Lead Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer
Company: Weve
Location: Ireland (Remote, within UTC±3)
Job Type: Full-Time
Category: Product Design / UX/UI
Date Posted: October 16, 2025
Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (4+ years)
Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• This is a foundational role for a Lead Product Designer, tasked with shaping the design direction and culture of an early-stage cybersecurity SaaS startup.
• The role involves translating complex security operations concepts into intuitive and effective user experiences through end-to-end product design ownership.
• You will be instrumental in building and evolving the company's design system, ensuring consistency and scalability across all product touchpoints.
• This position requires close collaboration with the founder and engineering team, influencing product scope, priorities, and technical feasibility from a design perspective.
• The Lead Product Designer will also manage external design resources and drive the establishment of a robust, scalable design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job title is "Lead Product Designer," the description emphasizes a "founding" role and "first design-focused hire." This suggests a high degree of autonomy, strategic input, and the potential to build out a design function from scratch, rather than managing an existing team. The focus on translating complex security concepts and data into user experiences points to a challenging but rewarding role for a designer skilled in data-rich SaaS platforms.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with the founder and engineering team to conceptualize and design user interfaces that simplify complex cybersecurity operations.
• Take full ownership of the design system in Figma, from initial concept sketches and wireframes to detailed interactive prototypes and production-ready specifications.
• Develop innovative visual metaphors and intuitive interfaces for cybersecurity data, relationships, and investigative workflows, moving beyond standard dashboards.
• Actively participate in early-stage product discussions, providing design input to influence scope, prioritization, and technical feasibility assessments.
• Conduct user research, testing, and gather feedback to iteratively refine product usability, engagement, and overall user satisfaction.
• Define, document, and maintain the company's visual language, design standards, and style guides across product, marketing collateral, and internal tools.
• Manage a budget for external design freelancers, coordinating and quality-assuring their work on tasks such as marketing assets and specific design projects.
• Establish and champion a clear, scalable design process that can adapt and grow with the company's expansion.
• Drive user-centric design thinking throughout the product development lifecycle, ensuring a cohesive and high-quality user experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibility to "Explore creative visual metaphors for cybersecurity data and relationships" indicates a need for a designer who can think conceptually and visually, not just functionally. The mention of "investigative and narrative interfaces" suggests a move towards more advanced data storytelling and user journey mapping within the product.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent practical experience and applied design principles is paramount.

Experience:

• A minimum of 4 years of professional experience in digital product design, with a preference for complex or data-rich SaaS platforms.
• Proven experience in a "founding" or early-stage role, demonstrating the ability to build design functions and processes from the ground up.

Required Skills:

• Figma Mastery: Advanced proficiency in Figma, including components, auto-layout, variants, interactive prototyping, and comprehensive design system management.
• UX Depth: Solid understanding and practical application of information architecture, interaction logic, visual hierarchy, and accessibility principles.
• Technical Product Acumen: Experience designing for technical products such as developer tools, cybersecurity platforms, data analytics software, or similar complex systems is highly advantageous.
• Structural Thinking: Ability to logically structure and design around complex data sets and intricate workflows, prioritizing clarity and functionality over mere aesthetics.
• Async Collaboration: Excellent communication and documentation skills, with a strong preference and proven ability for asynchronous collaboration and clear written communication.
• Curiosity and Adaptability: A proactive and adaptable mindset thrives in ambiguous environments, with a demonstrated ability to prototype rapidly and iterate based on user feedback.
• Team Player Mentality: Commitment to collaborative teamwork and positive interpersonal dynamics, avoiding a "brilliant jerk" approach.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the cybersecurity industry or with security operations (SecOps) tools.
• Familiarity with user research methodologies and the ability to translate insights into actionable design improvements.
• Experience in defining and managing visual design languages and brand guidelines.
• A portfolio that showcases a progression of design responsibilities and impactful contributions to digital products.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for "4+ years of experience designing digital products, ideally complex or data-rich SaaS platforms" combined with the "founding" nature of the role suggests they are looking for someone who can not only execute but also strategize and lead the design vision. The emphasis on "technical products" and "structurally think about data and workflows" indicates a need for a designer comfortable with complex, information-heavy interfaces, not just consumer-facing applications.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Design Process: Showcase a clear and comprehensive design process from problem identification and user research through to final UI implementation and iteration.
• Figma Design System: Provide specific examples of design systems built or significantly contributed to within Figma, highlighting component libraries, usage guidelines, and scalability features.
• Complex Data Visualization: Include case studies demonstrating the design of interfaces for complex, data-rich applications, with a focus on clarity, interpretability, and actionable insights derived from data.
• Impactful UX Solutions: Present projects where your design decisions led to measurable improvements in user experience, usability, engagement, or task completion rates, ideally for SaaS products.
• Technical Product Design: If applicable, include examples of designing for technical audiences or complex software, such as developer tools, analytics platforms, or cybersecurity solutions.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Demonstrate the ability to map, analyze, and optimize complex user workflows, particularly those involving data analysis, investigation, or operational tasks.
• System Implementation Standards: Showcase an understanding of how design systems integrate with development workflows and ensure consistent implementation across different product features.
• Measurement and Performance Analysis: Present how you measure the success of design initiatives, using metrics related to user engagement, task success, and overall product adoption.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given this is the "first design-focused hire" and a "founding" role, the portfolio should not only showcase execution skills but also strategic thinking about process and system building. Evidence of establishing design standards, managing Figma effectively, and designing for complex data will be crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• Estimated Range: €65,000 - €95,000 per annum (Gross)
• Rationale: Based on industry benchmarks for Lead Product Designers with 4+ years of experience in Ireland, especially within the tech and SaaS sectors. Remote roles within UTC±3 also factor into this range, considering the global talent pool and cost of living adjustments. This range reflects the seniority and foundational nature of the role.

Benefits:

• Fully Remote: Work from anywhere within the UTC±3 time zone, offering significant flexibility.
• Competitive Salary: A salary commensurate with experience and the strategic importance of the role.
• Equity: Significant equity stake in a fast-growing early-stage startup, providing potential for substantial financial upside.
• Occasional Travel: Opportunities for in-person team meetups, hackathons, and deep product whiteboarding sessions in Western Europe, fostering team cohesion and strategic alignment.
• Founding Team Impact: The ability to significantly influence product direction, design culture, and company trajectory.

Working Hours:

• Standard: Approximately 40 hours per week, with a strong emphasis on asynchronous communication and flexible work arrangements within the specified UTC±3 time zone. This allows for focused work without strict adherence to traditional office hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate for Ireland, considering the company is hiring remotely within UTC±3. The equity component is a significant part of the compensation for early-stage startups, offering potential upside beyond the base salary. The mention of occasional travel for in-person sessions is important for candidates to consider for team building and strategic planning.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Cybersecurity SaaS. Weve is positioned to disrupt how Cloud Security Operations are performed, addressing inherent inefficiencies and complexities in the current market. Company Size: Early-stage startup. This means a small, talent-dense, and highly agile team where individual contributions have a profound impact. Founded: Recently founded, with a founder who is a seasoned ex-Fortune 500 security leader, bringing significant industry expertise and vision.

Team Structure:

• Small & Elite: A tight-knit group of creative builders with experience from leading global companies.
• Async-First: Operations are designed around asynchronous communication, leveraging modern tools for efficiency and flexibility.
• Glass-Door Workplace: High transparency and direct access to leadership, including the founder.
• Product-Minded: A shared focus on building an industry-defining product.

Methodology:

• Iterative Development: Rapid prototyping and continuous learning from user feedback and market insights.
• Data-Driven Design: Utilizing data to inform design decisions and measure product impact.
• User-Centricity: Deep engagement with users to understand needs and validate hypotheses.
• Strategic Collaboration: Close partnership between design, engineering, and leadership to define product direction.

Company Website: https://weve.security

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture is described as "talent-dense," "creative builders," "product-minded," and "async-first." This suggests a high-performance environment that values autonomy, initiative, and effective remote collaboration. The "glass-door workplace" is a key differentiator, implying open communication and direct access to the founder.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a "Lead Product Designer" and the "first design-focused hire," signifying a senior, foundational position. It offers the opportunity to establish and lead design practices rather than manage a large team initially. The scope includes strategic influence on product direction and design culture.

Reporting Structure: You will report directly to the founder, who has extensive experience in cybersecurity leadership. This provides a direct line of communication and significant mentorship opportunities.

Operations Impact: As the lead designer, you will have a direct and tangible impact on the product's success, user adoption, and the company's overall market positioning in the cybersecurity SaaS space. Your work will be critical in translating highly technical concepts into accessible and effective user experiences, directly influencing revenue and customer acquisition/retention.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: Opportunity to build and scale the design function as the company grows, potentially leading a team in the future.
• Strategic Influence: Directly shape the product roadmap, design strategy, and company culture from its early stages.
• Industry Expertise: Deepen knowledge in cybersecurity and cloud security operations, becoming a specialist in a critical and evolving field.
• Skill Expansion: Develop expertise in areas like complex data visualization, narrative interface design, and establishing scalable design systems in a startup environment.
• Mentorship: Direct mentorship from an experienced founder and the ability to mentor future design hires.

📝 Enhancement Note: This is a "build-it-yourself" design leadership opportunity. The growth path is less about climbing a predefined corporate ladder and more about shaping the growth of the design function and the company itself. The direct reporting to the founder is a significant factor in the potential for high-impact learning and career acceleration.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. The company operates on an async-first model, minimizing the need for synchronous meetings and allowing for focused, independent work. Office Location(s): Remote, anywhere within UTC±3. This broad geographical scope allows for talent acquisition globally while maintaining reasonable overlap for collaboration. Occasional in-person offsites will be held in Western Europe.

Workspace Context:

• Async-First Culture: Workflows and communication are optimized for asynchronous interaction, promoting deep work and flexibility.
• Modern Tooling: Utilization of the latest tools for design, collaboration, and project management, ensuring an efficient and productive work environment.
• Collaborative Environment: Despite being remote, the team fosters a tight-knit, collaborative spirit through intentional communication and planned in-person meetups.
• Direct Access: Open channels for communication with the founder and engineering team, facilitating quick feedback loops and decision-making.

Work Schedule: Flexible, within the UTC±3 time zone. The company values output and effectiveness over strict adherence to hours, supporting a healthy work-life balance while ensuring project deadlines are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "async-first" nature is a critical aspect of the work environment, appealing to individuals who prefer focused work without constant interruptions. The requirement to be within UTC±3 is specific and important for candidates to note, impacting time zone overlap for any necessary synchronous interactions.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of application and portfolio to assess fundamental design skills, experience with complex SaaS, and Figma proficiency.
• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: Typically involves presenting a few key case studies that demonstrate your design process, problem-solving approach, and impact. Expect deep dives into your Figma design system work and experience with technical products.
• Founder/Hiring Manager Interview: A conversation focused on strategic thinking, cultural fit, understanding of cybersecurity operations, async work style, and your vision for design at Weve.
• Technical/Engineering Collaboration: Potentially a session with engineering to discuss technical feasibility, collaboration on specs, and workflow integration.
• Final Round: May involve a more in-depth discussion on company vision, long-term design strategy, and compensation/equity.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Highlight Process: Clearly articulate your design process for each case study, emphasizing how you tackled complex problems, user needs, and technical constraints.
• Showcase Figma Mastery: Provide specific examples of your Figma design systems, components, auto-layout, and prototyping capabilities. Demonstrate how you've built and maintained them.
• Focus on Impact: Quantify your achievements whenever possible. Use metrics to show how your designs improved user experience, efficiency, or business outcomes.
• Data-Rich Design Examples: Include projects that involved designing for complex data sets, analytical interfaces, or operational workflows.
• Tailor to Weve: Emphasize any experience with cybersecurity, technical SaaS, or complex data visualization. Show you understand their market and challenges.
• Async Communication: Prepare to discuss how you approach documentation and asynchronous collaboration effectively.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Exercise: Be prepared for a potential design challenge, likely focused on a specific aspect of the cybersecurity operations problem space. This might involve wireframing, prototyping a key workflow, or proposing a visual metaphor for complex data.
• Strategic Thinking: Demonstrate your ability to think strategically about product vision, user needs, and business goals within the cybersecurity context.
• Problem Decomposition: Practice breaking down complex problems into smaller, manageable design tasks.
• Communication Clarity: Ensure you can articulate your rationale clearly and concisely, as if communicating asynchronously.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "complex security concepts" and "data-rich SaaS platforms" means candidates should prepare to showcase work that demonstrates their ability to design for intricate information architecture and potentially abstract technical subject matter. The "async-first" culture will likely be a significant factor in interview discussions.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core tool for UI/UX design, prototyping, and design system management. Mastery is explicitly required.
• Prototyping Tools: Figma's built-in prototyping capabilities, potentially supplemented by other tools for more advanced interactions if needed.
• Design System Management: Tools and methodologies for creating, maintaining, and scaling design systems within Figma.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Analytics Platforms: Experience with tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or similar for tracking user behavior and product engagement metrics.
• Data Visualization Tools: Familiarity with how data is presented and consumed, understanding the principles behind effective data dashboards and reports.
• Product Analytics: Ability to interpret data from analytics tools to inform design decisions and measure design impact.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly part of the design role, an understanding of how CRM systems (like Salesforce) and marketing automation platforms function can provide context for a holistic GTM strategy, although direct experience is not listed as a requirement. The focus is on product design for the end-user.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma is the central tool. The role requires not just using it, but mastering its advanced features for design systems and prototyping. While direct CRM/automation tool experience isn't listed, understanding how product usage translates into business metrics (via analytics) is key for demonstrating impact.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Curiosity: A drive to understand complex problems, explore new solutions, and continuously learn.
• Adaptability: Thriving in ambiguity, embracing change, and iterating rapidly based on feedback and new information.
• Collaboration: Working effectively with others, particularly in an async-first, remote environment, valuing diverse perspectives.
• Ownership: Taking initiative and responsibility for outcomes, from initial concept to final implementation.
• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and serving user needs, ensuring products are intuitive and effective.
• Clarity Over Decoration: Prioritizing functional clarity, logical structure, and usability in design decisions.

Collaboration Style:

• Async-First Communication: Reliance on clear, concise written communication, detailed documentation, and asynchronous tools to facilitate collaboration across time zones.
• Direct & Transparent: Open communication with the founder and engineering team, fostering a "glass-door" environment.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Close working relationships with engineering and product leadership to align on vision, feasibility, and execution.
• Feedback Integration: A culture that encourages and actively uses user feedback and internal critique to refine designs and processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "curiosity," "adaptability," and "ownership" aligns with early-stage startup culture. The "async-first" and "glass-door" aspects define the specific communication and transparency norms. The value of "clarity over decoration" is a strong indicator of the desired design philosophy for this technical product.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Ambiguity: Navigating the inherent uncertainties of an early-stage startup, defining processes and product direction as the company evolves.
• Complex Domain: Translating highly technical and abstract cybersecurity concepts into intuitive user experiences.
• Building from Scratch: Establishing the design system, processes, and potentially a future design team without existing frameworks.
• Remote Collaboration: Maintaining strong team cohesion, communication, and design quality in a fully remote, async-first environment.
• Balancing Vision and Feasibility: Aligning ambitious design visions with technical constraints and development timelines.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: Opportunity to define and build the design function, setting the standard for future hires and processes.
• Cybersecurity Domain Expertise: Gaining deep knowledge in a critical and rapidly evolving industry.
• Strategic Product Development: Direct involvement in shaping product strategy and roadmap from inception.
• Advanced Data Design: Developing expertise in designing for complex data sets and analytical interfaces.
• Startup Environment Mastery: Learning to operate and thrive in a fast-paced, resource-constrained startup setting.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary challenge is the "build-it-yourself" nature of the role in an ambiguous startup environment. The growth opportunities are directly tied to overcoming these challenges and contributing to the foundational growth of the company.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach designing an interface to visualize complex relationships between different security threats and assets?" (Focus on information architecture, visual metaphors, and data clarity).
• "Describe your process for building and maintaining a design system in Figma, especially in a remote, async environment." (Highlight Figma mastery, component strategy, and documentation).
• "How do you balance user needs with technical constraints and business goals when designing for a complex SaaS product?" (Demonstrate strategic thinking and problem-solving).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you most about the cybersecurity industry and the problem Weve is solving?" (Show genuine interest and understanding).
• "How do you ensure effective collaboration and communication in a fully remote, async-first team?" (Provide concrete examples of your methods).
• "Describe a time you had to adapt your design process significantly due to changing project requirements or feedback." (Highlight adaptability and learning).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: For each case study, clearly present the problem, your role, the process you followed, the solutions you designed, and the impact achieved.
• Figma Demo: Be prepared to walk through your Figma files, showcasing your design system, component usage, and prototyping skills.
• Data Visualization Focus: If applicable, clearly explain your design choices for handling complex data, emphasizing clarity, interpretability, and actionability.
• Async Communication Emphasis: Discuss how you document your design decisions and communicate them effectively to remote teams.
• Conciseness: Given the likely time constraints, be prepared to present key information efficiently and answer questions thoughtfully.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interviewers will be assessing not just design skills but also strategic thinking, problem-solving capabilities in a complex domain, and adaptability to an async-first, remote startup environment. Your portfolio should be a testament to your ability to handle ambiguity and build from the ground up.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on join.com.
• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your most relevant projects that best showcase your experience with complex SaaS, data-rich applications, and Figma design systems. Prioritize projects that demonstrate your ability to design for technical products or intricate workflows.
• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight keywords such as "Product Design," "UX/UI," "Figma," "Design Systems," "SaaS," "Cybersecurity" (if applicable), and "Remote Work." Quantify your achievements with metrics where possible.
• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your chosen portfolio pieces, focusing on your process, problem-solving, and the impact of your designs. Be ready to discuss your approach to asynchronous collaboration and building design processes from scratch.
• Research Weve: Understand their mission, the problem they are solving in cybersecurity operations, and their stated values. Prepare thoughtful questions that demonstrate your engagement and strategic thinking.

⚠️ 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.

---