Freelance Product Design Lead

Ustwo Fampany Limited; New York (NY); On-site; USD 96,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

Ustwo Fampany Limited is seeking an experienced freelance Product Design Lead to design and build complex tools and platforms. You will champion user needs, map end-to-end journeys, and work with founders and early-stage teams to ship production-ready concepts.

AI is central to the workflow and you will apply it from research through to prototyping and front-end implications. You’ll lead a collaborative team, shaping product strategy while maintaining autonomy in a fast-paced startup environment

Qualifications

• Ability to map and optimise end-to-end journeys across complex product ecosystems.
• Strong understanding of user research methods and testing concepts.
• Experience leading design within cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead design direction for complex tools and platforms in freelance capacity.
• Collaborate with founders and early-stage teams to align on goals and outcomes.
• Champion user needs and translate insights into actionable design artifacts.

Skills

User research

AI-assisted design

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Prototyping

Job description

We’re looking for experienced freelance Product Design Leads to help design and build complex tools and platforms.

You’ll champion the user’s voice and confidently map and optimise end-to-end journeys across complex product ecosystems. You’ll bring a strong understanding of user research, with a toolkit of methods and techniques to uncover insights and test design concepts and prototypes.

AI is central to how we work, and you’ll use it throughout the design process, from research and concept development through to shipping production-ready code. You’ll also work closely with client stakeholders, often directly with founders and early-stage teams, so clear communication and the ability to build strong relationships are essential.

As a discipline lead on the project, you’ll work alongside a talented, collaborative team to shape, design and build new products.

Job requirements

• Able to communicate with and understand clients’ business goals, and technical limitations, working within those constraints to unpack the challenge and explore innovative solutions for users and drive value for clients
• Skilled in identifying and prioritizing the right problems to solve and alignments across teams and clients
• Adept in both qualitative and quantitative research methods to fill knowledge gaps, quickly translate insights, unearth opportunities, and translate complex requirements into tangible design artifacts.
• Ability to craft designs that are grounded in user-centric decision making including experience journeys and end-to-end flows.
• Capable of high-level strategic thinking and conceptual exploration across the product ecosystem, while also detail-oriented enough to be able to get into the weeds of the designs and able to guide your team accordingly.
• Skilled in crafting compelling interaction models and design solutions through visual expression, design, and prototyping.
• Experienced in leading design within cross-functional teams and able to distill complex information into actionable steps for the team
• Fluent in AI-assisted design and development workflows. You can generate code with AI, understand how it fits within the technical stack, and contribute production-ready front-end work
• A strong product mindset. You can judge what the product needs at each stage (what to build, what to cut, how far to take it), keeping momentum toward the bigger vision.
• Comfortable working at startup pace with a high degree of autonomy. You self-direct, make decisions, and manage your own output without needing close oversight.

Why we’re excited about you

• As a skilled storyteller and proactive advertiser, you effectively convey every phase of your design process and tailor your communication to ...
• You thrive in a collaborative working style. You’re skilled in facilitating workshops and design reviews with clients and team members and ensure everyone's perspectives are heard and incorporated.
• You enjoy working through ambiguity and are able to adapt and guide your team through any difficult or changing client needs and you build trust by consistently delivering.
• You’ve reshaped how you work around AI, and you can explain where it accelerates the work and where design judgement matters most.