Designer — Build the Design Function, Not Just Ship Screens

ColoredCow; Gurgaon; On-site; INR 1,000,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

A custom software development company in Gurgaon is seeking a designer to build their design function from scratch. You will establish a design workflow, create a design system, and improve the company’s visibility with case studies and an updated services page. The role requires a high degree of judgment, speed in delivery, and comfort with AI tools. This is a full-time in-office position with collaboration directly with the CEO and other team members.

Qualifications

• Ability to make quick design decisions based on client needs.
• Experience shipping products from concept to execution.
• Comfortable using AI as a primary design tool.

Responsibilities

• Build and document the design workflow for client requests.
• Establish a design system and brand identity from scratch.
• Collaborate directly with CEO and engineering team for client work.

Skills

Judgment

Speed

Client communication instinct

Ability to build from zero

Tools

Figma

AI design tools

Job description

Designer — Build the Design Function, Not Just Ship Screens

Design

Our design function is one person handling 9 projects. Our website hasn't been updated since 2016. We don't have a single case study. If you're a designer who'd rather build a function from scratch than maintain someone else's design system — read on.

Our design function is one person. He handles 9 client projects — UI/UX, graphics, websites, branding — across 80-100 hours of work. Our company website was built in 2016 and never updated. We have zero case studies. No portfolio page. No design system. No documented workflow.

What You're Walking Into

ColoredCow is a 30-person custom software development company. We’ve been profitable since inception — no VC, no debt, bootstrapped. We work with social sector organizations, creative agencies, healthcare companies, and e-commerce brands. Our engineering is strong. Our design isn’t — not because the talent is missing, but because the system never existed.

What exists:

• One talented designer (4.5 years with us) who carries the entire function alone
• Real client work that needs design — 2HMG, RPS, KDN, CII, and others
• A company going through a deliberate organizational transformation — we’re building every function as a documented, transferable system
• AI tools (Claude, Figma AI, v0) actively used across the company — we’re not talking about AI adoption, we’re doing it
• Offices in Gurgaon, Tehri, and Dwarahat — the hills aren’t a perk, they’re where some of our best work happens

What doesn’t exist (and you’d build):

• A design system or brand identity
• A design workflow — how requests come in, get prioritized, get reviewed, get shipped
• Case studies showing our work (we have 11 years of client projects and zero visual proof)
• A services page that reflects what we actually do today
• A career page that doesn’t repel the kind of designer we’re trying to hire
• Quality standards for design output

You’re not joining a design team. You’re building one.

What You'd Actually Do (From Week One)

Week 1: Meet the team. Understand the 9 active client projects. Get access to Figma, client repositories, and the company’s AI tools. Review the current website and identify what’s most broken. Have a real conversation with our current designer about what works and what doesn’t.

Month 1: Ship the updated services page — the one that’s been stalled for months. Produce the first case study with visuals (we’ll point you to the strongest client story). Start defining the design system: colors, typography, components. Document the design workflow: how a request goes from “someone needs something” to “it’s live and reviewed.”

Month 2: Ship 2 more case studies. Update the portfolio page. Begin the career page refresh. Establish the quality review process — what does “good enough to ship” mean at ColoredCow?

Month 3: Design system v0.1 documented in Figma. Design workflow operational — the team uses it, not just you. The website represents what ColoredCow actually is in 2026. You’ve freed up enough capacity from our current designer that he can focus on client work quality instead of just survival.

This is not a maintenance role. Everything on this list is being built for the first time.

This Role Is Not For You If

You need a fully built design team to do your best work — you’re the person who starts building that team. You think design is only about aesthetics and not about business outcomes — our clients need design that drives adoption, not just looks good. You’re uncomfortable using AI as your primary production tool — at ColoredCow, AI generates the first draft and you provide the judgment. A services page concept should take an afternoon, not three months. You want a predictable queue of tickets to work through — the queue doesn’t exist yet, and building it is part of your job. You’ve never shipped anything without a detailed brief — half the work here is turning a vague client need into a clear design direction yourself. You’re looking for a large company with layers between you and leadership — you’ll work directly with the CEO and sit with the engineering team. Or you’d rather perfect a design system than ship an imperfect page that moves the business forward — we need progress, then polish.

What You Need (And What You Don't)

What you need:

Judgment — the ability to look at five AI-generated layout options and know which one serves the client’s business, not just which one looks cleanest. Speed — you work at the pace AI enables, not at the pace of manual pixel-pushing. A portfolio that shows ownership — you took something from problem to shipped product, not just designed screens someone else specified. Client communication instinct — you can translate “make it pop” into a design direction without a 3-page brief. Comfort with building from zero — processes, standards, systems, all of it. You build them as you go.

What you don't need:

A degree in design — our current designer started as a CS graduate and learned design on the job. We’ve always valued what you can do over what your certificate says. Ten years of experience — if your portfolio shows judgment and ownership, the years don’t matter. Knowledge of our specific tech stack — you’ll learn it in Week 1. A management background — this is a maker role first. The management layer comes later, if you grow into it.

The Details

Compensation: ₹10–15 Lakhs per annum, depending on experience and portfolio strength.

Location: Gurgaon, in‑office. With regular time at our hill offices in Tehri and Dwarahat, Uttarakhand. This is not a remote role.

Type: Full‑time.

Tools you’ll use: Figma (required), AI design tools (v0, Claude Artifacts, Canva AI, Adobe Firefly — fluency expected or learned in Week 1), and whatever else gets the job done.

Who you’ll work with: Directly with the CEO and the current designer. Daily collaboration with the engineering team. Client‑facing from Week 1.