Sr Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Sr Product Designer

Company: Kentik

Location: Remote – United States

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design, UX/UI Design

Date Posted: 2025-06-09T15:02:08

Experience Level: Senior Level (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Remote Solely

🎨 Role Summary

• Lead the design of intuitive and visually compelling user experiences for a complex network observability platform, focusing on data visualization and infrastructure analytics.
• Collaborate closely with Product Managers and customers to translate intricate technical concepts into user-friendly product features and actionable insights.
• Drive strategic UX initiatives to enhance the overall accessibility and usability of the Kentik platform, broadening its appeal to both expert and novice users.
• Champion a user-centered design process, from gathering requirements and identifying pain points to prototyping, iterating, and presenting design solutions to diverse stakeholders.

🖼️ Primary Responsibilities

• Gather and meticulously review product requirements and customer feedback to deeply understand user needs, pain points, and workflows within network observability and infrastructure analytics.
• Lead the end-to-end product design process for new features and enhancements, from initial concept and wireframing through high-fidelity mockups, visual designs, and interactive prototypes.
• Effectively present and articulate design rationale, user flows, and proposed solutions to cross-functional teams, including Product, Engineering, and Executive leadership, as well as directly to customers.
• Continuously refine the product design and delivery process, creating comprehensive support materials such as design specifications, user guides, and interactive prototypes for internal teams and external users.
• Collaborate with fellow Product Designers to establish and maintain design system guidelines, contribute to overall UX strategy, and ensure consistency and quality across the entire platform.
• Conduct user research, usability testing, and gather qualitative and quantitative data to validate design decisions and identify areas for improvement in the user experience.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience is typically expected for a Senior Product Designer role. Advanced degrees or certifications in UX/UI design are a plus.

Experience: 5+ years of professional experience in Product Design, UX/UI Design, or a related design discipline, with a strong portfolio demonstrating experience designing complex data-heavy applications, ideally in the B2B SaaS or technical infrastructure space.

Required Skills:

• Proven expertise in Product Design and User Experience (UX), with a strong portfolio showcasing successful design projects for complex applications.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts and data into intuitive and visually appealing user interfaces and workflows.
• Strong proficiency in prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) for creating interactive prototypes and iterating on design solutions.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to conduct user research, analyze data, and make informed design decisions that benefit the user base.
• Experience designing for data-heavy products, including dashboards, visualizations, and reporting interfaces, with a passion for making complex data understandable.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively articulate design choices and gather consensus from diverse stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience or strong curiosity in the fields of observability, infrastructure analytics, network monitoring, or related technical domains.
• Familiarity with networking concepts, protocols, and infrastructure, or a strong willingness to learn.
• Experience with data analytics tools and platforms, including expertise in data visualization techniques for large datasets.
• Understanding of transforming complex domain-specific workflows into intuitive UI/UX patterns and design solutions.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, autonomous, remote work environment.

🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Your portfolio should prominently feature case studies of complex product design projects, particularly those involving data visualization, dashboards, and technical interfaces.
• Clearly articulate your design process, from initial problem definition and user research through ideation, prototyping, testing, and final implementation.
• Include examples of how you tackled challenges related to presenting large amounts of data in an understandable and actionable way.
• Showcase your visual design skills and attention to detail in creating clean, intuitive, and professional user interfaces.

Process Documentation:

• For each case study, detail your approach to understanding the problem space, including any user research, competitive analysis, or stakeholder interviews conducted.
• Illustrate your ideation process, showcasing sketches, wireframes, and iterations that led to your final design solutions.
• Explain your validation methods, including any usability testing, A/B testing, or data analysis used to inform your design decisions.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $132,500 - $179,500 USD per year. This range reflects the U.S. compensation range Kentik reasonably and generally expects to pay the hired candidate in this role. The actual compensation offered may vary based on experience, demonstrated competencies, and geographic market location.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, vision, and dental coverage with 100% of premiums paid by the company for employees and their dependents.
• Annual Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) of $3,000 for individuals or $4,500 for families to help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses.
• Paid family and medical leave to support employees during significant life events.
• Generous Open PTO policy, a quarterly Wellness Day, and a minimum of 10 paid holidays per year, promoting work-life balance and employee well-being.
• 401(k) retirement account to assist employees in saving for their future.
• Home office reimbursement to support a productive and comfortable remote work setup.
• Stock options, providing employees with a stake in the company's success and growth.

Working Hours: Full-time position, typically 40 hours per week. As a fully remote global company, there may be flexibility in daily schedules to accommodate collaboration across different time zones, while ensuring core responsibilities are met.

🎯Team & Company Context

🏢 Company & Design Culture

Industry: Computer Networking Products, specializing in Network Intelligence and Observability.

Company Size: 201-500 employees (based on LinkedIn data).

Founded: 2014.

Kentik is a network intelligence platform company focused on demystifying complex network operations. They provide a real-time source of truth for networks, unifying and correlating various data sources to offer actionable insights. The company has a strong focus on observability and infrastructure reliability, serving market leaders who rely on their platform for critical network management.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is described as small but growing, suggesting a collaborative environment where individual contributions have significant impact.
• Product Designers work closely with Product Managers and Engineering teams in a collaborative partnership to drive feature development.
• The role involves collaborating with other Product Designers on strategic UX initiatives, indicating a focus on team-wide consistency and improvement.

Methodology:

• The design process involves gathering requirements from Product Managers and customers, suggesting a user-centric and collaborative approach.
• Prototyping and iteration are emphasized, indicating an agile and iterative design workflow.
• The role involves translating complex concepts into simple UX, implying a focus on usability and clarity in design solutions.

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

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Design Career Level: This is a Senior Product Designer role, indicating an expectation of significant experience, leadership in design projects, and the ability to work autonomously and mentor others. Senior designers are typically responsible for tackling complex problems and driving significant impact on the product and user experience.

Reporting Structure: The description mentions collaborating with other Product Designers and working closely with Product and Engineering Managers, suggesting reporting is likely to a Design Lead or Manager within the Product Design team.

Design Impact: Design plays a critical role in making Kentik's complex network intelligence data accessible and actionable. As a Senior Product Designer, your work will directly influence the usability and effectiveness of the platform for market-leading customers, impacting their ability to manage and optimize their networks.

Growth Opportunities:

• Opportunity to deepen expertise in designing for complex technical domains like network observability and infrastructure analytics.
• Potential for leadership opportunities within the growing Product Design team as the company scales.
• Exposure to working with market-leading companies as customers, providing insights into high-impact design challenges.
• Opportunities to drive strategic UX initiatives across the entire product, influencing the overall design direction and accessibility.

🌐 Work Environment

Studio Type: Fully Remote Company. This role is for a remote position within the United States.

Office Location(s): Kentik has a headquarters in San Francisco, CA, but this specific role is remote.

Design Workspace Context:

• As a fully remote company, the work environment emphasizes autonomy and requires strong self-management skills.
• Collaboration relies heavily on digital tools and asynchronous communication methods.
• The company culture values visibility and belonging, suggesting efforts to foster connection among remote team members.

Work Schedule: The company operates globally, implying a need for flexibility to collaborate across different time zones. While a standard 40-hour week is typical, the remote nature may allow for some flexibility in structuring the workday.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Design Interview Process:

• Expect an initial screening to assess your experience and fit for the role, likely involving a recruiter or hiring manager.
• Prepare for in-depth interviews focusing on your product design process, problem-solving skills, and experience with complex data visualization and technical interfaces.
• Be ready to present your portfolio, walking through key case studies and explaining your design decisions and impact.
• A design exercise or challenge may be part of the process to evaluate your practical design skills and approach to a specific problem.
• Interviews will likely include discussions with members of the Product Design team, Product Management, and potentially Engineering or leadership to assess technical understanding and cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate case studies that highlight your experience designing for complex technical domains, data visualization, and B2B SaaS products.
• For each case study, clearly articulate the problem you were solving, your role, your design process, key decisions, and the impact of your work.
• Focus on showcasing your ability to translate complex technical concepts into intuitive user interfaces.
• Be prepared to discuss the challenges you faced and how you iterated on your designs based on feedback or data.

Challenge Preparation:

• If a design challenge is provided, carefully read and understand the prompt, focusing on the core problem to be solved.
• Structure your approach clearly, outlining your process, assumptions, and rationale.
• Consider the target user for the challenge and design solutions that meet their specific needs within the given constraints.
• Be prepared to present your solution and explain your design choices, demonstrating your problem-solving skills and communication abilities.

ATS Keywords: Product Design, UX Design, UI Design, User Experience, Product Designer, User Interface, Design System, Prototyping, Wireframing, Mockups, Visual Design, Interaction Design, Information Architecture, Usability Testing, User Research, Data Visualization, Dashboard Design, Infrastructure Analytics, Network Monitoring, Observability, SaaS, B2B, Technical Concepts, Complex Systems, Collaboration, Agile, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Design Thinking, Problem Solving, Analytical Skills, Communication, Stakeholder Management, Remote Work, Case Study, Portfolio Review, Design Process, Feature Elaboration, Technical Documentation.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

• Proficiency in industry-standard design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD is expected for creating mockups, visual designs, and interactive prototypes.
• Expertise in leveraging these tools for efficient workflow, collaboration, and potentially contributing to or utilizing a design system.

Collaboration & Handoff:

• Experience with collaboration platforms (e.g., Slack, Zoom) for communication within a remote team.
• Familiarity with handoff tools or methods (e.g., Zeplin, InVision, or direct communication with developers) for ensuring design specifications are accurately implemented.
• Knowledge of documentation tools (e.g., Confluence, Notion) for creating and maintaining design specifications and guidelines.

Research & Testing:

• Experience with tools or methods for conducting user research, such as interview platforms, survey tools (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Google Forms), and usability testing platforms (e.g., UserTesting.com).
• Familiarity with analytics tools or data sources for evaluating design performance and identifying areas for improvement based on user behavior.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Design Values:

• Strong emphasis on usability and making complex systems easy to understand, reflecting the company's mission to demystify network operations.
• Passion for data-heavy products and complex visualizations, indicating a value placed on clarity and effectiveness in presenting intricate information.
• Commitment to a holistic approach to improving UX across the entire product, suggesting a focus on consistency and overall user satisfaction.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn complex technical concepts, highlighting a culture of continuous learning and technical understanding within the design team.

Collaboration Style:

• Close collaboration with Product Managers and Engineering teams is a core aspect of the workflow.
• Emphasis on effectively presenting and articulating design choices to various stakeholders, indicating a culture of open communication and feedback.
• Collaboration with other Product Designers on strategic UX initiatives suggests a team-oriented approach to design challenges and improvements.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Design Challenges:

• Translating highly complex technical concepts related to network observability and infrastructure analytics into intuitive and easily navigable user interfaces for a diverse user base, including both experts and novices.
• Designing effective data visualizations for vast amounts of infrastructure telemetry data, ensuring clarity, performance, and actionable insights.
• Balancing the needs of experienced network professionals with the goal of making the platform more accessible to novice users.
• Working autonomously and effectively within a fully remote, global team environment, requiring strong communication and self-management skills.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Significant opportunity to develop deep expertise in designing for complex technical domains and data visualization.
• Potential to contribute to and influence the overall UX strategy and design system for a growing platform.
• Exposure to working with cutting-edge network technology and large-scale data sets.
• Opportunities to mentor junior designers as the team grows.
• Professional development through learning about the networking and observability space.

💡 Interview Preparation

Design Process Questions:

• Be prepared to walk through your end-to-end design process for a complex project, detailing your approach to research, ideation, prototyping, testing, and implementation. Use a relevant case study from your portfolio as an example, ideally one involving data visualization or technical interfaces.
• Discuss how you gather and incorporate user feedback and data into your design decisions. Provide examples of how user research influenced your design outcomes.
• Explain your approach to collaborating with Product Managers and Engineers throughout the design process. Describe how you handle conflicting feedback or requirements.

Company Culture Questions:

• Research Kentik's product, mission, and values. Be prepared to discuss why you are interested in designing for a network intelligence platform and how your skills and interests align with the company's focus on observability and usability.
• Ask questions about the design team structure, collaboration style, and how design impact is measured within the organization.
• Discuss your experience working in remote teams and how you ensure effective communication and collaboration in a distributed environment.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select 2-3 case studies that best showcase your experience with complex technical products, data visualization, and your end-to-end design process.
• For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your design goals, your process, key design decisions, and the impact of your work on users or the business.
• Highlight your ability to simplify complex information and present data effectively through your designs.
• Be prepared to answer questions about specific design choices, trade-offs, and lessons learned from each project.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this design position:

• Submit your application through this link.
• Tailor your resume and cover letter to highlight your experience in product design, particularly with complex technical products, data visualization, and user-centered design methodologies. Use relevant ATS keywords identified in this description.
• Prepare your online portfolio, ensuring it clearly presents case studies of your most relevant design projects, showcasing your process, problem-solving skills, and the impact of your work. Focus on projects involving complex data or technical interfaces.
• Research Kentik and their network intelligence platform to understand their product, target audience, and the challenges they address. This will help you tailor your application and prepare for interviews.