Founding Product Designer, Deliberations

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Founding Product Designer, Deliberations

Company: Change.org

Location: United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / Civic Tech Operations

Date Posted: March 09, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the design vision and execution for a new platform focused on civic engagement and policy action, leveraging AI to enhance user experiences and drive efficiency.

• Act as a player-coach, setting design direction, defining best practices, and contributing hands-on across discovery, prototyping, and execution in a 0-to-1 product environment.

• Design holistic user journeys and back-end systems that transform large-scale public input into credible, actionable outcomes for government leaders and media.

• Evolve and adapt an existing design system to support rapid iteration, development, and scalability while maintaining experiential simplicity.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is titled "Product Designer," the responsibilities, experience level (10+ years, Director level compensation), and "player-coach" expectation indicate a senior leadership role within the design function. The focus on "Deliberations" and civic tech implies a need for operations-minded thinking around process, user flow automation, and scaling user input into actionable policy. This role sits at the intersection of product design and GTM operations, requiring an understanding of how design impacts user adoption, engagement, and ultimately, the operational success of the platform.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Collaboratively design the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the Deliberations platform, ensuring a cohesive and integrated end-to-end user experience across all components and services.

• Define and map core user journeys by conducting deep user research to understand needs, barriers, and motivators, envisioning a product that is engaging, trustworthy, retentive, and encourages user evangelization.

• Design the essential behind-the-scenes processes and operational tools required to effectively process and synthesize large-scale civic input into credible, communicable outcomes for elected officials and media outlets.

• Develop and iterate on the platform's design system to facilitate rapid development cycles and allow for efficient scaling while preserving experiential simplicity and consistency.

• Establish an iterative, learning-driven design culture within the new initiative, transitioning from hands-on individual contribution to a player-coach model as the team expands.

• Integrate AI capabilities strategically into the product experience to enhance user agency, create novel interaction patterns, and improve operational efficiency.

• Ensure design consistency and oversee the work of specialists in go-to-market functions such as marketing, messaging, and branding to align with the core product experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong need for systems thinking and process design, crucial for operations roles. Designing "behind-the-scenes processes and tools" and evolving a "design system" for "rapid iteration and development" are core operations functions. The "player-coach" aspect implies leadership and team-building experience, common in senior operations roles.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio and demonstrated experience in UX/product design, systems thinking, and AI integration will be paramount.

Experience: 10+ years of product (UX) or service design experience with a significant focus on Business-to-Consumer (B2C) products.

Required Skills:

• World-class 0-to-1 product design and strategy development capabilities, thinking in systems and primitives to simplify complexity.

• Proven experience designing for the entire user journey across multiple touchpoints and contexts, considering both front-stage user experiences and back-stage operational systems.

• Expertise in human-centered design thinking, including deep qualitative and quantitative user research, iterative prototyping, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Strong user empathy, with the ability to uncover insights through qualitative research and design for both emotional and functional needs, reducing user stress and building trust.

• Demonstrated leadership and ambition, with the ability to inspire teams, provide candid feedback, build high-performing teams, and drive pragmatic, ambitious change.

• Experience utilizing AI tools to enhance work speed and quality, and specific experience designing consumer-facing AI product experiences.

• Experience taking a product from concept to initial launch (zero to one).

• Experience managing product designers and coordinating with contractor specialists.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in civic tech, public policy, or platforms focused on large-scale citizen engagement.

• Familiarity with large-scale data processing and synthesis for policy-related outcomes.

• Experience with agile development methodologies and rapid iteration cycles.

• Proficiency in adapting and scaling design systems for complex products.

• Ability to articulate and evangelize design vision to diverse stakeholders, including technical teams, leadership, and potentially external partners.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "systems and primitives," "back-stage systems," and "design system evolution" strongly suggests a need for an operations mindset. The "0 to 1" requirement implies building operational frameworks from scratch. The "player-coach" role and "managing product designers" point to leadership and team operations.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A curated portfolio showcasing a minimum of 3-5 significant B2C product design projects, with a strong emphasis on demonstrating 0-to-1 product development and successful product launches.

• Detailed case studies that illustrate a deep understanding of user needs, the problem-solving process, iterative design methodologies, and quantifiable outcomes.

• Examples of how AI was integrated into product design to enhance user experience, agency, or operational efficiency.

• Documentation of how design systems were developed, maintained, or adapted to support product scalability and rapid iteration.

Process Documentation:

• Demonstrations of a structured, human-centered approach to problem-solving, including user research methodologies, journey mapping, and wireframing/prototyping artifacts.

• Examples of how design decisions were informed by both qualitative user empathy and quantitative data analysis.

• Case studies indicating experience in defining and optimizing operational workflows that support user engagement and deliver actionable outcomes.

• Evidence of experience in transitioning from hands-on design work to a player-coach or leadership role, including examples of team guidance or mentorship.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements" section is critical for operations roles. This candidate is expected to demonstrate not just visual design skills, but also the ability to architect user flows, system integrations, and operational processes that enable a complex platform to function and scale effectively. The emphasis on "0 to 1" implies building these operational components from the ground up.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• San Francisco & New York City: $265,000 annually

• Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington D.C.: $252,000 annually

• All Other US Locations: $225,500 annually

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Retirement savings plan with company match.

• Paid time off and holidays.

• Professional development opportunities and budget.

• Potential for stock options or equity in future ventures.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time commitment (approximately 40 hours per week), with flexibility expected for a remote, player-coach role.

• The role requires dedication to driving a new initiative forward, which may involve occasional work outside standard hours to meet critical deadlines or facilitate cross-time zone collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary ranges provided are specific and tiered by location, reflecting a structured compensation strategy common in larger organizations or those with established pay equity principles. The "player-coach" expectation suggests a need for flexibility beyond rigid 9-to-5 hours, aligning with operational demands of launching a new initiative.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (Civic Tech, Social Impact Platform)

Company Size: While Change.org itself is a large public benefit company (likely 500+ employees), this team operates as a start-up within the organization.

Founded: Change.org was founded in 2007. The "Deliberations" initiative is a new venture building on existing work.

Team Structure:

• This role is the "Founding Product Designer" for a new initiative, operating as a start-up within Change.org.

• The designer will likely report to a General Manager (GM) of the new initiative and will collaborate closely with engineering, product management, research, and potentially marketing/policy specialists.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: Emphasis on leveraging both qualitative user insights and quantitative data to inform design decisions and measure impact.

• Iterative Learning: A culture of rapid prototyping, testing, and learning from user feedback to continuously refine the product.

• Systems Thinking: Designing not just individual features but the interconnectedness of the entire platform, including user flows, data pipelines, and operational processes.

• AI Integration: Proactive exploration and implementation of AI to enhance user experiences and operational efficiency.

• Collaborative Approach: Working closely with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and shared ownership of the product vision.

Company Website: https://www.change.org/

📝 Enhancement Note: The "start-up within a company" model suggests a dynamic environment that blends the agility of a new venture with the stability and resources of an established organization. The operational focus is on building a new platform, requiring a systematic approach to design, user flow management, and eventual scaling.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a senior or Director level within the design function, indicated by the "Founding" title, "player-coach" expectation, and substantial experience requirement (10+ years). It implies significant autonomy and strategic influence over the product's design and initial operational framework.

Reporting Structure: The Founding Product Designer will likely report to the General Manager (GM) of the new Deliberations initiative. This close reporting line to leadership suggests direct involvement in strategic decision-making.

Operations Impact: The role's primary impact is on shaping the user experience and underlying operational processes of a new platform designed to enhance civic engagement and policy-making. Success will be measured by user adoption, engagement levels, the effectiveness of translating public input into actionable policy, and the scalability of the platform.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Transitioning from a player-coach to a fully-fledged design leader, potentially building and managing a design team as the initiative scales.

• Strategic Influence: Directly shaping the product roadmap and operational strategy of a new, high-impact initiative within a mission-driven organization.

• Domain Expertise: Deepening expertise in civic tech, AI-driven product experiences, and large-scale citizen engagement platforms.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gaining experience working closely with engineering, product management, policy, and marketing teams to launch and grow a complex product.

• Impactful Work: Contributing to a meaningful mission of strengthening democracy and citizen participation, with tangible real-world outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth trajectory for this role is clearly towards leadership and strategic ownership, mirroring the career path for senior operations leaders who build and scale functions. The ability to define operational processes from inception is a key growth driver.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. The role is based in the United States, allowing for flexible working arrangements within the country.

Office Location(s): United States (Remote). This implies adherence to US labor laws and potentially time zone considerations for collaboration.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: Emphasis on digital collaboration tools and asynchronous communication to maintain team cohesion and productivity across different locations.

• Agile & Iterative: The environment is expected to be fast-paced and iterative, typical of a start-up initiative, requiring adaptability and continuous learning.

• Mission-Driven: A culture deeply rooted in social impact and democratic principles, fostering a sense of purpose and collective responsibility.

• Cross-functional Interaction: Regular interaction with diverse teams (product, engineering, research, etc.) necessitating strong communication and collaboration skills.

Work Schedule: Full-time (approx. 40 hours/week) with inherent flexibility required for a remote, player-coach role focused on launching a new initiative. This may involve occasional work outside standard hours to accommodate critical project phases or cross-time zone meetings.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote nature of the role emphasizes the need for strong self-management and proactive communication, key operational skills for remote teams. The "start-up within a company" context suggests an environment that values agility and adaptability, requiring operations professionals to be comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Recruiter Screen: Initial assessment of qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Presentation (VP of Design): A critical stage where candidates present their design work, focusing on impact, process, and strategic thinking. This is an opportunity to showcase 0-to-1 product development and AI integration.

• Asynchronous Task (0 to 1 Design Strategy): A practical exercise to evaluate strategic design thinking and problem-solving skills in the context of building something new.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Meetings with 3 team members, likely from product management, engineering, and research, to assess collaboration, technical understanding, and alignment with team dynamics.

• Wrap-up with GM of New Initiative: A final discussion to align on vision, strategic direction, and leadership expectations.

• Reference Checks: Verification of past performance and professional conduct.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Highlight 0-to-1 Success: Clearly showcase projects where you initiated and developed a product or significant feature from concept to launch. Detail the challenges, your strategic approach, and the outcomes.

• Demonstrate AI Integration: Provide specific examples of how you've used AI in your design process or integrated AI features into consumer products, explaining the rationale and impact.

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Illustrate how you design for complex systems, including user flows, data inputs/outputs, and the integration of front-end experiences with back-end operational logic.

• Quantify Impact: Use metrics and data to demonstrate the success of your designs, focusing on user adoption, engagement, efficiency gains, or policy impact.

• Structure for Clarity: Organize your portfolio with clear case study structures: problem, your role, process, solution, and results. Be prepared to articulate your design decisions and strategic rationale concisely.

• Focus on Player-Coach Aspect: Be ready to discuss how you mentor and guide other designers, and how you balance hands-on contribution with team leadership.

Challenge Preparation:

• Anticipate 0-to-1 Scenarios: Prepare to discuss how you would approach designing a new platform for civic engagement, including user research strategies, MVP definition, and core feature prioritization.

• AI Strategy: Be ready to articulate how AI can be best utilized to solve the problems addressed by this platform, considering user needs, ethical implications, and operational efficiency.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Practice explaining complex design decisions and processes in a way that is understandable and compelling to non-design stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is heavily weighted towards strategic design thinking, portfolio demonstration, and cross-functional collaboration, all critical for senior operations roles. The "0 to 1" asynchronous task and portfolio requirements are direct indicators of the need for individuals who can build operational frameworks.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator), InVision, Principle, or similar industry-standard tools for wireframing, UI design, and interactive prototyping.

• AI Integration Tools: Experience with AI/ML platforms or APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Google AI) for prototyping or understanding integration possibilities.

• Collaboration Platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom for communication and remote team collaboration.

• Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello, or similar for managing design tasks and workflows within an agile environment.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Analytics: Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel, or similar platforms for tracking user behavior, engagement, and conversion rates.

• Data Visualization: Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or in-app dashboards for presenting data and insights to stakeholders.

CRM & Automation:

• While not a direct CRM role, understanding how user data is managed and how it informs user journeys is crucial. Familiarity with CRM concepts (Salesforce, HubSpot) or marketing automation platforms could be beneficial for understanding the broader GTM context.

• Design System Management Tools: Tools or methodologies for managing design tokens, component libraries, and documentation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on design tools is standard, but the inclusion of AI, analytics, and the implicit need to understand data flow for user journeys points towards an operations-savvy designer who can bridge the gap between user experience and platform functionality/scalability.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Oriented: A deep commitment to Change.org's mission of empowering citizens and strengthening democracy, translating into a drive for impactful design solutions.

• Integrity & Urgency: Operating with high ethical standards while maintaining a sense of urgency to address pressing civic challenges.

• Collaboration & Candor: Fostering an environment of open communication, constructive feedback, and mutual respect across all teams and levels.

• Pragmatism & Ambition: Balancing ambitious goals with practical execution, focusing on delivering tangible results through well-designed processes and products.

• User-Centricity: Placing the needs, emotions, and agency of users at the forefront of all design and operational decisions.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: A strong emphasis on working closely with product management, engineering, research, and other departments to ensure cohesive product development and a unified user experience.

• Player-Coach Model: A collaborative approach where individuals contribute hands-on while also guiding, mentoring, and elevating the skills of peers or future team members.

• Iterative Feedback Loops: Regular opportunities for feedback and iteration on designs and processes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Shared Ownership: Encouraging a sense of collective responsibility for the success of the Deliberations initiative, moving beyond siloed contributions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values emphasize operational traits like integrity, urgency, pragmatism, and collaboration, all essential for building and scaling new initiatives. The "player-coach" model also highlights a specific operational approach to team development and task management.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• 0-to-1 Product Development: Building a novel platform from scratch, requiring significant strategic thinking, rapid iteration, and comfort with ambiguity.

• Complex Problem Space: Designing for civic engagement and policy-making involves nuanced user needs, diverse stakeholder perspectives, and potential for significant societal impact.

• AI Integration: Effectively and ethically integrating AI into a user-facing product to enhance, rather than complicate, the user experience and operational processes.

• Scaling User Input: Developing robust systems and processes to transform potentially vast amounts of citizen input into credible, actionable policy recommendations.

• Player-Coach Transition: Balancing hands-on design execution with the strategic demands of setting design vision and potentially mentoring future team members.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Strategic Design Leadership: Opportunity to shape the product and design direction from its inception, influencing its long-term trajectory.

• Civic Tech & AI Expertise: Deepen knowledge in the rapidly evolving fields of civic technology and AI-driven product development.

• Team Building & Mentorship: Gain experience in building and leading design teams, mentoring junior designers, and establishing design best practices.

• Cross-functional Impact: Work across multiple disciplines to launch a product that has the potential for significant societal impact.

• Innovation Incubator: Operate within a dynamic, start-up-like environment within a stable organization, fostering innovation and rapid learning.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are very much aligned with operational leadership roles: building from scratch, scaling processes, and managing complex systems. The growth opportunities highlight the transition into broader operational management and strategic influence.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your process for taking a complex problem space, like civic engagement, and translating it into a simple, intuitive user experience for a 0-to-1 product." (Focus on user research, MVP definition, iterative prototyping, and system design.)

• "How would you leverage AI to enhance user agency and drive efficiency in a platform designed to surface public will on policy issues?" (Prepare to discuss specific AI applications, user benefits, and potential operational impacts.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Change.org's mission and specifically in the Deliberations initiative?" (Research Change.org's impact and the problem space of civic tech.)

• "How do you approach building a design culture within a new initiative, especially when acting as a player-coach?" (Discuss your leadership style, mentoring philosophy, and approach to fostering collaboration.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your specific role, the design process, the solutions, and the quantifiable outcomes. Emphasize the why behind your decisions.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (wireframes, mockups, prototypes) to illustrate your design thinking. For AI integration or complex systems, use diagrams or flowcharts.

• Highlight 0-to-1 and AI: Specifically call out projects that demonstrate your ability to build from scratch and integrate AI, explaining the unique challenges and your approach.

• Discuss Operational Impact: Frame your design decisions in terms of their impact on user engagement, operational efficiency, and the platform's ability to scale and deliver on its mission.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your research methods, design trade-offs, and how you handled constraints or feedback.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview preparation advice focuses heavily on demonstrating strategic thinking, process design, and the ability to manage complex, novel initiatives, all crucial for operations roles. The emphasis on "0 to 1" and "AI integration" aligns with building new operational frameworks.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Founding Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature 2-3 of your most relevant B2C projects, specifically highlighting instances of 0-to-1 product development, AI integration, and complex system design. Ensure case studies detail your strategic approach, user research, design process, and measurable outcomes.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to emphasize your 10+ years of experience, leadership capabilities (player-coach, management), experience with AI in design, and success in launching new products. Use keywords like "product design," "UX," "systems thinking," "0-to-1," "AI," "user research," and "design leadership."

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio with a focus on storytelling and articulating your strategic reasoning. Prepare to discuss your approach to building operational processes and user journeys for a novel platform. Rehearse answers to strategy questions related to AI and civic tech.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Change.org's mission, its existing platform, and the stated goals of the Deliberations initiative. Understand the problem space of civic engagement and policy-making to articulate how your design philosophy aligns with their objectives.

⚠️ 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.