Sr. Product Designer

Sr. Product Designer

Contract | Austin, TX

Explore a World of Diverse Design Challenges

This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to grow within an ambitious, people-first company, but there can be many unknowns. For that reason, our ideal candidate is committed, communicative, adaptable, results-oriented, and self-aware.

As a Senior Product Designer, you will be the driving force behind our design strategies, ensuring our client engagements are rooted in user-centric solutions. Working remotely, but never alone, you'll be a key player in an innovation lab, collaborating with our internal teams in product, engineering, sales, and project management, and directly engaging with a diverse range of clients across multiple industries.
This role offers unparalleled exposure, allowing you to strengthen your skillset as you transform varied ideas into cutting-edge, user-centric design solutions. An online portfolio must be submitted in order to be considered for this role.

To respect your time and interest, we're outlined our interview experience for you:

1. 10-minute one-way video interview via Spark Hire
2. 45-minute call with Jeanette Gomez, Director of Recruiting
3. 45-minute Zoom with Melanie Berezoski, Creative Services Manager
4. 45-minute Zoom with Carlos Chavarria, Sr. Product Manager
5. 45-minute Final with Andy Siemer, Founder, and James Shaw, COO

Challenges and Opportunities

Getting shit done, brilliantly isn't just a cheeky tagline. We say what we mean, so get prepared to jump on board and quickly add value

Champion Design Excellence:

• Serve as the primary advocate for design excellence, ensuring that every client project benefits from cutting-edge, user-centric design.
• Commit to creating meaningful, impactful designs that not only meet client requirements but exceed user expectations.
• Champion cross-functional collaboration to develop innovative design solutions that bridge client requirements and our technological capabilities.
• Craft designs that are intuitive, efficient, and aligned with business objectives, reinforcing that our success is measured not just by visual appeal, but by the tangible value we deliver.

Drive the Design Strategy:

• Identify and address key design challenges, defining success criteria in line with user needs, market demands, and project constraints.
• Conduct deep user research using various techniques to develop and refine user personas, gaining a detailed understanding of user journeys and essential interactions.
• Engage directly with clients and users to align design strategies with genuine needs, fostering ongoing partnerships and strategically planning design iterations.
• Drive the design process to convert concepts into actionable plans and ensure successful execution.
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to develop and refine prototypes, ensuring designs address risks and validate value while focusing on usability, accessibility, scalability, and overall feasibility.
• Champion building in public, sharing progress constantly to gather feedback and avoid silos.
• Guide your team and partner with clients to make necessary trade-offs, leveraging your expertise to tackle our customers' most complex design challenges with simple, lovable solutions.

Elevate Others:

• Champion design thinking, nurturing strong collaboration across the team, particularly between designers, product managers, and engineers.
• Stay at the forefront of industry trends and embrace new design tools and methodologies, further strengthening our capacity for innovation.
• Shape our future by contributing to the vision and strategy for design at our company, influencing long-term initiatives and approaches.
• Share knowledge and expertise with the design team, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth to elevate the team's overall capabilities.

Qualifications and Experience

Experience that's required (and really important to have):

• Bachelor's degree in design, HCI, or equivalent practical experience.
• At least five years of experience in digital product design roles, preferably in an agency setting, consulting, and/or freelancing.
• Proven experience producing cutting-edge web and mobile apps, sales and/or marketing collateral.
• Expert in modern design tools, with a strong preference for Figma, and proficient in Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Cloud,)
• Highly skilled in creating interactive prototypes for effectively communicating design approaches and facilitating seamless design handoffs.
• Experienced in creating and managing design systems and libraries.
• Deep understanding and practical application of modern design techniques and methodologies, including service design, interaction design, visual design, and user research.
• Comfortable in high-growth environments where it's commonplace to adapt to changing scenarios, tight timeframes, and uncertainty.
• Proven success in leading and fostering constructive and collaborative relationships with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across multiple business functions, such as product, engineering, and marketing, to drive holistic solutions.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, ability to make informed decisions while assessing risks, and confidence in articulating and defending design approaches.
• Detail-oriented, with a keen ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Persistence to help the team meet goals successfully.
• Empathy and a willingness to help others across the company.

Wildly impressive folks will also have experience with:

• Evangelist-type roles e.g. public speaking, content writing, etc.
• Proven experience working in both startups and enterprise environments.
• Familiarity with notable design systems like MUI, Ant Design, Tailwind, Radix, shadcn.
• Enhanced skills in low-fidelity wireframing and rapid prototyping.
• A fantastic portfolio full of great designs

We get shit done, brilliantly.

Founded by two great friends, Andy and James, Inventive exists to improve lives with bad-ass tech. That's our mission and why we show up every day. Our goal is to make technology and innovation accessible to all.

We're a community of entrepreneurs, women, and veterans connected through our passion for getting shit done, tireless attention to detail, and commitment to creating our best work - every time.

Every day, we solve complex problems in creative ways. Whether it's helping launch powerful user experiences, modernizing systems and brands, or bringing visions to life with your own expertise, one thing is for sure: you'll never be bored The best part?

People are the most important part of our mission.

If you can't tell already, we are a fast-moving, fun-loving, seriously smart group of people who really care about improving lives. We hire the best of the best who want to grow, thrive, and contribute in a meaningful way.

• We're a privately owned company with a people-first team.
• We hire top performers that love a challenge and leave the bureaucracy to big tech.
• We have been in business since 2016.

What's special about this opportunity?

• 100% Remote: Plug in where you're most productive
• Ownership: Be trusted to make an impact. Everyone owns their role, 100%.
• Variety: Create websites, mobile apps, and more for companies around the world.
• Growth: Each project is totally different. Grow and learn in real time.
• Stability: We grow responsibly.

Contracting at Inventive:

This role is budgeted for a part-time (20+ hours ongoing contract).

• Consistency: Ongoing projects + strong backlog = no bench time
• Zero Travel: Forget your commute No planes, trains, or automobiles are required here.

Inventive is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment.