Principal Designer

Joinfreeworld; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative nonprofit organization is seeking a Principal Designer to lead the design excellence across its product suite. This role focuses on creating impactful user experiences for individuals affected by the justice system, ensuring accessibility and simplicity. You'll design key product flows, advocate for user dignity, and build a scalable design practice. Join a passionate team dedicated to systemic change and empowering marginalized communities. If you have a strong background in UX design and a passion for making a difference, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Benefits

Remote flexibility

Medical, dental, vision, and mental health insurance

401k and high-yield savings

Unlimited PTO

14+ holidays

Paid parental leave

Quarterly wellness stipend

Professional development fund

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in UX or product design, including mobile.
• Portfolio showing intuitive, modern, and inclusive design.
• Experience designing for complex or multi-sided products.

Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end product experiences across mobile, web, and dashboard tools.
• Lead user research, usability testing, and participatory design.
• Build an accessible and maintainable design system from scratch.

Skills

UX Design

Product Design

User Research

Usability Testing

Design Systems

AI-native Design Thinking

Empathy for Marginalized Users

Tools

Figma

ReactNative

Prototyping Tools

Job description

FreeWorld is a fully remote, tech-enabled, nonprofit organization in the US that helps individuals affected by the justice system obtain high-income careers to end the cycle of recidivism and generational poverty brought on by our country's mass incarceration problem.

Each FreeWorld team member is incredibly passionate about what we do and cares deeply for our program participants (called Free Agents) and our team. All applicants should share our passion for the mission and truly believe that everyone deserves a real second chance!

FreeWorld’s mission is to end generational poverty and recidivism through economic mobility. We do this by:

• Placing returning citizens into high-wage careers at scale.
• Embracing technology and automation to expand our reach.
• Developing a self-sustaining revenue model to accelerate our growth.
• Investing in our team and maintaining a culture of honesty, vulnerability, and trust.
• Creating systemic change by leveraging our deep layers of graduate data in partnership with the Criminal Justice System to become the Gold Standard for re-entry.

Job Description

As our first Principal Designer, you’ll lay the foundation for design excellence across our entire product suite—from the mobile app that returning citizens use to launch new lives, to the internal case management tools that support them, to the dashboards that connect us to workforce boards, trucking companies, and educational partners.

This role blends individual craft with operational leadership. You’ll be designing key flows yourself while building a scalable design practice that can serve many stakeholders for years to come. We’re especially focused on innovative UX for users with low technical literacy, and we see AI/agentive UX as a key part of the future.

What you’ll do (Job Responsibilities)

• Design end-to-end product experiences across mobile, web, and dashboard tools
• Lead user research, usability testing, and participatory design with nontraditional users
• Build an accessible and maintainable design system from scratch
• Create documentation, rituals, and workflows for a future team of designers
• Collaborate with engineers, PMs, coaches, and end users to prioritize and ship features
• Advocate for user dignity and simplicity at every stage of the design process
• Help recruit, onboard, and mentor future design teammates

What you’ll have (Minimum Qualifications)

• 6+ years experience in UX or product design, including mobile
• Portfolio showing intuitive, modern, and inclusive design
• Demonstrated experience with design systems and accessibility best practices
• Experience designing for complex or multi-sided products
• Passion for AI-native design thinking
• Empathy for users from marginalized backgrounds

Bonus Points if… (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience working with non-native English speakers or users with low digital literacy
• Personal connection to the criminal justice system or re-entry
• Experience in a tech-based nonprofit or public-sector adjacent org
• Familiarity with ReactNative, Figma Tokens, or prototyping tools (e.g. Framer, ProtoPie)

Application Process

• Submit an application and cover letter. If your qualifications are a match…
• We have a short introductory call. If we love each other, then…
• You'll have a call with the CTO to walk through your work history, highlighting your proudest triumphs and the biggest mistakes you've made (i.e. the mistakes that made you).
• One hour take-home exercise.
• Three one-hour panel interviews over video, focusing on Design Systems & Operational Excellence, Human-Centered Design & Accessibility, and Cross-Functional Collaboration & Product Thinking.
• References - we talk to a few of your previous managers to learn more from the folks who knew you best.
• We agree to terms, and get to work!

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time position. Compensation is based on experience, but we are targeting the compensation range provided below.

FreeWorld is dedicated to caring for our team. For an up-to-date list of employee benefits, view our 2025 FreeWorld Benefits. A few key benefits are listed below:

• Remote flexibility
• Medical, dental, vision, and mental health insurance
• 401k and high-yield savings
• Unlimited PTO, 14+ holidays, and paid parental leave
• Quarterly wellness stipend & professional development fund

The pay range for this role is:

140,000 - 200,000 USD per year (Remote (United States))