Founding Product Designer

About the Role

This is a founding-level design role at a fast-growing, Y Combinator-backed startup (S25 cohort) building an AI-powered platform for motion design and animation creation. The company has achieved remarkable early traction - hundreds of thousands of users and rapidly growing revenue - and is now looking for a driven, entrepreneurial designer to shape the entire product experience from the ground up.

You'll work directly with the founding team and engineering in Berlin, owning design end-to-end: from strategy and research to pixel-perfect execution. This role carries genuine founder-level influence - your design decisions will directly drive product adoption and growth.

What You'll Do

Craft interfaces that strike the right balance between simplicity and power - hiding complexity while giving users the control they need.

Run continuous user interviews and usability tests to surface new opportunities and validate design decisions.

Own the full design lifecycle: from early concepts and prototypes through to scalable design systems and pixel-perfect, production-ready UI.

Drive growth through onboarding improvements, design experiments, and conversion optimisation.

Shape go-to-market messaging, visuals, and brand communication that resonate with target users.

What We're Looking For

Required:

5+ years of product design experience, ideally with AI-powered or otherwise complex software interfaces.

Proficiency in Figma and strong prototyping skills.

Demonstrated ability to build and maintain scalable design systems.

A portfolio showcasing end-to-end product design - from concept to launch - including design systems and polished UI.

Experience partnering with engineering teams and contributing to product strategy, not just execution.

Experience conducting user research (interviews, usability testing) and translating insights into concrete design decisions.

Experience designing onboarding flows and running experiments to improve activation and conversion metrics.

Ability to work autonomously in a fast-paced, ambiguous startup environment - shipping, iterating, and measuring UX impact.

Based in Berlin or willing to relocate - this role is on-site.

Nice to have:

Background designing tools for creative professionals (video, animation, motion graphics, or similar).

Experience at an early-stage startup or in a founding designer capacity.

Visa sponsorship: Not available. Candidates must already have the right to work in Germany.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary: €80,000 – €160,000 per year, depending on experience.

Founder-level equity and ownership over the design function.

High-impact role with direct influence on product direction and company growth.

Location

This is a fully on-site role based in Berlin, Germany. Candidates must be located in Berlin or willing to relocate. Remote work is not available for this position.