Founding Product Designer

Listenlabs
San Francisco, US
On-siteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Geared toward mid-level product designers comfortable with translating complex workflows into simple, intuitive experiences in a fast-growing AI startup.

Best fit for

  • Designers who thrive in high-velocity teams and enjoy close collaboration with founders.
    — “Thrive in close collaboration with founders, engineers, and customers.
  • Candidates with a strong visual taste and obsession over every detail.
    — “Strong visual taste and attention to detail — you sweat the typography, not just the flow.
  • Individuals excited to experiment with AI-driven tools and fast prototyping approaches.
    — “Excited to experiment with AI-driven tools and fast prototyping approaches.

Things to consider

  • Expectation to balance high design standards with rapid iteration in a hypergrowth environment.
    — “Balance high design standards with rapid iteration — knowing great work comes from both craft and momentum.
  • Role involves building design foundations from scratch as the company scales.
    — “Build the design foundations — systems, principles, and processes — that will scale as we grow.

How to stand out

  • Showcase examples of turning complex workflows into simple, delightful experiences.
    — “Translate complex research workflows into simple, intuitive, and delightful user experiences.
  • Highlight your ability to influence product direction beyond just design execution.
    — “Influence product direction — you’ll shape what we build, not just how it looks.
  • Demonstrate your expertise in building and maintaining design systems in Figma.
    — “Expert in Figma and confident in building/maintaining design systems.
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Senior

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Lead end-to-end design
  • Define and evolve design systems
  • Prototype ideas
  • Influence product direction
Typical background
5+ years of product design experience

Skills & requirements

Required

Product DesignFigmaDesign SystemsUser ExperienceUser InterfaceAI Tools

Preferred

Marketing DesignBrand Building

Stack & domain

Product DesignFigmaAi ToolsPrototypingDesign SystemsVisual LanguageComponent LibraryBrandingCollaborationCommunicationProblem-solvingCustomer InsightAICustomer Research

About the role

Original posting from Listenlabs via Ashby

TL;DR: We're hiring a Founding Product Designer to turn complex, week-long consulting projects into elegant, simple experiences powered by AI. If you love rethinking products from the ground up, turning complexity into beauty, and obsessing over every detail, we should talk.

Background

Listen Labs is an AI-powered research platform that helps teams uncover insights from customer interviews in hours — not months. We help customers analyze conversations, surface themes, and make faster, smarter product decisions.

Company highlights — entirely product-led:

  • World-Class Team: Founded by serial entrepreneurs (previous AI exit), former co-founders, and talent from Jane Street, Twitter, Stripe, Affirm, Bain, Goldman Sachs, and many more Sequoia-backed startups (plus IOI/ICPC backgrounds).
  • Hypergrowth: We’re a 30-person team backed by Sequoia, growing from $0 to a $10M run-rate in under a year. We move fast, care deeply about craft, and love working with people who take ownership.
  • Traction: Rapid growth across segments with enterprise wins at Google, Microsoft, Nestlé, and P&G.
  • Performance: Industry-leading win rate driven by a highly differentiated product.
  • Market Validation: Consistently winning customers across all segments with over six-figure lands that lead to quick expansions.
  • Viral Product: Interviews are shared with tens of thousands of viewers, fueling PLG, organic expansion, and daily inbound from Fortune 500s.

What You’ll Do

  • Lead end-to-end design across all customer-facing experiences, creating a seamless and intuitive journey from first touch to long-term engagement.
  • Define and evolve Listen’s design system, visual language, and component library.

Collaborate closely with product and engineering to ship thoughtful, high-impact features.

  • Prototype ideas rapidly using Figma, AI tools, or whatever communicates the vision best.
  • Influence product direction — you’ll shape what we build, not just how it looks.
  • Translate complex research workflows into simple, intuitive, and delightful user experiences.
  • Bring our brand to life across marketing moments — from launch visuals to merch and social content.
  • Balance high design standards with rapid iteration — knowing great work comes from both craft and momentum.

Champion customer insight in every decision, helping the team focus on what truly matters.

  • Build the design foundations — systems, principles, and processes — that will scale as we grow.

Who You Are

  • 5+ years of product design experience, ideally at startups or high-velocity teams.
  • Strong visual taste and attention to detail — you sweat the typography, not just the flow.
  • Expert in Figma and confident in building/maintaining design systems.
  • Strong product sense — you think deeply about tradeoffs, value, and impact.
  • Excited to experiment with AI-driven tools and fast prototyping approaches.
  • Thrive in close collaboration with founders, engineers, and customers.
  • Clear communicator who can articulate design decisions and reasoning.
  • Bias toward action — you don’t stop at concepts; you ship.

Life at Listen Labs

  • Competitive Compensation: We’re backed by world-class investors, including Sequoia Capital, Conviction, AI Grant, and Pear VC, and offer competitive compensation packages with meaningful equity ownership.
  • Over $30B in market cap has been created in adjacent industries (Medallia, AlphaSense, GLG, Ipsos, Kantar). Our Sequoia partner, Bryan Schreier https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/bryan-schreier/, was the first investor in Qualtrics—a $12B company tackling similar problems to ours.
  • Benefits that Support You: Comprehensive healthcare and dental coverage, flexible time off to recharge, and an environment that values balance and trust.
  • Room to Grow: As an early member of the team, you’ll have the opportunity to take on new responsibilities, shape processes from scratch, and grow alongside the company. We value people who want to stretch beyond their role and build something lasting.

Source: Listenlabs careers (Ashby)

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