Founding Product Designer

About the Role

A Y Combinator-backed AI creative tools startup is looking for a Founding Product Designer to join their small, fast-moving team in Berlin. This is a founders-level role where your design decisions will directly shape product adoption, user experience, and growth. You'll own design end-to-end — from early concepts to pixel-perfect execution — and help define what it means to make powerful AI-driven creative tools accessible to everyone.

What You'll Do

• Partner closely with engineering to design intuitive, AI-native interfaces that balance simplicity with power.
• Create experiences that hide complexity while giving users meaningful control when they need it.
• Run continuous user interviews and usability tests to surface opportunities and validate design decisions.
• Own the full design lifecycle: prototypes, design systems, and pixel-perfect UI delivery.
• Drive growth through design experiments, onboarding improvements, and conversion optimisation.
• Shape go-to-market visuals and messaging that resonate with the target audience.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of product design experience, ideally with AI-powered or complex software interfaces.
• Strong proficiency in Figma and modern prototyping workflows.
• Demonstrated experience building and maintaining scalable design systems.
• A portfolio showcasing end-to-end product design — from concept to launch — including design systems and polished UI.
• Experience designing onboarding flows and running experiments to improve activation and conversion metrics.
• Comfortable partnering with engineering and contributing to product strategy in an early-stage, ambiguous environment.
• Experience conducting user research (interviews, usability testing) and translating insights into actionable design decisions.
• Entrepreneurial mindset — you thrive without roadmaps and take full ownership of outcomes.

Location

This role is on-site in Berlin, Germany. Candidates must be based in Berlin or willing to relocate. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: €80,000 – €160,000 annually, depending on experience.
• Early-stage equity and the opportunity to grow into a senior design leader as the company scales.