Lead Product Designer

The role involves owning a product area end-to-end, which includes identifying opportunities, framing problems, setting design direction, and shipping experiences while operating as a peer to Product and Engineering. Responsibilities also include driving craft standards, collaborating closely with engineers, and raising the bar for the broader design team through feedback and shared frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Own a product area end-to-end: identify opportunities, frame the problem, set design direction, and ship—operating as a peer to Product and Engineering, not a downstream executor
• Design complex, multi-step product flows that serve multiple user types—balancing creator needs against member experience, and making sophisticated behavior feel simple
• Prototype and test at speed—using AI-assisted tools, code-generation workflows, and whatever gets you to a testable concept fastest
• Influence product strategy beyond your own surface: contribute to roadmap conversations, flag opportunities other teams miss, and connect dots across the product
• Drive the craft standard on your area—interaction design, visual quality, and the small details that separate polished product from “good enough”
• Collaborate closely with engineers and design engineers to turn concepts into working, shippable experiences—not hand off specs and hope
• Raise the bar for the broader design team through feedback, shared frameworks, and the quality of your own output

Requirements

• Strong alignment with our values
• Proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5
• 5–7+ years of product design experience
• Portfolio that shows systems-level thinking: shipped 0→1 work, complex multi-user flows, and evidence that you shaped the product direction—not just the interface
• Experience operating as the most senior designer on a product area—setting direction, making tradeoffs, and owning outcomes without constant guidance
• Strong prototyping skills—you build clickable, realistic prototypes yourself
• Proficiency in Figma for high-fidelity design and collaboration
• Exceptional written and verbal communication—able to clearly explain complex ideas, influence decisions, and align teams asynchronously
• Comfortable designing in ambiguity and building conviction through iteration, not waiting for perfect requirements
• Active, evolving AI workflow—you already use AI tools in your design process and can speak concretely about how

Benefits

• Fully remote: work from anywhere in the world
• Autonomy and trust to do your job: we care about outcomes over everything else
• Paid time away: all employees are given 35 days of PTO annually
• Generous U.S. benchmarked compensation and startup equity no matter where you are in the world
• Awesome medical coverage with 100% coverage for you and your family, or medical reimbursement options where applicable
• Parental leave for parents expanding their family, or just starting one
• Home office stipend to help you get up and running
• Learning & development stipend to help you level up your professional skills
• Annual bonus potential for roles that don't already receive variable income or commission
• Company retreats: Twice a year, the Circle team gets together for a fully paid company retreat in incredible places around the world

Key Skills