Design Director - Product & Systems (Contract)

Remote; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 84,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Instrument is a digitally native design and technology company helping brands unlock potential with a focus on Brand, Marketing, and Product. We welcome freelance Product Designers to join upcoming engagements, ranging from new experiences to scalable design systems, collaborating with designers, strategists, technologists, producers, and clients.

Senior Designers may own complex workstreams and contribute to system documentation or provide hands-on leadership across teams.

Qualifications

• Significant experience designing digital products, services, or complex responsive web experiences.
• A portfolio demonstrating strong visual craft with solid UX and systems thinking.
• Deep fluency in Figma including components, variables, libraries, prototyping, and documentation practices.
• Experience building or scaling design systems that are practical for teams to use.

Responsibilities

• Design polished, thoughtful digital product experiences across desktop and mobile.
• Translate user journeys, product requirements, and creative direction into flows, interfaces, and prototypes.
• Create, evolve, and document component-based design systems with patterns, specs, and reusable assets.
• Apply design systems consistently across templates and surfaces; identify gaps and opportunities to improve them.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to balance user needs, brand expression, accessibility, and delivery constraints.
• Present work and articulate design decisions clearly in internal and client reviews.
• Support quality through implementation with engineering partners to ensure the intended experience carries through to build.
• For Design Director level engagements, guide design quality and direction across a workstream; mentor designers and build client confidence.

Skills

Product design

Design systems

Figma

UX research

Prototyping

Tools

Figma

Job description

Instrument is a digitally native design and technology company helping brands unlock potential with a focus on Brand, Marketing, and Product. We welcome freelance Product Designers to join upcoming engagements, ranging from new experiences to scalable design systems, collaborating with designers, strategists, technologists, producers, and clients.

Senior Designers may own complex workstreams and contribute to system documentation or provide hands-on leadership across teams.