Founding Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Founding Product Designer

Company: Good Maven

Location: Paris or London, on-site 5x/wk.

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design / GTM Operations

Date Posted: 2026-11-04

Experience Level: Mid-Senior (4+ years)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead end-to-end product design for a new category of personal wealth management, shaping the user experience from inception to Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

• Define innovative user interaction models for financial agents, integrating voice and generative UI to foster user trust and drive financial transactions.

• Collaborate closely with engineering to prototype and ship designs in code, acting as a hands-on Design Engineer to multiply output and maintain high craft standards.

• Conduct weekly user research and feedback sessions, translating insights into actionable design decisions and ensuring product-market fit.

• Own the detailed craft of user flows, interaction design, visual polish, micro-interactions, and signature patterns to create a seamless and intuitive user experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: While this role is primarily a Product Designer position, its "Founding" nature and the requirement to "Shape the product from zero to MVP" with no Product Managers, along with "ship in code" and "prototype," indicates a strong connection to Go-To-Market (GTM) operational strategy. The designer will be instrumental in defining the initial product offering, user acquisition experience, and core value proposition, which are critical GTM functions.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Product Vision & Strategy: Translate the company's vision for a personal wealth agent into tangible product experiences, defining the initial user journey and core feature set.

• User-Centric Design: Lead user research initiatives, including weekly customer conversations, to deeply understand the needs of individuals with $1-20M in assets and translate these into impactful design solutions.

• Interaction & Interface Design: Design intuitive and trustworthy interfaces for complex financial interactions, exploring novel approaches for voice and self-generating UIs within agent chat contexts.

• Prototyping & Development: Utilize coding agents to rapidly prototype and iterate on designs, working collaboratively with iOS engineers to ensure designs are shippable and technically feasible.

• Design System & Polish: Establish design patterns, interaction models, and visual aesthetics that define the product's feel and build user confidence, focusing on micro-interactions and overall polish.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with the CPO, co-founders, and engineering team, providing design leadership and pushing back on briefs that lack clarity or user focus.

• Iterative Development: Contribute to a weekly proof-of-concept and bi-monthly MVP release cycle, ensuring rapid iteration and continuous improvement based on user feedback and market response.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "shaping the product from zero to MVP" and the lack of Product Managers signifies that this role will heavily influence the initial Go-To-Market strategy by defining the core product offering and user experience. The responsibility to "define how our users interact with agents" and "how the agent earns enough trust to move users money" directly impacts customer acquisition and retention strategies.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 4+ years of end-to-end product design experience, with a proven track record of designing and shipping mobile-first, consumer-facing applications.

Required Skills:

• End-to-End Product Design: Demonstrated ability to own the design process from problem definition, user research, ideation, prototyping, and final visual design and interaction details.

• Design Engineering: Proficiency in building designs with coding agents and a strong understanding of front-end development principles to effectively collaborate with engineers and ship code.

• Mobile-First Consumer App Design: Extensive experience designing for mobile platforms, with a deep understanding of mobile interaction patterns and best practices.

• User Research & Empathy: Proven ability to conduct user interviews, synthesize feedback, and translate user needs into effective design solutions, demonstrating genuine customer obsession.

• Interaction & Visual Design: Expertise in crafting elegant user flows, intuitive interactions, and polished visual designs, with a keen eye for detail down to micro-interactions.

• Prototyping & Iteration: Skilled in using prototyping tools and coding agents to rapidly iterate on designs and test concepts.

• Ambiguity & Self-Direction: Ability to thrive in a startup environment, navigate ambiguity, and drive projects forward with minimal supervision.

• Communication & Collaboration: Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Skills:

• Fintech or Wealth Management Experience: Prior experience designing for financial services, particularly in wealth management or personal finance.

• Agent Chat or Generative UI Design: Experience designing conversational interfaces, AI-powered agents, or user interfaces driven by generative AI.

• Early-Stage Startup Experience: Proven success taking a product from 0 to 1 at an early-stage company, demonstrating adaptability and impact in a fast-paced environment.

• iOS Product Development: Familiarity with iOS design guidelines and development processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "design engineer" requirement and "prototype and ship in code" is a significant differentiator. This role requires a hybrid skillset, blending traditional product design craft with hands-on coding capabilities, likely leveraging AI-driven coding agents. This points to a need for individuals who are not only creative thinkers but also pragmatic builders who can accelerate the product development cycle.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 comprehensive case studies detailing your process from problem discovery to shipped product, highlighting your role in shaping the product's core flows and user experience.

• Design Engineering Examples: Include examples or descriptions of how you've utilized coding agents or similar tools to enhance your design output and accelerate development.

• User-Centric Approach: Demonstrate how user research and feedback directly influenced your design decisions and led to measurable improvements or successful product launches.

• Detail & Polish: Provide examples of intricate micro-interactions, sophisticated visual design, and seamless flow transitions that exemplify your obsessive attention to detail.

• 0-to-1 Experience: If applicable, showcase projects where you were instrumental in bringing a product from concept to its initial launch in an early-stage environment.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Clearly articulate the design processes you've followed, emphasizing how you structured workflows, managed iterations, and optimized for user efficiency and engagement.

• System Implementation Standards: For roles involving coding agents or direct development, demonstrate an understanding of implementation standards and collaboration with engineering teams.

• Metrics & Impact: Where possible, quantify the impact of your designs using relevant metrics (e.g., user adoption, engagement, conversion rates, task completion time) and explain how these metrics were tracked and utilized for iteration.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the emphasis on "shipping in code" and leveraging "coding agents," the portfolio should strongly highlight the candidate's ability to bridge design and development. Demonstrating how they've successfully translated designs into functional code, even with AI assistance, will be crucial. The "0 to MVP" aspect means case studies should focus on early-stage product development and rapid iteration.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £100,000 to £150,000 base salary per year.

Benefits:

• Equity: Significant stock options package, reflecting the "Founding" nature of the role and the company's early stage.

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive health coverage, likely including dental and vision, tailored for international employees.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for continuous learning, attending industry conferences, and developing new skills, particularly in AI-driven design and fintech.

• Generous Leave Policy: Standard holiday allowance with potential for additional days based on tenure and company policy.

• Relocation Assistance: Support for relocation to London or Paris, including potential visa assistance if required.

Working Hours: Full-time, with an expectation of 5 days a week in the office. While the company emphasizes "Speed" and "Intense, but healthy" work, this implies a dedicated and focused approach to achieving weekly shipping goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is competitive for a senior, founding-level design role in London or Paris, especially considering the equity component. The emphasis on "5 days a week in the office" indicates a strong preference for in-person collaboration and team cohesion, which is typical for early-stage startups aiming to move quickly. The compensation structure (base + equity) is standard for founding team members, aiming to align long-term incentives with company success.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Fintech / Personal Wealth Management. The company is creating a new category of "personal wealth agent," combining elements of a family office, wealth manager, and private bank for individuals with substantial assets ($1-20M). This positions them in a high-growth, high-stakes sector requiring trust and sophisticated user experiences.

Company Size: Small and very senior team. This implies a flat hierarchy, direct access to leadership, and a high degree of autonomy and responsibility for each team member.

Founded: Recently, with significant pre-seed funding (€12M led by Headline, with Atomico and GFC), indicating strong investor confidence and a clear mandate to build and scale rapidly.

Team Structure:

• Leadership: CEO with a track record of building two unicorns, and a CPO who will be the direct report for this role.

• Core Team: Composed of highly experienced individuals who have built successful consumer products with large user bases.

• Reporting: The Founding Product Designer will report directly to the CPO and co-founder, signifying a close working relationship and direct influence on product strategy.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: High degree of collaboration is expected, particularly between design, product (CPO), and engineering, given the absence of dedicated Product Managers.

Methodology:

• Customer Obsession: Deep commitment to understanding and serving user needs, with weekly user conversations as a core practice.

• Speed & Iteration: A culture of rapid development and weekly shipping of proofs of concept, followed by MVP releases. This requires a high tolerance for change and a focus on delivering value quickly.

• High Bar: Setting ambitious goals and expecting high-quality output from all team members.

• Ownership: Empowering individuals to take full ownership of their work from day one.

• In-Person Collaboration: Mandated 5x/week office presence to foster strong team dynamics and efficient communication.

• Transparency: Open communication regarding feedback, company performance, and financials.

Company Website: https://goodmaven.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Founding" aspect of this role implies that the culture is still being defined. However, the stated values of "Customer Obsession," "Speed," "High Bar," "Ownership," and "Transparency" are strong indicators of an ambitious, fast-paced, and collaborative startup environment. The emphasis on "In Person" collaboration underscores the importance of team cohesion in their rapid development cycle.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a critical "Founding" level within the product design function. It represents an opportunity to establish the design practice from its inception and significantly influence the company's product direction and user experience. The role is not just about executing design but about strategically defining it.

Reporting Structure: Direct reporting to the CPO and co-founder. This provides high visibility to senior leadership and direct influence on product strategy and decision-making. The absence of Product Managers means the designer will be a key voice in product definition.

Operations Impact: The Founding Product Designer will have a profound impact on Good Maven's success by:

• Defining the User Experience: Creating the initial product experience that attracts and retains the target demographic ($1-20M asset holders), a segment underserved by current offerings.

• Driving Trust and Adoption: Designing interfaces and interactions that build essential user trust for managing significant financial assets.

• Establishing Design Standards: Setting the benchmark for design quality, craft, and user-centricity that will guide future product development.

• Influencing Go-To-Market Strategy: The product's initial design and user flow directly impact how effectively the company can acquire and onboard its first customers.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Path: Clear trajectory to become the Head of Design, leading and scaling the design team as the company grows.

• Strategic Influence: Opportunity to shape product strategy, user acquisition funnels, and the overall brand experience of a nascent category leader.

• Technical Skill Expansion: Deepen expertise in AI-driven design tools, generative UI, and complex fintech product development.

• Equity Upside: Significant potential for wealth creation through equity, tied to the company's growth and success.

• Industry Expertise: Develop deep knowledge in wealth management and the emerging personal wealth agent category.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Founding" designation means this role is not just about design execution but about strategic product definition and the establishment of the design function. The direct reporting line to the CPO and co-founder highlights the immense influence this role will wield, particularly in shaping the initial user acquisition and engagement strategies, which are core GTM operations.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Primarily an on-site work environment, with a requirement to be in the office 5 days a week. The company has established hubs in London and Paris, with Paris-based employees expected to travel to London. This indicates a strong emphasis on in-person collaboration and team cohesion.

Office Location(s):

• London, England, United Kingdom: This appears to be the primary HQ, with Paris hires traveling to this location.

• Paris, Île-de-France, France: A secondary location, suggesting a distributed but co-located team structure within these major European cities.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The 5x/week office mandate suggests a highly collaborative atmosphere where spontaneous discussions, whiteboarding sessions, and direct feedback are encouraged.

• Tooling: Expectation to utilize modern design and development tools, including AI-driven coding agents and standard design software (e.g., Figma, Sketch) for prototyping and UI design.

• Team Interaction: Close daily interaction with co-founders, CPO, and engineering teams, fostering a sense of shared mission and rapid problem-solving.

• Fast-Paced: The culture of weekly shipping and iteration means the workspace will be dynamic and demanding, requiring adaptability and focus.

Work Schedule: Full-time, with an implicit expectation of dedication to meet weekly shipping deadlines. While not explicitly stated as "long hours," the emphasis on "Speed" and "Intense, but healthy" suggests a driven work ethic.

📝 Enhancement Note: The mandatory 5x/week in-office policy is a critical aspect of the work environment, designed to maximize collaboration and accelerate product development. For operations professionals, this means a need for strong communication skills and the ability to thrive in a highly interactive, in-person setting. It also implies that the company values the serendipitous innovation that often arises from physical proximity.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Screening Call (20 mins with CPO): Focus on front-end projects, product thinking, and your experience with AI tools. Be prepared to discuss specific examples of shipped products and your design process.

• Culture Fit Conversation (with a Co-founder): Assess alignment with the company's values (customer obsession, speed, high bar, ownership, transparency) and your ability to thrive in an intense, early-stage startup environment.

• Case Study (Design & Engineering): Potentially a practical exercise where you solve a product problem using design and engineering skills, possibly involving coding agents. This assesses your ability to deliver tangible results under pressure.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Highlight "Founding" Impact: Emphasize your role in shaping products from inception, especially in early-stage companies. Showcase how you defined core flows and user experiences with limited resources.

• Demonstrate Design Engineering: Clearly articulate and showcase your ability to work with coding agents or directly in code. Provide examples of how this capability accelerated your output or improved design quality.

• Quantify Results: Wherever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the impact of your designs on user behavior, engagement, or business outcomes.

• Showcase Detail & Craft: Present your work with meticulous attention to detail, highlighting micro-interactions, visual polish, and seamless transitions that exemplify your high standards.

• User-Centricity: Ensure your case studies clearly articulate the user problems you addressed and how your design solutions met those needs.

Challenge Preparation:

• Product Problem Solving: Be ready to articulate your approach to defining and solving complex product challenges, especially those involving new technologies or user behaviors (like interacting with AI agents).

• AI Tooling Proficiency: Prepare to discuss your experience and thoughts on using AI in the design and development process, and how you see it evolving.

• Startup Mentality: Be ready to discuss how you handle ambiguity, prioritize tasks, and contribute to a fast-paced, iterative environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess not only design craft but also strategic thinking, technical capability (especially with AI tools), and cultural fit for a high-growth startup. The portfolio review is critical for demonstrating the unique blend of product design and engineering skills required for this role.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (likely), and potentially specialized tools for micro-interactions or animations.

• Coding Agents & Development: Proficiency with AI-driven coding agents (e.g., GitHub Copilot, or similar emerging tools) is essential. Direct coding experience in Swift/Objective-C for iOS will be highly advantageous.

• User Research Tools: Tools for user interviews, usability testing, and feedback collection (e.g., UserTesting.com, Maze, Hotjar).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Tools for tracking user behavior, engagement, and conversion rates (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics).

• Dashboarding: Experience creating dashboards to visualize key product metrics and communicate insights to stakeholders.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: While not directly a CRM role, understanding how design impacts user onboarding and engagement within a CRM context (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) is beneficial.

• Collaboration & Project Management: Tools like Slack, Jira, Asana, or Trello for team communication and task management.

📝 Enhancement Note: The specific mention of "coding agents" and "ship them with the iOS engineers" strongly suggests a technology stack that integrates AI-powered development tools directly into the design workflow, alongside standard mobile development practices. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their experience with such tools and their ability to collaborate effectively with iOS engineers.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Obsession: A core tenet, driving all product decisions from user needs and feedback. This translates to a design process that is deeply rooted in understanding and solving real user problems.

• Speed & Iteration: A commitment to rapid development and continuous improvement. This means a comfortable and proactive approach to iterating on designs based on weekly feedback and shipping cycles.

• High Bar: A culture of excellence where quality and impact are paramount. Operations professionals are expected to deliver high-quality work and contribute to ambitious goals.

• Ownership: A strong sense of responsibility and autonomy from day one. This encourages proactive problem-solving and a results-oriented mindset among team members.

• Transparency: Open communication and direct feedback are encouraged, fostering an environment of trust and continuous learning.

Collaboration Style:

• In-Person & Direct: The 5x/week office policy emphasizes face-to-face interaction, direct feedback, and collaborative problem-solving.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Close partnership between design, product leadership (CPO), and engineering is essential, especially with no dedicated Product Managers. This requires strong communication and the ability to influence across disciplines.

• Iterative Feedback Loops: Regular check-ins and user feedback sessions create a continuous loop of learning and refinement for both product and processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's values heavily influence the expected behaviors and contributions from operations professionals. A candidate's ability to demonstrate customer obsession, embrace rapid iteration, take ownership, and collaborate transparently will be key indicators of cultural fit and potential success.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Defining a New Category: The primary challenge is establishing a new market category for personal wealth agents, which requires significant innovation in user experience and building trust for sensitive financial transactions.

• Ambiguity of Early Stage: Navigating the inherent ambiguity of building a company from scratch, with evolving priorities and a rapidly changing product roadmap.

• Balancing Craft and Speed: The demand for weekly shipping requires a constant balancing act between maintaining high design quality and meeting aggressive development timelines.

• Building Trust in Fintech: Designing for financial transactions requires an exceptionally high level of user trust, which can be challenging to establish and maintain, especially with new technologies like AI agents.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Operating effectively without dedicated Product Managers requires strong leadership and communication to ensure design vision is translated into product reality.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Category Creation: Opportunity to be at the forefront of defining and shaping a new category in personal finance technology.

• AI & Generative UI Expertise: Deepen practical experience with cutting-edge AI tools and generative user interfaces in a real-world application.

• Fintech Product Strategy: Gain in-depth knowledge of wealth management, financial planning, and the unique design challenges within the fintech sector.

• Leadership Development: Clear path to grow into a Head of Design role, building and managing a team, and influencing company-wide product strategy.

• Entrepreneurial Experience: Gain invaluable experience in the early stages of a venture-backed startup, understanding the full product lifecycle and business building.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are significant but also represent the core of the growth opportunities. Candidates who thrive on innovation, can manage complexity, and are eager to learn about emerging technologies and industries will find this role highly rewarding.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Product Vision & Strategy: "How would you approach designing a 'personal wealth agent' for the first time, considering the need to build trust for managing significant assets?" - Focus on your user research methodology, risk mitigation in design, and how you'd define the MVP.

• User Interaction with AI: "Describe your ideas for how users might interact with an AI agent for financial advice, focusing on voice and self-generating interfaces." - Prepare examples of conversational design, trust-building mechanisms, and potential pitfalls.

• Design Engineering & AI: "How do you see AI coding agents changing the product design workflow, and what's your experience using them?" - Be ready to discuss practical applications, your own experiments, and how you'd integrate them effectively.

Company & Culture Questions:

• Customer Obsession: "How do you ensure user needs are at the center of your design process, especially in a fast-paced startup?" - Provide specific examples of how you've incorporated user feedback into your work.

• Ambiguity & Ownership: "Describe a time you had to build something with significant ambiguity. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" - Highlight your self-direction and ability to drive projects forward.

• Team Dynamics: "Given the 5x/week in-office requirement, how do you contribute to a highly collaborative and productive team environment?" - Discuss your communication style and experience working closely with engineers and leadership.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Focus on Impact & Process: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your unique contribution, the process you followed (especially user research and iteration), and the quantifiable results.

• Showcase Design Engineering: If possible, demonstrate live or recorded examples of your work with coding agents or in code. Explain how this capability was leveraged.

• Highlight Detail & Polish: Spend time walking through specific UI elements, micro-interactions, and flow transitions that exemplify your attention to detail and commitment to craft.

• Tell a Story: Frame your portfolio pieces as compelling narratives that showcase your problem-solving skills, creativity, and ability to deliver successful products.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to test a candidate's ability to not only design beautiful and functional products but also to execute them effectively in a coding environment, all while thriving in a demanding startup culture. Preparation should focus on demonstrating practical skills, strategic thinking, and a strong cultural fit.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Founding Product Designer position:

• Submit Your Portfolio: Send your portfolio, with a strong emphasis on end-to-end case studies and any examples of your work with coding agents or in code, via the application link.

• Craft a Targeted Resume: Highlight your 4+ years of experience in mobile-first consumer apps, your design engineering capabilities, and any experience in fintech or early-stage startups. Quantify achievements where possible.

• Prepare Your Pitch: Be ready to articulate your product thinking, your approach to user research, and your understanding of how to build trust in financial products.

• Research Good Maven: Understand their mission, target audience ($1-20M asset holders), and the unique category they are creating. Familiarize yourself with their stated values and working methods.

• Practice Your Case Study Presentation: Be prepared to walk through a key portfolio project, focusing on your process, impact, and how you'd approach a new challenge in this role.

⚠️ 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.