Product Design Lead
ConductorAI
Location
New York City
Employment Type
Full time
Location Type
Hybrid
Department
Engineering
Compensation
- Estimated Compensation $150K – $180K • Offers Equity
Introduction
We value candidates who have significant experience with managing complexity, working independently, and are motivated by hard problems.
What We Offer
The ability to have real impact on mission-critical workflows
The chance to use state-of-the-art tech to solve novel problems with mission partners
The opportunity to define your role through time as we grow
Competitive salary and equity upside with annual merit refreshes based on impact
Full coverage of health care deductibles for you and your dependents, unlimited PTO, and the ability to contribute to a 401k
Reimbursement for home internet and cell phone up to $150/month
Four months parental leave for birthing parent, three months for non-birthing
$100/month wellness stipend
Quarterly in-person meetups
At ConductorAI, we are moving fast to build the future of our product, and we need a hybrid design-technical leader who can keep up, scale our output, and reinvent how product design interfaces with engineering. We are looking for a highly technical Product Designer to take ownership of our user experience, eliminate design bottlenecks, and build AI-native, code-ready design processes.
What You’ll Do
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Build an AI-Native Design System: Build a scalable, React-based component-driven design system that engineers can and will use by default.
Ensure the design system is directly consumable by AI tools (like Claude Code and Codex) rather than being siloed in Figma.
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Empower Engineering: Proactively educate the engineering team by showing them how to leverage the design system to make good, independent UI/UX choices.
Introduce and lead rapid prototyping techniques, to quickly gather feedback on early feature ideas before heavy engineering begins.
Help review meaningful frontend changes for design concerns.
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Own the Design Process: Establish a new, scalable design process that matches our fast pace and takes design out of the bottleneck.
Position product design as a proactive product owner that iterates on the platform without requiring direct hand-holding.
Establish tight feedback loops with customer strategists and end-users to inform product direction and usability improvements.
Qualifications
3–5+ years of experience designing complex digital products, with a portfolio showing real shipped work, clear problem framing, and strong visual craft.
Design & Technical Hybrid: You have a strong grasp of user experience principles and some frontend skills, specifically in React. You aren't afraid to open a PR, tweak TSX/CSS, or collaborate at a technical level with engineers.
Interaction Design & IA Skills: You can untangle dense, stateful workflows and make them feel obvious and intuitive.
Visual & Systems Design Instincts: You have a keen eye for typography, spacing, hierarchy, and motion that make a product feel cohesive.
Cross-Functional Partner: You operate as a true partner to engineering and product, not a downstream service.
Bias for Action & Autonomy: You spot design debt and fix it systematically without waiting for permission. You know how to unblock others by creating scalable systems rather than hoarding design knowledge.
Design Tooling: Proficiency in Figma and comfort moving seamlessly between rapid exploration and high-fidelity, polished work.
Clear Communicator: You can articulate design decisions clearly across audiences, including customers, engineers, and operational stakeholders alike.
Desired Qualifications
AI Tool Fluency: Experience with AI-enabled prototyping and using tools like Claude to multiply your output (e.g., translating code to canvas or setting up AI-friendly UI components).
Complex Domains: Experience designing tools for logistics, operations, defense, healthcare, or other dense, operational sectors.
Startup DNA: Experience working in fast-paced environments with evolving requirements and ambitious, mission-driven goals.
Compensation Range: $150K - $180K