Staff Product Designer (Contract)

Remote; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Flex seeks a Staff Product Designer to set the bar for craft across its product portfolio, not by managing teams but by hands-on excellence. You will drive vision, strategy, and scalable design systems for the most complex initiatives, partnering with product and engineering to shape the user experience.

You'll influence product direction, mentor peers, and stay ahead of UX trends, leveraging AI tools to accelerate exploration, prototyping, and frontend workflows.

Qualifications

• Proven track record as a senior IC contributor on complex consumer products.
• Extensive experience shipping high-quality product design at scale.
• Strong strategic mindset and ability to influence product direction.
• Deep craft skills in interaction and visual design.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration with product and engineering.
• Ability to mentor designers and raise design standards.
• Comfort with AI tools across design processes.

Responsibilities

• Define and articulate design vision for Flex's most critical and complex product initiatives.
• Lead end-to-end design processes from research to final execution.
• Collaborate with design leadership, product, and engineering to shape direction.
• Create detailed prototypes to illuminate future product decisions.
• Develop and evolve design standards and the design system.
• Mentor designers and contribute craft feedback across the team.

Skills

Senior IC contributor

UX/UI design mastery

Strategic thinking

Craft and detail

Cross-functional collaboration

Frontend development fluency

AI in design

Financial product interest

Tools

Front-end development

Job description

Flex is a growth-stage, NYC headquartered FinTech company that is creating the best rent payment experience. It’s hard to believe that it’s 2026 and paying rent on time is expensive, inflexible, and difficult. We’re here to change that! Flex enables our users to pay rent throughout the month on a schedule that better fits their finances and budget. Our mission is to empower as many renters as possible with flexibility over their most significant recurring expense. After deliberately keeping a stealth profile as we built up unprecedented investor support and an enthusiastic user base, we are looking for motivated individuals to help us keep our mission growing. Will you be a part of the team?

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Staff Product Designer to serve as Flex's highest-caliber individual design contributor. In this role, you will set the bar for craft and quality across our entire product portfolio - not by managing designers, but by doing the work at a level others aspire to. You will drive design vision and strategy for the most complex, highest-impact initiatives at Flex, shaping how we build for our users and how the design function operates.

Vision and Strategy

• Define and articulate design vision for Flex's most critical and complex product initiatives, ensuring work aligns with business goals and resonates deeply with our users

• Establish a north star for the consumer experience and drive cross-functional alignment around it

• Influence product strategy and roadmap directly through the quality and clarity of your design work and perspective

• Stay close to how the design industry and UX trends are evolving and bring those insights into Flex

Quality and Craft

• Own the design process end-to-end on flagship initiatives, from research and ideation through refinement, prototyping, and final execution

• Hold a high bar for craft across everything you touch, from individual interaction patterns to our design system

• Build detailed prototypes that illuminate the future of the product and help teams make better decisions

• Use AI across the design lifecycle for, rapid exploration, prototyping, and front-end workflows, and model how the team can do the same

Influence and Collaboration

• Partner with design leadership, product, and engineering to shape the direction of complex, cross-cutting product areas

• Collaborate with other designers to ensure alignment and consistency across the consumer experience

• Advocate for design thinking and user-centered principles across the company at every level, up to and including executive leadership

Standards and Mentorship

• Establish and evolve design standards, processes, and patterns that raise the quality floor for the entire organization

• Provide mentorship and craft feedback to designers across the team

• Contribute foundational elements and set the standard for how the design system should evolve

Key Qualifications

• Experience: A demonstrated track record as a senior IC contributor on complex consumer products

• Design Mastery: Deep expertise in UX/UI design with strong experience showcasing shipped work at significant scope and quality

• Strategic Thinking: Ability and demonstrated experience to operate at the product strategy level, shaping direction through design

• Craft: Exceptional execution skills with high attention to detail in interaction design, visual design, and prototyping

• Collaboration: Excellent communication skills; able to work fluidly with cross-functional teams including product, engineering, marketing, and executive leadership

• Tools and Tech: Proficiency in modern design tooling; and fluency with front-end development

• AI Fluency: Comfort using AI tools across the design process for research, exploration, prototyping, and workflow improvement

• Passion: Genuine interest in financial products and improving people's financial lives