Member of Technical Staff, Design

Sonder; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Relocation support

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Sonder in New York is seeking a designer to shape how Sonder looks, moves, and feels across its visual identity, website, and the Twin product. You will collaborate with founders, researchers, and engineers from first sketches to finished experiences, delivering motion-driven explanations of new capabilities and intuitive interfaces.

Join a team that values depth in brand and motion, with hands-on craft across identity, moving imagery, and digital interfaces, influencing how users understand

Qualifications

• A portfolio with a distinctive point of view and exceptional command of typography, layout, composition, and visual hierarchy.
• Depth in brand or motion design, with finished work showing you can extend an idea across identity, moving image, and digital interfaces.
• Hands-on ability to make and finish motion pieces or video, including thoughtful pacing, editing, and sound.
• Strong interaction judgment. You can simplify an unfamiliar capability and explain why a particular flow or behavior helps someone use it.
• The ability to move quickly through prototypes, give and receive precise critique, and hold a high standard through implementation.
• Curiosity about the models and systems behind the product, and the ability to turn that understanding into clear design.

Responsibilities

• Define Sonder's visual identity. Develop typography, composition, imagery, and visual language that connect the company, website, and product.
• Make the product understandable through film. Concept, storyboard, edit, and finish product demos and launch films.
• Shape the experience of Twin. Design onboarding, navigation, feedback, and uncertainty with engineers.
• Use motion to explain behavior. Establish transitions and animation that communicate state and cause and effect.
• Carry work through production. Partner with engineers on implementation and refine it through use.

Skills

Typography

Layout

Visual hierarchy

Brand design

Motion design

Interaction design

Tools

Figma

After Effects

Premiere

Job description

About Sonder

Sonder is an applied AI lab building models that learn how people work.

Today, AI largely depends on people explaining what they are doing and remembering when to ask for help. We are building private models that live on your computer, understand work as it happens, and learn the patterns, preferences, and judgment behind how you operate.

Our first product, Twin, brings this intelligence to the Mac. It builds a memory of your work and uses that context to offer help at the right moment.

The Role

We are looking for a designer to shape how Sonder looks, moves, and feels, from our visual identity and films to the experience of using Twin.

Personal AI introduces a design problem: much of its work happens out of sight. People need to understand what it remembers, why it has offered help, and how to guide it. The interface, the words, and the way we demonstrate the product all shape that understanding.

This is a broad, hands‑on role with a clear center in visual craft. You should bring exceptional depth in brand or motion design, strong interaction judgment, and the ability to carry an idea across media. You will work directly with the founders, researchers, and engineers, taking work from the first sketch to the finished experience.

What You'll Do

• Define Sonder's visual identity. Develop the typography, composition, imagery, and visual language that connect the company, website, and product. Build a small, coherent system that can evolve with the work.
• Make the product understandable through film. Concept, storyboard, edit, and finish product demos and launch films. Use real interactions, pacing, sound, and motion to make new capabilities clear and compelling.
• Shape the experience of Twin. Design how people explore their memory, understand proactive help, and stay in control. Work through the details of onboarding, navigation, feedback, and uncertainty with product engineers.
• Use motion to explain behavior. Establish transitions and animation that communicate state, continuity, and cause and effect. Prototype the timing and interaction details early enough to influence how the product is built.
• Carry work through production. Partner with engineers on implementation, review the result in the running product, and refine it through use. Bring the same care to a small interaction, a website, and a public launch.

What We're Looking For

• A portfolio with a distinctive point of view and exceptional command of typography, layout, composition, and visual hierarchy.
• Depth in brand or motion design, with finished work showing that you can extend an idea across identity, moving image, and digital interfaces.
• Hands‑on ability to make and finish motion pieces or video, including thoughtful pacing, editing, and sound.
• Strong interaction judgment. You can simplify an unfamiliar capability and explain why a particular flow or behavior helps someone use it.
• The ability to move quickly through prototypes, give and receive precise critique, and hold a high standard through implementation.
• Curiosity about the models and systems behind the product, and the ability to turn that understanding into clear design.

Particularly Exciting

You have shaped an identity and the product it belongs to, made films that explain difficult ideas, or explored interfaces for ambient and proactive software. Prototyping in code, creative coding, or 3D work would give you additional ways to develop those ideas.

Show us a few pieces you are proud of, what you personally made, and the decisions behind them. We care about the quality of the work and your judgment across the process.

Logistics

• Location: This role is based in New York. We work together in person and are building the early team here.
• Visa Sponsorship: We sponsor visas. We cannot guarantee success in every case, but if you are the right fit, we are committed to working through the process with you.

Compensation & Benefits

• Compensation: Depending on background, skills, and experience, the expected annual salary range for this position is $180,000–$250,000 USD, plus meaningful equity.
• Benefits: Sonder offers comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage, flexible PTO, and relocation support as needed.