Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer

Company: Ecosia

Location: Berlin, Germany

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / GTM Operations

Date Posted: 2026-05-07

Experience Level: Mid-level (3-5 years)

Remote Status: Remote-friendly (Hybrid)

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the visual and interaction quality across Ecosia's core product surfaces, including search, browser, and emerging AI features.

• Take ownership of critical user journeys from initial research through to final shipped experiences, ensuring end-to-end execution.

• Integrate and leverage AI tools within the design process and actively contribute to building AI agents and automations.

• Elevate the Ecosia design system by contributing new components, motion patterns, and design tokens for a distinctive brand identity.

• Foster clear and prompt communication within a distributed team environment, ensuring alignment across product, design, and engineering.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a mid-level Product Designer with a strong emphasis on UI craft and a growing technical edge, particularly in AI. The description suggests a clear growth path towards a senior, systems-oriented role within a few years, indicating an opportunity for significant career development within Ecosia's product and engineering teams. The hybrid work arrangement implies a need for strong self-management and communication skills, crucial for remote collaboration.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• UI Standards & Craftsmanship: Maintain and enhance UI standards across Ecosia's product portfolio, focusing on elevating visual and interaction quality through components, motion, and subtle design details.

• End-to-End Journey Ownership: Lead critical user journeys from conception to launch, defining scope, making design decisions, and driving projects forward autonomously.

• AI Integration & Development: Actively utilize AI tools in the design workflow and develop technical skills in building AI agents, automations, and contributing to codebase with team support.

• Design System Evolution: Contribute to the design system by proposing and implementing new UI components, motion patterns, and design tokens that strengthen Ecosia's distinct visual identity.

• Cross-Functional Communication: Ensure clear and timely documentation of decisions and progress to maintain alignment with Product Managers, Designers (Product, Content, UXR, Brand), and Engineers in a distributed team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of traditional product design duties with a forward-looking focus on AI integration. The emphasis on "owning critical user journeys end-to-end" and "pushing the craft of the design system" suggests a role that requires not just execution but also strategic input and a deep understanding of how design impacts the user experience and brand consistency. The requirement to "pitch into the codebase" with support indicates a unique opportunity for designers to gain hands-on engineering experience.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Not explicitly specified, but a Bachelor's degree in Design, HCI, or a related field is common. A strong portfolio can often substitute for formal education.

Experience: 3-5 years of relevant product design experience, with a demonstrated ability to deliver polished, production-ready designs.

Required Skills:

• UI Design Excellence: Proven UI taste and craft, with a portfolio showcasing considered visual design, including motion, typography, and attention to detail.

• User Journey Mapping & Ownership: Ability to think in terms of user journeys across multiple product surfaces and take ownership of these flows from research to shipped product.

• AI Tool Proficiency & Curiosity: Genuine curiosity and proactive use of AI tools in the design process, with a drive to grow technical skills in prototyping, automation, and potentially agent building.

• Design System Contribution: Experience contributing to and advocating for design systems, including UI components, motion patterns, and design tokens.

• Communication & Collaboration: Strong written and verbal communication skills for effective documentation and collaboration in a distributed team; ability to work independently and manage own projects.

• Bias for Action: A proactive approach to project management, with a preference for shipping and iterating over achieving absolute perfection in process.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with B2B SaaS, productivity software, AI products, or consumer software with technical depth.

• Previous experience with AI code prototyping and agent building.

• Experience working with browsers, web apps, and content pages.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a portfolio that "shows considered visual craft - not just clean flows" and includes "motion, typography, and small details" emphasizes the importance of execution quality. The "genuine curiosity about AI" and desire to "grow into a highly skilled prototyper, using automation, and eventually building workflows or agents" points to a candidate who is not only skilled but also eager for continuous learning and technical development, aligning with Ecosia's innovative approach.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Visual Craftsmanship: Demonstrate strong UI aesthetic, including typography, color theory, layout, and motion design, evidenced through high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes.

• User Journey Execution: Showcase end-to-end ownership of at least one critical user journey, detailing the problem, your process, design decisions, and the final shipped outcome.

• Technical Integration Examples: Include examples of how you've worked with or integrated technical elements, or how you've pushed the boundaries of a design system. If applicable, present any experience with AI tools or code prototyping.

• Design System Contributions: Highlight contributions to design systems, such as new components designed, pattern improvements, or the application of design tokens.

Process Documentation:

• Problem Framing: Clearly articulate the user problem or business challenge addressed in your portfolio projects.

• Design Process Narrative: Detail your design process, including research methods, ideation, prototyping, user testing, and iteration cycles.

• Collaboration & Communication: Explain how you collaborated with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders, and how you documented decisions.

• Impact Measurement: Quantify the impact of your design work where possible, using metrics related to user engagement, conversion, or efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio is crucial for this role, needing to prove not just UI taste but also technical proficiency and ownership. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate how their design work has been implemented into production and how they've contributed to a cohesive and distinctive product experience, especially with the added dimension of AI.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: €56,100 - €64,900 per year.

Benefits:

• Flexible working hours.

• 30 vacation days per year (based on a five-day workweek).

• Designated Focus Times to minimize interruptions.

• Remote work options, fostering work-life balance.

• Green benefits program: subsidized public transport cards and bike inspection services in Berlin.

• Support for professional growth: learning times, hack days, access to online and physical libraries, and continuous feedback culture.

Working Hours: Approximately 40 hours per week, with flexibility offered.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is for the German market, and Ecosia operates with a remote-friendly policy, suggesting that while the office is in Berlin, remote work within Germany is a strong possibility. The listed benefits emphasize work-life balance, professional development, and sustainability, aligning with Ecosia's mission and company culture.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Search Engine Technology, Environmental & Sustainability, Technology. Ecosia is unique as a search engine that uses its profits to plant trees, directly contributing to environmental initiatives. This mission permeates its culture.

Company Size: Approximately 100 employees. This "small but mighty" size suggests a dynamic environment where individuals can have a significant impact and cross-functional collaboration is essential.

Founded: Ecosia was founded in 2013. Its established presence as a mission-driven tech company provides a stable yet innovative backdrop for employees.

Team Structure:

• Cross-functional Teams: Ecosia's Engineering and Product teams are structured into 7 cross-functional teams, promoting close collaboration between designers, product managers, and engineers.

• Departmental Overview: Departments include Engineering, Product, Marketing, Trees, People, and Operations, indicating a comprehensive organizational structure to support its unique mission.

• Reporting: As a Product Designer, you will likely report to a Design Lead or Head of Product, working closely with Product Managers and Engineers within your assigned cross-functional team.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decision Making: While not explicitly detailed for design, Ecosia's operations likely leverage data to inform product development and business decisions, a common practice in tech companies.

• Agile Development: The cross-functional team structure and emphasis on shipping suggest an agile or lean development methodology.

• Mission-Oriented: All processes and decisions are likely guided by Ecosia's core mission of environmental impact, fostering a purpose-driven work environment.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Ecosia's unique mission to plant trees with search revenue is a significant cultural driver. This means candidates should expect a work environment that values social impact alongside technological innovation. The company's size suggests opportunities for broad involvement and direct influence on product, while the cross-functional team setup emphasizes collaboration and shared ownership.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Mid-level Product Designer. This role is for someone who has moved beyond junior responsibilities and is capable of owning significant parts of the product lifecycle. It's a stepping stone towards more senior design roles.

Reporting Structure: You will be part of a cross-functional team, reporting to a design leadership role (e.g., Head of Design or Design Lead) and collaborating closely with Product Managers and Engineering teams. This structure encourages autonomy and direct contribution.

Operations Impact: Product Designers at Ecosia directly influence user experience, engagement, and the overall perception of the brand. By improving core product surfaces and integrating new technologies like AI, they contribute to user growth and retention, which in turn fuels the company's tree-planting mission.

Growth Opportunities:

• Senior Design Roles: A clear path exists to grow into a Senior Product Designer role within a few years, focusing more on systems design, complex problem-solving, and mentorship.

• Specialization in AI Design: The emphasis on AI presents an opportunity to develop specialized skills in designing AI-powered features, agents, and workflows, a rapidly growing field.

• Design System Leadership: Opportunities to take on more responsibility in evolving and maintaining the design system, influencing product consistency and scalability.

• Cross-functional Leadership: As experience grows, there's potential to lead design efforts on larger initiatives or influence product strategy.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of a "clear path to grow into a more senior role within a few years" is a significant indicator of Ecosia's commitment to employee development. Candidates should view this role not just as a job, but as a launchpad for a specialized career in product design, particularly at the intersection of AI and mission-driven technology.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Ecosia is a remote-friendly company with a physical office in Berlin-Wedding. Employees have the flexibility to work from home or come into the office based on their preference and circumstances.

Office Location(s): Berlin, Germany. The office serves as a hub, but the company culture and operational setup are geared towards supporting distributed work.

Workspace Context:

• Flexible Work Setup: The hybrid model allows for a balance between focused individual work at home and collaborative opportunities in the office.

• Tools & Technology: Expect a modern tech stack supporting design and development, with an increasing integration of AI tools. Access to necessary software and potentially hardware will be provided.

• Collaborative Environment: While remote-friendly, the company culture supports interaction and collaboration through designated focus times and communication channels, ensuring designers remain connected and aligned with their teams.

Work Schedule: Approximately 40 hours per week, with flexible working hours. This flexibility is designed to accommodate different working styles and personal needs, while ensuring productivity and project delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "remote-friendly" nature with a physical office in Berlin suggests a company that has embraced modern work practices. While not fully remote, it offers significant flexibility. The emphasis on "Focus Times" indicates a deliberate effort to create an environment conducive to deep work, which is essential for design tasks.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process: (To be shared shortly, but based on industry standards for design roles)

• Initial Screening: Review of CV and portfolio to assess basic qualifications and design aesthetic.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A session where candidates present their portfolio, discussing key projects, design process, and decision-making. This is likely to include a deep dive into UI craft, user journey ownership, and any AI-related experience.

• Design Challenge/Exercise: A practical exercise to assess design skills, problem-solving abilities, and thought process. This might involve a short design task or a case study analysis.

• Team/Hiring Manager Interviews: Discussions focused on cultural fit, collaboration style, technical curiosity (especially regarding AI), and understanding of Ecosia's mission.

• Final Interview: Potentially with senior leadership to discuss career aspirations and overall alignment.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 projects that best showcase your UI craft, end-to-end journey ownership, and any AI-related work. Prioritize quality over quantity.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the design process, key decisions, trade-offs, and the impact of your work. Use visuals effectively.

• Highlight AI & Technical Skills: Explicitly call out any use of AI tools, technical prototyping, or contributions to design systems. Explain your thought process and learning journey.

• Demonstrate Ownership: Emphasize your responsibility for critical user journeys and how you drove projects to completion.

• Tailor to Ecosia: If possible, subtly align your portfolio examples with Ecosia's mission or product areas (search, browser, AI) to show genuine interest.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If given a design challenge, clarify the problem, target users, and constraints.

• Think Aloud: Practice articulating your thought process, design rationale, and any assumptions you're making.

• Focus on Process: Demonstrate a structured approach to problem-solving, even if you don't complete the entire task.

• Consider AI: If relevant, think about how AI could be integrated into the solution or process.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the exact process is not detailed, candidates should anticipate a rigorous evaluation of their design craft, problem-solving skills, and particularly their aptitude and curiosity for AI. The portfolio is the primary tool for demonstrating these capabilities, so meticulous preparation is key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma is the industry standard and highly likely to be Ecosia's primary tool for UI design, wireframing, and prototyping. Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop) may also be used for asset creation.

• Design System Management: Tools for managing design tokens, component libraries, and documentation (e.g., Zeroheight, Storybook, or internal solutions).

• AI Tools: Expect exposure to and use of various AI-powered design assistants, generative AI tools for ideation or asset creation, and potentially tools for building AI agents or automations.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Google Analytics for tracking user behavior, feature adoption, and conversion rates to inform design decisions.

• User Feedback Platforms: Tools for collecting and analyzing user feedback, such as surveys or in-app feedback mechanisms.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a designer's tool, understanding how CRM systems (like Salesforce, HubSpot) and marketing automation platforms impact user journeys can be beneficial for context.

• Internal Tools: Ecosia may use internal tools for project management, documentation, and code repositories (e.g., Jira, Confluence, GitHub).

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI integration means candidates should be comfortable with or eager to learn about AI-powered design tools and workflows. Proficiency in Figma is almost a given for product design roles in tech companies. Understanding how design decisions impact analytics and user behavior is also critical.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven Impact: A core value is contributing to Ecosia's environmental mission, meaning work is tied to a larger positive impact.

• Curiosity & Learning: A strong emphasis on continuous learning, particularly in emerging technologies like AI, and a willingness to be challenged and grow.

• Craftsmanship & Quality: A commitment to high-quality design, paying attention to the details that make a product exceptional and distinctive.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Working effectively in a distributed team requires open communication, transparency in decision-making, and mutual respect.

• Bias for Action & Shipping: A culture that values execution and getting products into users' hands, combined with iterative improvement.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Synergy: Designers work closely with Product Managers and Engineers in agile teams, fostering a collaborative environment where ideas are shared and decisions are made collectively.

• Open Feedback Culture: Continuous feedback is encouraged for professional growth and product improvement.

• Distributed Team Communication: Reliance on digital communication tools (Slack, email, video conferencing) to maintain connection and alignment across different locations and time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: Ecosia's culture is likely to be a blend of a mission-driven non-profit ethos and the fast-paced innovation of a tech startup. Candidates should be motivated by purpose and comfortable with a collaborative, learning-oriented, and execution-focused environment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Craft with AI Integration: Evolving the design process to effectively incorporate AI tools and workflows while maintaining high UI craft standards and a distinctive brand identity.

• Cross-Surface Design Complexity: Designing cohesive user journeys across diverse product surfaces (search, browser, AI) requires strategic thinking and a strong grasp of the overall user experience.

• Remote Collaboration Effectiveness: Ensuring seamless communication, alignment, and team cohesion within a distributed work environment.

• Driving Design System Adoption: Influencing engineers and other designers to consistently adopt design system components and patterns across the product portfolio.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-driven design, including prompt engineering, AI agent development, and integrating AI into user workflows.

• Design Systems Evolution: Gain experience in architecting, scaling, and leading the evolution of a comprehensive design system.

• Product Strategy Influence: Grow to have a greater impact on product strategy and roadmap through demonstrated design leadership and cross-functional collaboration.

• Mentorship: Opportunities to be mentored by senior designers and potentially mentor junior designers as career progresses.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary challenge and opportunity lie in the intersection of advanced UI/UX craft with the emerging field of AI. Candidates who can navigate this space and demonstrate a capacity for continuous learning will thrive. Ecosia's commitment to growth means that embracing these challenges will directly translate into career advancement.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you owned a critical user journey from start to finish. What were the key challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Focus on process, decision-making, and ownership.)

• "How do you approach maintaining UI standards and ensuring visual consistency across different product surfaces?" (Highlight your understanding of design systems, craft, and collaboration.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What attracts you to Ecosia's mission, and how do you see your role contributing to it?" (Show genuine interest in the company's purpose.)

• "How do you collaborate effectively in a distributed or hybrid team environment? Describe your communication style." (Focus on transparency, proactivity, and tool usage.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your role, the process, key decisions, trade-offs, and the final outcome/impact.

• Highlight UI Craft & AI: Explicitly showcase your UI design skills, motion, typography, and any AI integration or technical aspects. Explain why you made certain design choices.

• Quantify Impact: Use metrics where possible to demonstrate the success of your design solutions.

• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design process, technical challenges, and how your work aligns with Ecosia's goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to articulate their design process with a strong emphasis on UI craft and end-to-end ownership. The interview will likely probe their curiosity and practical application of AI tools, as well as their ability to thrive in a mission-driven, collaborative, and remote-friendly environment.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Tailor your Resume: Highlight your 3-5 years of experience, specific UI design skills, experience with design systems, and any exposure to AI tools or technical prototyping. Use keywords from the job description.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select your strongest projects that demonstrate UI craft, end-to-end user journey ownership, and ideally, contributions to design systems or AI. Ensure it's easily accessible online (e.g., PDF, personal website).

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice presenting your portfolio projects, focusing on your process, decision-making, and the impact of your work. Be ready to discuss your curiosity for AI and how you contribute to a team.

• Research Ecosia: Familiarize yourself with Ecosia's mission, products (search, browser, AI initiatives), and company values to demonstrate genuine interest and cultural fit.

⚠️ 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.