Lead Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer (Web3/DeFi) Company: MLabs Location: Brazil Job Type: Full-Time Category: Product Design / UX/UI Date Posted: 2025-12-10 Experience Level: 5-10 Years Remote Status: Fully Remote (with EST overlap)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end design strategy, encompassing user experience (UX), visual design (UI), and brand identity for a novel decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol.
• Drive design thinking, simplicity, and clarity across all product touchpoints within the complex Web3 ecosystem, translating intricate protocol mechanics into intuitive user flows.
• Own the creation and iteration of design systems, ensuring consistency and scalability across the platform from initial research and conceptualization through to the delivery of production-ready interfaces.
• Foster a culture of rapid iteration and high-quality design execution, collaborating closely with engineering and product teams in a fast-paced, high-ambiguity environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a foundational, high-ownership opportunity for a seasoned product designer specializing in the Web3 and DeFi space. The emphasis on "owning from the ground up" and "immense ownership" suggests a critical, strategic contribution to the company's core product offering. The requirement for EST overlap indicates a need for active participation in core business hours for effective collaboration with distributed teams.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• UX/Brand Ownership: Take full responsibility for defining and evolving the user experience, brand identity, and comprehensive design system for the protocol. This includes establishing design principles, visual language, and interaction patterns that resonate with the target audience in the Web3/DeFi space.
• Design Thinking & Simplification: Champion design thinking methodologies to distill complex DeFi protocol mechanics into simple, clear, and delightful user experiences. This involves extensive user research, journey mapping, and ideation to ensure accessibility and ease of use in a technically demanding sector.
• End-to-End Design Delivery: Manage the entire design lifecycle for new features and platform enhancements, from initial user research and conceptualization through low-fidelity wireframing, high-fidelity prototyping, user testing, and final implementation oversight.
• Rapid Iteration & Execution: Consistently deliver high-quality designs at a rapid pace, incorporating user feedback, market trends, and product requirements to iterate quickly and effectively in a dynamic startup environment.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work in close partnership with engineering, product management, and other stakeholders to translate complex technical specifications and business objectives into intuitive and visually appealing user interfaces and workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership and hands-on execution. The "End-to-End Design Delivery" and "Rapid Iteration" aspects are crucial for a startup environment, emphasizing the need for a designer who can not only conceptualize but also execute efficiently and adapt quickly.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating a deep understanding of design principles, user-centered design methodologies, and successful product launches is paramount. A background in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Graphic Design, Industrial Design, or a related field is beneficial.

Experience: Minimum of 5+ years of professional experience in product design, with a significant portion dedicated to designing and shipping complex products within the crypto, Web3, or fintech sectors.

Required Skills:

• Customer Obsessed: Demonstrated ability to deeply empathize with end-users, translating user needs and pain points into effective design solutions that champion simplicity and clarity.
• Well-Rounded Skillset: Proven expertise across the full spectrum of design disciplines, including User Experience (UX) design, User Interface (UI) visual design, and Brand Design.
• Execution Focus: A track record of delivering high-quality designs promptly and iterating rapidly based on user feedback, data, and evolving product requirements.
• Full Ownership: Experience in taking ownership of design challenges end-to-end, from initial research and conceptualization through wireframing, prototyping, and final implementation and testing phases.
• Web3/DeFi Domain Knowledge: Understanding of the Web3 and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem, including its unique user challenges, technical considerations, and design paradigms.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in building and maintaining design systems for complex platforms.
• Proficiency in user research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
• Experience with A/B testing and data-driven design optimization.
• Strong understanding of front-end development principles and their impact on design implementation.
• Familiarity with tokenomics and decentralized application (dApp) user flows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize practical experience in the Web3/DeFi space, indicating that candidates without this specific domain knowledge may face challenges. The "Well-Rounded Skillset" and "Full Ownership" are critical for a lead role where the designer is expected to manage all facets of the design process independently.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Case Studies: Present detailed case studies showcasing end-to-end design projects, particularly those involving complex financial products, crypto, or fintech applications. Highlight your role, the problem addressed, your design process, and the measurable impact of your solutions.
• UX/UI Showcase: Include examples of intuitive user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and polished visual designs that demonstrate your ability to simplify complex systems.
• Brand Identity Examples: Showcase your experience in developing or evolving brand identities, demonstrating how you've translated brand strategy into visual elements and user experiences.
• Metrics & Impact: Quantify the success of your designs wherever possible. Include metrics related to user engagement, conversion rates, task completion, user satisfaction, or any other relevant business outcomes.

Process Documentation:

• Research & Discovery: Demonstrate your approach to user research, competitive analysis, and problem definition. Show how you gather insights to inform design decisions.
• Design Process: Clearly articulate your design methodology, including how you move from ideation to wireframing, prototyping, and high-fidelity design. Explain your rationale behind key design choices.
• Collaboration & Iteration: Provide examples of how you collaborate with cross-functional teams (engineering, product) and incorporate feedback throughout the design process, highlighting your iterative approach.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a lead design role, the portfolio must go beyond just visual appeal. It needs to demonstrate strategic thinking, a robust design process, and a clear understanding of how design impacts business outcomes, especially within the specialized Web3/DeFi context.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: The provided range of $150,000 - $200,000+ USD per year is competitive for a Lead Product Designer role in high-growth Web3 companies, particularly for candidates in regions with higher cost of living or in demand for specialized tech talent. The upper end may extend beyond $220,000 depending on exact experience and negotiation.

Benefits:

• Significant Company Equity: Offers substantial ownership in the company's future success, aligning personal incentives with the protocol's growth.
• Token Allocation: Potential for token grants, providing direct participation in the Web3 ecosystem and the protocol's native value.
• Flexible Working: A fully remote position allowing for maximum flexibility in work location and schedule, catering to a global talent pool.
• Career Growth: Unparalleled opportunity to shape a foundational piece of DeFi infrastructure, offering significant professional development and impact.
• Expert Team: Opportunity to collaborate with a well-funded, expert team backed by premier industry investors.

Working Hours: The role requires a standard full-time commitment, likely around 40 hours per week. Crucially, candidates must ensure a 5-hour overlap with Eastern Standard Time (EST) to facilitate real-time collaboration with distributed team members.

📝 Enhancement Note: The compensation package is heavily weighted towards equity and token allocation, a common practice in the Web3 space to attract and retain talent by offering significant upside potential tied to the company's success. The EST overlap is a critical constraint for remote candidates.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology, specifically within the rapidly evolving Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Web3 sectors. MLabs is building a "unified yield engine for the crypto economy." Company Size: As a well-funded startup, MLabs is likely in a growth phase, suggesting a dynamic, agile, and potentially fast-paced work environment. The "foundational, fully remote role" implies the design function is being established or significantly expanded. Founded: While the founding date isn't explicitly stated, the description of building the "next generation of our platform" and being "well-funded" indicates a relatively new but established venture aiming for significant market impact.

Team Structure:

• The design team is likely small and integrated, with the Lead Product Designer potentially being the sole or primary design resource initially, reporting to a Head of Product or CTO.
• The role necessitates close collaboration with engineering and product management teams, suggesting a flat or matrixed organizational structure common in tech startups.
• Cross-functional collaboration will be central, requiring strong communication and partnership with individuals across different disciplines to achieve product goals.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: Expect a strong emphasis on using data (user analytics, market research, A/B testing) to inform design decisions and measure impact.
• Agile Development: The fast-paced environment and rapid iteration requirements suggest an agile or lean development methodology will be in place.
• User-Centricity: The "customer-obsessed" requirement underscores a commitment to understanding and prioritizing user needs throughout the product development lifecycle.

Company Website: https://mlabs.io/ (Inferred from domain)

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is described as being high-ownership, fast-paced, and focused on innovation within the Web3/DeFi space. The Lead Product Designer will be instrumental in shaping not only the product but also the initial design culture of the company.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Lead-level position, indicating significant responsibility and autonomy. It's a strategic role focused on defining the product's user experience and brand, rather than just executing assigned tasks. The designer is expected to be a proactive contributor and thought leader in the design space.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, a Lead Product Designer typically reports to a Head of Product, VP of Product, or CTO. This role will likely involve direct interaction with senior leadership and cross-functional team leads.

Operations Impact: The Lead Product Designer will have a direct and substantial impact on the success of MLabs' protocol. By creating intuitive and compelling user experiences, they will be crucial for user adoption, engagement, retention, and ultimately, the protocol's growth and market positioning within the competitive DeFi landscape. The ownership of the brand identity also means a significant influence on how MLabs is perceived in the market.

Growth Opportunities:

• Strategic Leadership: Opportunity to build and potentially grow a design team as the company scales, moving from an individual contributor to a management role.
• Domain Expertise: Deepen specialized knowledge in Web3, DeFi, and blockchain technology, becoming a go-to expert in designing for this complex ecosystem.
• Product Definition: Influence product strategy and roadmap by leveraging design insights and user feedback, playing a key role in shaping the future of the protocol.
• Equity/Token Upside: Significant potential for financial growth through equity and token allocations, directly tied to the company's success.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a unique opportunity for a designer to make a significant mark on a foundational DeFi product, with considerable potential for both professional growth and financial reward, characteristic of early-stage, high-potential tech startups.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a fully remote position, meaning there is no central physical office for day-to-day work. Collaboration and communication will be primarily digital.

Office Location(s): While the role is remote and can be based in Brazil, the requirement for 5-hour overlap with EST means candidates must be located in time zones that allow for this (e.g., Brazil, Eastern North America, parts of Europe). The company itself has a global reach with potential operations or investor presence in the US, Europe, Latam, and Dubai.

Workspace Context:

• Digital Collaboration: Expect a heavily digital work environment utilizing communication tools (Slack, Teams), project management software (Jira, Asana), and collaborative design platforms (Figma, Miro).
• Autonomy & Self-Discipline: Remote work demands a high degree of self-discipline, time management, and proactive communication to ensure productivity and team alignment.
• Global Team Interaction: The opportunity to connect with a diverse, international team, offering varied perspectives and cultural insights.

Work Schedule: Full-time, with the critical requirement of a 5-hour overlap with EST. This means candidates will need to structure their workday to accommodate this overlap, potentially involving early mornings or late afternoons depending on their local time zone.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote nature necessitates strong self-management skills. The EST overlap is a key constraint that will shape the daily working hours and availability for synchronous collaboration.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess experience, skills, and alignment with the role requirements.
• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A session where you will present your portfolio, walking through key case studies. Expect in-depth questions about your design process, decision-making, and impact.
• Design Challenge/Exercise: A practical exercise, potentially involving a hypothetical problem or a critique of an existing design, to assess your problem-solving skills, design thinking, and ability to articulate solutions.
• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with engineering and product leads to evaluate your collaboration style, technical understanding, and cultural fit.
• Leadership/Final Interview: A discussion with a senior leader (e.g., CTO, CEO) to assess strategic alignment, leadership potential, and overall fit with the company's vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Prioritize Relevance: Focus on case studies that best represent your experience in Web3, DeFi, complex financial products, or highly technical applications.
• Structure for Impact: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your role and responsibilities, your design process, key challenges, solutions, and measurable outcomes. Use visuals effectively.
• Show, Don't Just Tell: Demonstrate your thinking process. Explain why you made certain design decisions, supported by user research, data, or strategic rationale.
• Quantify Results: Wherever possible, provide metrics that showcase the positive impact of your design work on user behavior, business goals, or product performance.
• Brand & UX Synergy: Highlight how you integrated brand identity with user experience to create a cohesive and compelling product.

Challenge Preparation:

• Deconstruct the Prompt: Thoroughly understand the problem or task presented. Identify key constraints, objectives, and target users.
• Think Aloud: Practice articulating your thought process, assumptions, and design rationale clearly and concisely. This is crucial for assessing your problem-solving skills.
• Focus on Process: Emphasize your approach to tackling the challenge, even if you don't reach a fully polished final design within the given time. Demonstrate your methodology.
• Consider Web3/DeFi Context: If applicable, tailor your approach to the specific nuances of designing for decentralized technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to thoroughly evaluate not only design craft but also strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to operate autonomously in a remote, high-growth environment. The portfolio is a critical component, serving as the foundation for much of the discussion.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD (Figma is highly probable given industry trends and collaborative needs).
• Prototyping & User Testing: InVision, Marvel, or built-in Figma prototyping features.
• Wireframing: Balsamiq, Miro, or within Figma/Sketch.
• Collaboration & Workflow: Jira, Asana, Trello for task management and project tracking.
• Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams for daily team communication.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics (or similar for tracking user behavior within the application).
• Data Visualization: Tableau, Power BI, or dashboarding capabilities within analytics tools for reporting on design impact.

CRM & Automation: While less directly used by a Product Designer, understanding how CRM data (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) might inform user segmentation or how automation workflows impact user journeys could be beneficial.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in modern design tools like Figma is essential. Familiarity with product analytics platforms will be key for demonstrating the impact of design decisions with data.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Ownership & Accountability: A strong emphasis on taking responsibility for one's work and driving outcomes to completion.
• Simplicity & Clarity: A commitment to making complex systems understandable and usable for the end-user.
• Rapid Iteration & Learning: Embracing a culture of continuous improvement through quick feedback loops and learning from both successes and failures.
• Customer Obsession: Placing the user at the center of all design and product decisions.
• Collaboration: Valuing teamwork and effective communication across disciplines to achieve shared goals.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Expect a highly collaborative environment where designers work closely with product managers and engineers, fostering a shared understanding of goals and challenges.
• Open Communication: An emphasis on transparent and frequent communication, particularly in a remote setting, to ensure alignment and address issues proactively.
• Feedback-Driven: A culture that encourages constructive feedback as a means to improve designs and processes, both within the design function and across teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The core values revolve around proactive ownership, user focus, and agility, which are critical for success in a startup environment, especially one operating in the fast-moving Web3 space.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• High Ambiguity: Navigating the inherent uncertainty of a startup environment and a nascent industry like Web3/DeFi, requiring adaptability and strong problem-solving skills.
• Complexity of DeFi: Translating highly complex financial protocols and blockchain mechanics into intuitive and user-friendly interfaces.
• Rapid Pace: Keeping up with the fast-paced development cycle and evolving market demands in the Web3 space.
• Remote Collaboration: Ensuring effective communication, alignment, and team cohesion within a fully distributed team structure.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Domain Expertise: Become a specialist in designing for Web3 and DeFi, a highly sought-after and growing field.
• Product Strategy Influence: Gain experience in shaping product roadmaps and strategic direction from a design perspective.
• Scalability & System Design: Develop skills in designing scalable design systems and complex product architectures.
• Leadership Development: Opportunity to mentor junior designers and potentially build out a design function.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant challenges that are directly tied to substantial growth and learning opportunities, particularly for those looking to establish expertise in the bleeding edge of financial technology.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to design for a highly complex or technical domain. How did you ensure simplicity and clarity for the user?" (Focus on your process, research, and simplification techniques.)
• "How do you approach building or evolving a design system from scratch? What are the key components and considerations?" (Highlight your experience with system design, documentation, and adoption.)
• "Walk us through a project where you took ownership of a design problem end-to-end. What were the biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Emphasize your full-cycle design process and problem-solving approach.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you most about MLabs and the Web3/DeFi space?" (Show genuine curiosity and understanding of the industry.)
• "How do you foster collaboration with engineering and product teams, especially in a remote setting?" (Discuss your communication strategies and experience working cross-functionally.)
• "How do you measure the success of your designs, and what metrics do you prioritize?" (Be prepared to discuss quantitative and qualitative impact.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: Structure your portfolio presentation around compelling stories for each case study, highlighting the problem, your journey, and the resolution.
• Visual Storytelling: Use your designs as visual aids to illustrate your points, but ensure the narrative remains the focus. Explain why the visuals are effective.
• Quantify Impact: Be ready to discuss specific metrics and outcomes. If exact numbers aren't available, discuss the intended impact and how you would measure it.
• Address the Web3/DeFi Context: For each relevant case study, briefly explain how the specific domain influenced your design decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Prepare to demonstrate not just your design skills but also your strategic thinking, ability to operate autonomously, and your understanding of the Web3/DeFi landscape. The interview will likely probe your experience with ambiguity and rapid iteration.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link, ensuring your resume and portfolio are up-to-date and easily accessible.
• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your experience in Web3, DeFi, fintech, and complex product design. Use keywords from the job description, such as "UX," "UI," "Brand Design," "Design System," "Rapid Iteration," and "Customer Obsessed."
• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that best showcase your end-to-end design process, problem-solving skills, and experience in relevant domains. Ensure each case study clearly outlines the problem, your process, your role, and the impact.
• Prepare Your Elevator Pitch: Be ready to concisely articulate your experience and why you are a strong fit for this specific role, emphasizing your understanding of MLabs' mission and the Web3/DeFi space.
• Research MLabs: Familiarize yourself with MLabs' protocol, its mission, and the broader DeFi landscape to demonstrate genuine interest and informed perspective during interviews.

⚠️ 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.

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