Principal UX Designer

Pendulum empowers companies and governments to uncover, understand, and act on current and potential risks and opportunities contained within narratives.  We are building a powerful, multi-medium, always-on narrative and community intelligence platform for our customers, while tackling one of society’s biggest problems - combating harmful mis- and disinformation. We are deeply inspired by our mission, motivated by solving hard technical problems, and obsessed with our customers.

Fulfilling our mission demands bringing together a team with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. Diverse teams are the strongest teams because their plurality of experience enriches and expands the solution space and enriches decision-making. Diversity and inclusion are therefore core to our values and at the forefront of our hiring philosophy and day-to-day operations.

About the role

As a Principal UX Designer, you'll shape how analysts and business leaders interact with our complex social media datasets - turning raw insight into clarity.

You'll be the dedicated designer embedded in our core product team, collaborating daily with engineering and data science to define the experience across dashboards, query builders, and insight surfaces.

• Own end-to-end design for Pendulum's web app and other customer experiences from discovery and wireframing through high-fidelity prototyping and handoff
• Lead research initiatives: user interviews, usability testing, and synthesis of behavioral analytics data to inform design decisions
• Design complex data visualization patterns - charts, tables, filters, drill-downs - that remain intuitive under heavy information density
• Develop and maintain a cohesive design system that scales across the platform and supports rapid feature development
• Partner closely with product managers and engineers in agile sprints, advocating for user needs throughout the development cycle
• Define interaction models for advanced features like custom query builders, alerting workflows, and report scheduling
• Run design reviews, critiques, and share research findings company-wide

• Experience: 10+ years of product/UX design, with a portfolio demonstrating SaaS or data-heavy products. Proven track record shipping end-to-end in a B2B enterprise environment.
• Craft: Expert-level proficiency, ability to build interactive prototypes, and experience maintaining design systems.
• Research: Comfortable facilitating user interviews and usability tests, interpreting quantitative usage data, and synthesizing findings into actionable insights.
• Collaboration: Fluency working cross-functionally with engineers and PMs, comfort with startup-stage ambiguity, and clear written and verbal communication.
• Moves fast to deliver simplified, intuitive experiences
• Experience leading design teams and strategy for a suite of products
• Nice to Have: Experience with BI tools like Looker, Tableau, or Metabase; basic SQL or analytics query knowledge; motion/interaction design skills; background in fintech, healthtech, or operational data products; design leadership or mentorship experience; WCAG accessibility expertise.

• Grow as a professional by working with emerging technologies in a high-demand industry segment
• Drive company direction at a company that encourages input from all levels to help shape our trajectory
• Experience working at a technology company in which the mission focus is on tackling one of society’s greatest challenges
• Learn from industry and government experts who value initiative and encourage innovation
• Enjoy the flexibility to work remotely, unlimited PTO, company (and two personal-choice) holidays
• Receive excellent benefits, including 100% employer-paid employee health premiums (50% for dependents), 401(k), and FSA

The Principal UX Designer position offers a base salary range of $160,000 to $175,000, along with equity and comprehensive benefits. Please note that this range serves as a guideline; actual total compensation may vary based on factors such as experience, skill set, qualifications, and geographic location.