Founding Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Founding Product Designer

Company: Clera

Location: Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark (Fully Remote with preference for Europe/US East Coast)

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / GTM Operations Enablement

Date Posted: 2026-09-12

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (2-5 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead end-to-end product design for an early-stage B2B SaaS company, focusing on AI-powered automation for field service businesses.

• Translate complex operational workflows into intuitive, beautiful, and highly functional user interfaces.

• Collaborate directly with the founding team and engineers to drive product vision and execution.

• Leverage AI-assisted tools and rapid prototyping to accelerate design and development cycles.

• Contribute to a wide range of design needs, including marketing assets and onboarding flows, as the company scales.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Product Designer," the emphasis on "complex operational workflows," "AI-powered automation," and "B2B SaaS" for field service businesses indicates a strong connection to Go-To-Market (GTM) operations enablement. The designer will be instrumental in creating tools that directly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of sales, service, and operations teams using the Clera platform. This role requires a deep understanding of user workflows and a talent for simplifying complex business processes into user-friendly interfaces, aligning it with operational excellence.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the complete product design lifecycle, from initial concept ideation and rapid prototyping to the delivery of polished, production-ready UI.

• Conduct in-depth customer interviews and user research to deeply understand client needs, pain points, and operational challenges.

• Transform raw customer insights and complex business requirements into clear, elegant, and user-centric design solutions.

• Strategically simplify dense, feature-rich B2B interfaces to create effortless experiences for non-technical end-users.

• Develop and maintain a consistent design system and visual language across the product, ensuring scalability and brand cohesion.

• Collaborate closely with front-end engineers (React/TypeScript) to ensure seamless design implementation and provide necessary design specifications.

• Contribute to broader design initiatives, including marketing collateral, user onboarding flows, and potential mobile application interfaces.

• Proactively identify opportunities for design innovation and process improvement within the product development lifecycle.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a "0-to-1" product design ownership, emphasizing the need for strategic thinking, user empathy, and a hands-on approach to defining and executing the product's visual and interactive experience. The collaboration with engineers on React/TypeScript is critical for efficient implementation, and the expectation to contribute to marketing assets and onboarding flows signifies a broad design scope that directly supports GTM efforts.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent practical experience and design acumen is essential.

Experience: Minimum of 3 years of dedicated product design experience, with a proven track record in early-stage startup environments, particularly on "0-to-1" product development.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated expertise in end-to-end product design, encompassing UX research, interaction design, and visual UI design.

• A robust portfolio showcasing strong visual craft, sophisticated UX thinking, and successful B2B product design projects.

• Proven ability to design complex, multi-feature B2B products and translate them into intuitive, user-friendly interfaces.

• Hands-on experience conducting customer interviews and effectively translating user needs and feedback into actionable design decisions.

• High proficiency in design and prototyping tools, with a specific requirement for Figma.

• Comfort and experience with rapid prototyping methodologies, including AI-assisted tools like Lovable and Cursor.

• A proactive, self-starter mentality with a low ego, high ownership, and the ability to thrive in ambiguous environments without detailed product managers or specifications.

• A consistent track record of successfully shipping products, with a preference for candidates with longer tenures of 18 months or more on previous projects. Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity or hands-on experience with front-end development technologies, specifically React and TypeScript.

• Experience designing for field service or home service industries, or similar operational workflow-heavy B2B SaaS.

• Experience contributing to marketing assets, onboarding flows, and mobile design.

• Understanding of AI-powered automation concepts and their application in business software.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for "longer tenures of roughly 18 months or more" suggests the company values stability and commitment, seeking individuals who can see projects through significant development cycles. The explicit mention of "low ego, high ownership, and comfort operating in ambiguity" points to a fast-paced, founder-driven environment where initiative and adaptability are paramount for operations success.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio demonstrating end-to-end product design ownership, from user research to shipped UI.

• Case studies that clearly articulate the problem statement, design process, user research methodologies employed, and the final solution.

• Evidence of designing complex, multi-feature B2B interfaces and simplifying them for ease of use.

• Examples of rapid prototyping and iteration, ideally showcasing the use of tools like Figma or AI-assisted platforms.

• Demonstrations of how user feedback and customer interviews directly informed design decisions and improved outcomes.

• Visuals of shipped products, ideally with metrics or qualitative feedback on user adoption and impact. Process Documentation:

• Showcase a structured approach to user research, including methodologies for conducting customer interviews and synthesizing findings.

• Detail your process for translating complex business requirements and operational workflows into intuitive user flows and wireframes.

• Illustrate your prototyping process, including the tools used and how iterations were managed based on feedback.

• Provide examples of how you collaborated with engineers to ensure successful design implementation and iterate on UI/UX.

• Include examples of how you contributed to broader design needs beyond core UI, such as onboarding, marketing, or mobile.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given this is a "founding" role, the portfolio should not only showcase past achievements but also hint at the candidate's ability to establish design processes and standards from the ground up. The emphasis on "0-to-1" product development means demonstrating the ability to define a product's initial design direction and build foundational elements.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $100,000 to $180,000 USD annually.

Benefits:

• Visa sponsorship is available for eligible candidates.

• Opportunity to be a founding member of a growing B2B SaaS company.

• Significant impact and ownership in shaping the company's core product.

• Direct collaboration with the founding team.

• Remote work flexibility, with a preference for candidates in Europe or the US East Coast.

Working Hours: This is a full-time position, typically aligning with standard professional working hours (approximately 40 hours per week), with flexibility inherent in a remote, early-stage startup environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is provided in USD, reflecting the company's likely operational base or funding currency. While the primary location is listed as Copenhagen, Denmark, the remote nature and preference for European time zones suggest a global talent pool. The salary benchmark is consistent with mid-level to senior product design roles in tech startups, especially those with significant product ownership.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: B2B SaaS, AI-powered automation, Field Service Management Software.

Company Size: Early-stage startup. This implies a lean, agile team where every member's contribution is highly visible and impactful. For a designer, this means a direct line to founders and a significant opportunity to influence product direction and company culture.

Founded: Clera is an early-stage company, suggesting a dynamic, fast-paced environment focused on rapid growth and product-market fit.

Team Structure:

• The design team currently consists of this single, "founding" product designer.

• This role will report directly to the founding team, likely the CEO or CTO, providing close mentorship and strategic alignment.

• Collaboration will be exceptionally cross-functional, involving founders, engineers, and potentially early customers. Methodology:

• Data-driven decision-making, with a strong emphasis on user research and customer feedback to guide product development.

• Agile development methodologies, prioritizing rapid iteration and continuous improvement.

• A focus on leveraging AI to solve complex operational challenges and create significant value for clients.

• Emphasis on efficiency and automation, both in the product being built and in the company's internal processes.

Company Website: https://www.getclera.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: As an early-stage startup, Clera's culture will be heavily influenced by its founders. The emphasis on AI, automation, and B2B SaaS for operational efficiency suggests a company driven by innovation and problem-solving. The "founding designer" role implies a high degree of autonomy and responsibility for establishing design culture and best practices.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a foundational "Founding Product Designer" position, suitable for individuals with 3-5 years of experience who are ready to take on significant ownership and leadership in design. It's a step towards senior or lead design roles, offering broad exposure to business strategy and product development.

Reporting Structure: The Founding Product Designer will report directly to the company's founders, offering a unique opportunity for mentorship and direct influence on business strategy. This close proximity to leadership is a hallmark of early-stage startup roles.

Operations Impact: The product designer's work will have a direct and profound impact on Clera's ability to acquire and retain customers. By creating intuitive and efficient tools for field service operations, the designer will directly enable revenue generation and operational excellence for their clients, thereby driving Clera's own GTM success.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: As the company grows, there's a clear path to becoming the Head of Design or Lead Product Designer, building and managing a design team.

• Product Strategy: Deep involvement in product strategy discussions, contributing to the overall vision and roadmap beyond just design execution.

• Skill Expansion: Opportunity to expand skills into areas like product management, user research specialization, or even front-end development, given the close collaboration with engineers.

• Entrepreneurial Experience: Gaining invaluable experience in building a company from its inception, understanding all facets of a startup's growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is ideal for a designer who wants to make a significant mark and grow with a company. The "founding" aspect means the growth trajectory is tied directly to the company's success and can involve taking on responsibilities far beyond traditional design roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully remote. This offers maximum flexibility in terms of location and work-life balance.

Office Location(s): While the company is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, the role is remote. Candidates based in Europe (any time zone) are preferred, with US East Coast also being a welcome option. This geographical preference likely relates to time zone alignment for collaboration.

Workspace Context:

• A highly collaborative, asynchronous-first remote environment.

• Access to modern design and development tools, including Figma and AI-assisted prototyping software.

• Opportunity to contribute to the establishment of remote work best practices and team communication standards.

• Direct interaction with a small, dedicated team focused on building a high-impact B2B SaaS product.

Work Schedule: While full-time, the remote nature allows for flexibility in structuring the workday. However, regular availability for team syncs, customer interviews, and collaboration with engineers (especially those in similar time zones) will be crucial for operational efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on European or US East Coast time zones for a remote role is a common strategy to facilitate effective real-time collaboration for critical meetings and urgent problem-solving, which is vital for operational agility in a startup.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio by the hiring team to assess qualifications and alignment with the role.

• Portfolio Deep Dive: A dedicated session to walk through your portfolio, discuss your design process, specific case studies, and how you approach complex B2B challenges. Be prepared to articulate your rationale behind design decisions.

• Founder/Team Interview: A conversation with the founding team to assess cultural fit, your understanding of the company's mission, and your vision for product design at Clera. Expect questions about your experience in ambiguous environments and your ability to drive initiatives.

• Skills/Technical Assessment (Potential): This might involve a small design exercise or a discussion about your technical proficiency with Figma, prototyping, and potentially your familiarity with React/TypeScript.

• Final Round: Potentially a discussion focused on your long-term career aspirations and how they align with Clera's growth.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on B2B & Complexity: Highlight projects that demonstrate your ability to design for complex operational workflows and B2B users. Showcase how you simplified these complexities.

• Show Your Process: Clearly articulate your thought process, from understanding user needs and business goals to ideation, prototyping, testing, and iteration. Visuals of wireframes, user flows, and early concepts are valuable.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use data or qualitative feedback to demonstrate the impact of your designs (e.g., improved user efficiency, adoption rates, reduced error rates).

• Highlight Startup Experience: Emphasize your experience in early-stage environments, your ability to work with ambiguity, and your proactive approach to design challenges.

• Tool Proficiency: Clearly demonstrate your mastery of Figma and any experience with AI-assisted tools or coding for prototyping.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared to discuss how you would approach designing a specific feature or solving a user problem for Clera's target market, even without a formal design brief.

• Think about the unique challenges of designing AI-powered automation for field service businesses.

• Consider how you would establish design best practices and a design system from scratch in a startup environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio review and potential design challenge highlights the importance of practical design skills and problem-solving abilities. For a founding role, demonstrating strategic thinking and the capacity to build from the ground up will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Expect to be the primary user and potentially establish design system components.

• AI-Assisted Design Tools: Lovable, Cursor. Proficiency or willingness to quickly learn and integrate these tools into the design workflow is expected.

• Prototyping Tools: Beyond Figma, any experience with dedicated prototyping software or even light front-end code for interactive prototypes will be beneficial.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly mentioned, familiarity with product analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics) used to track user behavior and product adoption will be a plus for data-informed design decisions. CRM & Automation:

• Understanding of how CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and automation platforms function in a B2B context can provide valuable insights into user workflows and operational needs. Experience with specific field service management software could also be advantageous.

• Front-end Technologies: Familiarity with React and TypeScript is a strong plus, enabling closer collaboration with the engineering team and potentially allowing for more direct contribution to UI implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of AI-assisted tools like Lovable and Cursor indicates Clera's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology in its design process, aiming for accelerated workflows and innovative solutions.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Ownership & Initiative: High degree of personal responsibility for outcomes, with a proactive approach to identifying and solving problems.

• User-Centricity: Deep commitment to understanding and serving the needs of B2B customers, particularly those in operational roles.

• Efficiency & Automation: A core belief in leveraging technology and smart design to streamline complex processes and improve productivity.

• Collaboration & Communication: Openness to sharing ideas, providing constructive feedback, and working effectively within a small, dynamic team.

• Adaptability & Learning: Embracing change, a willingness to learn new tools and methodologies, and comfort operating in an evolving startup environment.

Collaboration Style:

• Direct & Transparent: Expect open communication channels, with direct feedback and collaboration between design, engineering, and founders.

• Asynchronous-First (with syncs): While remote, the team likely utilizes asynchronous communication for day-to-day updates, but values focused synchronous sessions for critical discussions and problem-solving.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Design is not siloed; it's integrated into the entire product development process, requiring close partnership with all functions.

📝 Enhancement Note: As a founding designer, you will play a critical role in shaping these values and culture through your own actions and contributions. Demonstrating these values in your application and interviews will be key.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Establishing Design Foundations: Building a design system, defining UX patterns, and setting design standards from scratch in a fast-paced startup.

• Balancing Ambiguity and Structure: Navigating a lack of detailed specifications or established processes while still delivering high-quality, user-centric designs.

• Simplifying Complexity: The core challenge of translating intricate operational workflows into intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for non-technical users.

• Rapid Iteration & Shipping: The pressure to design, prototype, and iterate quickly to meet product launch timelines and market demands.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Foundational Role Impact: The opportunity to build the design function from the ground up, creating a lasting legacy.

• Exposure to Business Strategy: Gaining deep insights into product-market fit, business operations, and startup growth strategies.

• Mastery of AI Design Tools: Becoming proficient in emerging AI-assisted design technologies.

• Cross-Functional Skill Development: Learning from engineers and founders, potentially expanding into product management or user research expertise.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are significant but are directly tied to the substantial growth and learning opportunities this role presents. Candidates should view these challenges as stepping stones for significant professional development.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach designing an AI-powered scheduling feature for field service technicians, considering real-time updates and customer communication?" (Focus on user flows, data inputs, and UI elements.)

• "Describe a time you had to design a complex B2B feature with limited user data or specifications. How did you proceed, and what was the outcome?" (Emphasize your process for handling ambiguity and making informed decisions.)

• "What are your thoughts on establishing a design system for an early-stage B2B SaaS product? What would be your priorities?" (Discuss scalability, componentization, and collaboration with engineering.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Clera and our mission to automate field service operations?" (Research Clera's website, target market, and competitive landscape.)

• "How do you approach working in a remote, early-stage startup environment with founders? What are your expectations for collaboration?" (Highlight your adaptability, ownership, and communication skills.)

• "How do you ensure your designs directly contribute to business objectives and customer success in a B2B context?" (Connect your design work to operational efficiency, revenue, and customer satisfaction.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative is Key: For each case study, tell a story. Clearly outline the problem, your role, the process, the challenges, your solutions, and the impact.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals effectively – wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and final UI mockups. If possible, show early concepts and iterations to illustrate your thought process.

• Highlight B2B & Complexity: Select projects that best demonstrate your ability to handle intricate business logic and design for professional users.

• Demonstrate Tool Proficiency: Mention and, if possible, show examples of your work with Figma and any AI tools you've used.

• Be Ready for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design choices, trade-offs you made, and how you would approach similar challenges at Clera.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will likely assess not only your design skills but also your strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit for a fast-paced, founder-led startup. Demonstrating a clear understanding of operational workflows and B2B SaaS challenges will be crucial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Founding Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight your strongest B2B product design case studies, especially those involving complex operational workflows or early-stage product development. Emphasize your process and impact.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly outlines your years of experience, specific achievements in product design, and any relevant experience with startups, B2B SaaS, or AI tools. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Be ready to articulate your design philosophy, your approach to user research, and your experience working in ambiguous, fast-paced environments. Practice walking through your portfolio with a focus on storytelling and rationale.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Clera, its mission, target market, and potential competitors. Understand the challenges faced by field service businesses and how AI automation can address them.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.