Founding Designer

JR United Kingdom; Cheltenham; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading California-based tech company in AI product discovery seeks a Founding Designer to establish its user experience strategy. The role involves leading the UX process, collaborating with product and engineering teams, and influencing product strategy while ensuring accessibility and user advocacy. This remote position requires some in-person meetings in London.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Career development and mentorship

Regular in-person meetups

Work with a distributed team

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience in product/UX design.
• 3+ years in a senior or lead role.
• Proven ability to work on complex systems.
• Skilled in Figma and other modern tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design from research to prototyping.
• Plan and conduct user research for product decisions.
• Design intuitive interfaces balancing usability and business outcomes.

Skills

Design Leadership

UX Strategy

Usability

Accessibility

Stakeholder Communication

Prototyping

Tools

Figma

Modern Prototyping Tools

AI-enabled Design Tools

Job description

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A VC-backed, California-based tech company in the AI-powered product discovery space is looking for a Founding Designer to take charge of its user experience strategy. If you're used to the pace and ambiguity of a start-up—and thrive on solving complex design problems in fast-moving environments—this is your chance to make a lasting impact in a business that’s scaling fast.

You’ll own the full UX lifecycle—from customer research and journey mapping to high-fidelity design and prototyping. Working closely with product, engineering, and commercial teams, you’ll bring structure to complexity and lead design thinking across a powerful, AI-enabled platform.

This is a UK-based, heavily remote, but requires face-to-face time. With access to Regus office spaces nationwide and face-to-face collaboration days in London a few times per month.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead end-to-end design—from research and IA to prototyping and testing
• Build scalable information architectures to support complex workflows
• Plan and conduct user research to inform product decisions
• Drive discovery sessions to identify opportunities and validate ideas
• Design intuitive interfaces that balance usability and business outcomes
• Collaborate across functions to align UX with product and engineering strategy
• Champion accessibility, inclusivity, and user advocacy at every stage

What They’re Looking For

• 10+ years’ experience in product/UX design, with 3+ years in a senior or lead role
• Skilled in Figma, plus experience with other modern prototyping tools
• Proven ability to work on complex systems or B2B/enterprise platforms
• Familiarity with AI-enabled design tools and workflows
• Strong communication and stakeholder influencing skills
• UK-based with ability to join in-person team sessions in London several times per month

What’s on Offer

• Competitive salary, depending on experience
• Regular in-person meetups in London with the team
• Room to shape the design function and influence product strategy
• Work alongside a globally distributed, fast-moving product and engineering team
• Career development, learning support, and mentorship

This role is perfect for a design leader who’s energised by early-stage challenges, eager to build standout experiences, and ready to play a core role in a VC-backed, high-growth tech company.

Ready to take the lead? Apply now or get in touch to learn more.