R&D team is leading the way in using generative AI and other technology to accelerate this legacy modernization journey.

We’re starting with comprehension tools to facilitate reverse engineering, with AI-generated source summaries, interactive dependency visualizations, and LLM agents that empower our delivery teams and allow them to hit the ground running.

Here’s what Jeff Schomay, our staff AI engineer has to say about it:

“Working on the R&D team offers constant fun and interesting challenges. Legacy code bases are hard enough to understand by trained software engineers, let alone AIs, and the traditional code-aware models and embedding techniques don’t work so well with COBOL, so we have to make innovative inroads to the problems that build upon each other. But the effort is worth it and we feel like wizards when our clients start realizing that we can show them insights into their own systems that they’ve been working on for over 30 years that they’ve never seen before.”

Our vision is an AI-first platform that streamlines the entire modernization process from discovery through to production operations. This platform aims to augment the capabilities of our delivery teams, offer unparalleled transparency for our customers, and firmly establish Mechanical Orchard as a disruptive force in the legacy modernization industry.

As an R&D Product Designer at Mechanical Orchard, you will work as part of a cross functional research and development team, building tools and products that help internal and external customers understand complex legacy systems and accelerate modernization efforts.

In this role, you will be expected to:

- Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, AI researchers and other roles on the team

- Engage closely with customer delivery teams, external customers, and business stakeholders to understand their needs, and leverage this understanding to come up with potential solutions

- Conduct user research, create wireframes and prototypes, and test designs to ensure they are effective and solve the desired problemIterate on designs based on qualitative and quantitative feedback from users, customers, and the development team

- Facilitate brainstorming sessions and collaborative design workshops with remote teamsPair with engineers as needed to help with implementation of designs

- Apply a systems level thought approach when needed

- Apply and advocate for modern product design practices including lean UX and user centered design

As the ideal candidate, you have at least 3 years of experience as a product designer in a professional, team-based environment, with a portfolio of previous design work and a deep understanding of user-centered design principles.

You are comfortable with a variety of design tools, including Figma.

Experience designing complex user interfaces and/or data visualizations will be helpful for this role, and having worked as part of highly collaborative agile or Extreme Programming teams is a strong bonus.

Strong communication and collaboration skills are critical, as is the ability to empathize and engage effectively with a diverse team including the immediate development team, domain experts, customers, and other stakeholders within Mechanical Orchard.

This is a full time, remote position, and we’re looking for candidates in the US Eastern, US Central, or the (Europe) CET time zone.

Occasional travel may be required for customer visits or team gatherings.

Mechanical Orchard, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind. Mechanical Orchard, Inc. is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Mechanical Orchard, Inc. are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Mechanical Orchard, Inc. will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Mechanical Orchard, Inc. encourages applicants of all ages. Mechanical Orchard, Inc. will provide reasonable accommodation to employees who have protected disabilities consistent with local law.

We look forward to reviewing your application. Thanks!