Product Designer, Growth

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer, Growth

Company: Clay Labs

Location: New York, NY, United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / Growth Operations

Date Posted: 2026-04-22

Experience Level: 8-12+ Years (Staff Level/Above)

Remote Status: Hybrid (United States)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead product design initiatives within a dedicated growth pod focused on accelerating customer acquisition, activation, and retention through strategic experimentation and data-driven insights.

• Develop and implement scalable design systems and reusable patterns to facilitate rapid, consistent growth experimentation across the organization.

• Act as a trusted design consultant, providing frameworks, patterns, and guidance to other teams to enhance their growth experiment execution and product-led growth (PLG) strategies.

• Synthesize quantitative data and qualitative research to identify high-leverage growth opportunities and influence product roadmap prioritization.

• Drive cross-functional alignment with Product Management and Engineering teams to champion both short-term experimental wins and long-term systems investments essential for scalable growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Product Designer, Growth," the responsibilities and required experience strongly indicate a role that bridges product design with elements of growth operations and strategy. The emphasis on experimentation, data synthesis, and building scalable systems for growth aligns with operationalizing growth initiatives. This role is crucial for translating growth hypotheses into repeatable, efficient product processes.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Ship Growth Experiments: Design and deliver impactful growth experiments across acquisition, activation, and retention funnels in close partnership with growth Product Managers and Engineering leads, with a clear focus on measurable outcomes.

• Drive Evidence-Informed Prioritization: Leverage quantitative signal (e.g., funnel data, A/B test results) and qualitative insights (e.g., user research, interviews) to identify and champion the highest-leverage opportunities for growth.

• Align Stakeholders: Effectively influence roadmap direction, communicate complex tradeoffs clearly, and build consensus across Product, Engineering, and leadership for both rapid experimentation and strategic systems investments.

• Build Scalable Experimentation Systems: Design flexible, reusable design patterns and components (e.g., onboarding carousels, contextual tooltips, empty states, upgrade prompts) that enable the growth pod and broader organization to run experiments efficiently without requiring bespoke design for each iteration.

• Consult and Enable Other Teams: Provide expert design guidance, frameworks, and reusable patterns to other product teams, empowering them to confidently design and execute their own high-leverage growth experiments and product-led growth initiatives.

• Contribute to Design Systems: Actively contribute to and evolve the company's design system by identifying successful experiment components that can be productized into shared patterns, ensuring consistency and accelerating future development.

• Champion User Experience in Growth: Ensure that growth initiatives are not only effective but also maintain a high standard of user experience, balancing experimentation speed with long-term product quality and user satisfaction.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strategic blend of hands-on design execution and systemic thinking. The emphasis on "building systems that scale experimentation" and "enabling other teams as a growth consultant" positions this role as a key driver of operational efficiency within the growth function. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate how they've built scalable solutions in previous roles.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio and demonstrable experience in design methodologies, user research, and growth experimentation are paramount.

Experience: 8-12+ years of progressive experience in product design, with a significant portion focused on growth, product-led growth (PLG), or experimentation-driven product development. Demonstrated experience operating at a staff level or above, with a track record of defining scope, driving strategic direction, and mentoring others.

Required Skills:

• Growth Design Expertise: Proven experience designing and shipping experiments in growth, PLG, or experimentation-focused contexts; deep understanding of funnels, activation loops, and the impact of UX on key growth metrics.

• Evidence-Informed Decision Making: Proficiency in synthesizing and leveraging both quantitative data (analytics, A/B tests, funnel analysis) and qualitative insights (user research, interviews, usability studies) to inform design strategy and execution.

• Consulting & Influence: Demonstrated ability to embed within product teams and simultaneously advise broader groups; strong skills in building alignment, influencing without authority, and elevating design thinking across cross-functional partners.

• Scalable Systems & Pattern Design: Innate ability to design for scalability, creating reusable patterns, frameworks, and components that reduce design debt and accelerate future experimentation efforts.

• Clear Design Process: Ability to identify key problems, explore multiple solutions, articulate tradeoffs, and develop processes that serve shared goals, rather than for their own sake.

• Excellent Communication & Collaboration: Strong visual communication skills, complemented by robust verbal and written communication; comfort with both synchronous and asynchronous communication in a fast-paced environment.

• Craftsmanship & Attention to Detail: Commitment to pixel-perfect execution and inspiring a similar level of care in engineering partners.

Preferred Skills:

• Design Systems Contribution: Experience contributing to or leading the development of design systems, particularly in the context of enabling experimentation and product flexibility.

• A/B Testing Strategy: Experience designing and iterating on A/B tests, understanding statistical significance, and translating results into actionable design improvements.

• User Research Methodologies: Proficiency in a range of qualitative research methods to uncover user needs and validate growth hypotheses.

• Cross-functional Leadership: Experience leading design efforts within cross-functional pods or teams, demonstrating leadership beyond individual contribution.

• Mentorship Experience: Proven ability to mentor junior designers and elevate design capabilities within a team or organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement (8-12+ years at staff level or above) signifies a senior, strategic role. Candidates should prepare to showcase not just design output, but also strategic thinking, system-building capabilities, and influence. The mention of "defining your own scope" suggests a high degree of autonomy.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Growth Experimentation Case Studies: Present 2-3 detailed case studies showcasing your direct involvement in designing and shipping growth experiments. Each case study should clearly articulate the problem, your hypothesis, the design solution, the experimentation methodology (e.g., A/B test details), the results (quantified impact on key metrics), and your learnings.

• Scalable Design Systems & Patterns: Include examples of design systems, component libraries, or reusable patterns you've designed or significantly contributed to. Highlight how these systems enabled faster iteration, consistency, or scalability for product teams.

• Data-Informed Design Examples: Showcase instances where you used quantitative data (funnel analysis, A/B test results) and qualitative insights (user research) to drive design decisions and product iterations.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration Examples: Briefly describe projects where you collaborated closely with Product Managers, Engineers, and other stakeholders to align on growth strategies and deliver product solutions.

Process Documentation:

• Experimentation Workflow: Be prepared to discuss your typical process for taking a growth hypothesis from ideation through design, experimentation, and iteration. This includes how you collaborate with PM and EM.

• Design System Integration: Demonstrate how you approach integrating new, successful experiment components into a broader design system or pattern library.

• Data Synthesis & Action: Explain your methodology for synthesizing diverse data sources (quantitative and qualitative) to inform design decisions and communicate actionable insights.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a role focused on growth and experimentation, the portfolio should heavily emphasize quantifiable results and the process of iterative improvement. Candidates should be ready to articulate the "why" behind their design choices and demonstrate how they measure success. The "systems that scale experimentation" aspect is critical, so showcasing reusable components or frameworks is highly advisable.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $160,000 - $250,000 USD per year.

Benefits:

• Equity: Participation in the company's employee equity program.

• Coaching: Access to world-class coaches specializing in creativity, management, and personal/professional development.

• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Likely includes medical, dental, and vision coverage.

• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO): Standard for tech companies, likely including vacation, sick days, and holidays.

• 401(k) Plan: Retirement savings plan with potential company match.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for learning, conferences, and skill enhancement.

• Remote Work Stipend: Potential for home office setup or co-working space reimbursement, given the hybrid nature.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours (approximately 40 hours per week), with flexibility expected for a hybrid work arrangement and potential for asynchronous collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is competitive for a senior-level Product Designer in a high-cost-of-living area like New York City, especially for a high-growth, well-funded tech company like Clay Labs. The inclusion of "Equity" and "Coaching" as stated benefits is significant and speaks to the company's culture and employee value proposition. The "Hybrid" work arrangement implies a need for some in-office presence, though specific days are not detailed.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology, Software (specifically AI-powered growth and data platforms).

Company Size: Rapidly growing startup, indicated by Series C funding ($100M) and a $5B valuation. This suggests a dynamic, fast-paced environment with a significant number of employees (likely hundreds, with potential for rapid scaling).

Founded: Founded prior to 2025, with significant growth milestones achieved by 2025 and 2026.

Team Structure:

• Growth Pod: This role is embedded within a dedicated "growth pod," which typically consists of a Product Manager, Engineering Lead, designers, and potentially data analysts, focused on specific growth objectives.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: The role requires close collaboration with Product Management, Engineering, and potentially Marketing, Data Science, and other design teams.

• Leadership Influence: Expect interaction with senior leadership, particularly concerning roadmap influence and strategic investments in growth systems.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Experimentation: A core operational principle involves systematically identifying growth levers through quantitative data and qualitative signals, then turning these into testable hypotheses.

• Iterative Product Development: Emphasis on shipping experiments quickly, learning from results, and iterating rapidly to find durable product experiences.

• Systemic Design Thinking: A strategic approach to building reusable patterns and systems that scale experimentation and reduce bespoke design efforts.

• Creative Practice for Growth: The company views growth as a creative practice, encouraging unique ideas and constant iteration, moving beyond rigid formulas.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Clay Labs appears to foster a culture that values creativity, data-driven decision-making, and a unique approach to operations (e.g., "negative maintenance," "non-attached action"). The emphasis on community (customers, partners, Slack members) suggests a strong focus on user engagement and feedback loops, which is highly relevant for growth-focused roles. The company's rapid growth and significant funding indicate a high-performance environment.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This "Product Designer, Growth" role is positioned at a senior to staff level. This implies a high degree of autonomy, strategic input, and the ability to influence product direction and operational processes related to growth. It's a role for an individual contributor who can operate with significant independence and drive significant impact.

Reporting Structure: Likely reports into a Design Lead, Head of Product, or Head of Growth, within the dedicated growth pod structure. The role also involves influencing and consulting with other teams, indicating a peer-level influence beyond direct reporting lines.

Operations Impact: The core function of this role is to directly impact key business operations metrics:

• Customer Acquisition: Designing and optimizing flows that attract new users.

• Activation: Improving onboarding and initial user experience to drive feature adoption.

• Retention: Developing features and experiences that keep users engaged and reduce churn.

• Revenue Growth: Directly contributing to strategies that increase ARR, likely through upgrade prompts, feature adoption leading to higher value, and overall user expansion.

• Operational Efficiency: Building reusable design patterns that reduce the time and resources required to run growth experiments across the organization.

Growth Opportunities:

• Strategic Influence: Opportunity to shape the growth strategy and product direction of a rapidly scaling company.

• System Building: Lead the design and implementation of scalable systems that will underpin future growth efforts.

• Mentorship & Leadership: As a staff-level designer, there's an expectation to mentor junior designers and potentially shape design best practices within the growth function.

• Career Advancement: Potential to move into lead design roles within growth pods, broader design leadership positions, or even transition into product management or strategy roles focused on growth operations.

• Skill Development: Deepen expertise in growth frameworks, experimentation methodologies, data analysis, and design systems at scale within a high-growth tech environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a significant opportunity for a designer to operate at a strategic level, impacting business operations through product design. The emphasis on "systems that scale experimentation" and influencing other teams means this role is about more than just designing screens; it's about operationalizing design for growth.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid. This suggests a mix of remote work and in-office collaboration, likely in New York City. The company culture, as described, values community and connection, so in-office days are likely focused on collaborative sessions, team building, and strategic discussions.

Office Location(s): New York, NY, United States. This is a major tech hub, offering access to talent and a vibrant industry ecosystem.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Pod Structure: Work within a dedicated growth pod, fostering close, daily collaboration with PM, EM, and engineers.

• High-Tech Environment: Expect access to modern design and collaboration tools.

• Asynchronous & Synchronous Communication: The company culture supports both, requiring proficiency in tools like Slack for quick communication and Notion/documentation for asynchronous knowledge sharing.

• Creative & Diverse Team: The company highlights its team members' diverse interests and backgrounds, suggesting an inclusive and stimulating environment where creativity is encouraged beyond core job functions.

Work Schedule: Standard full-time hours are expected, but the hybrid and fast-paced nature of a startup often implies flexibility and a focus on outcomes rather than strict adherence to hours. Asynchronous work practices allow for some flexibility in scheduling, provided deliverables are met and collaboration needs are addressed.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid nature in New York City means candidates should be prepared for some level of in-office presence, likely for key collaborative sessions or team meetings. The emphasis on diverse backgrounds and "unconventional" culture suggests an environment that values individual expression alongside professional output.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Likely a brief call with a recruiter to assess basic qualifications and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Review & Design Challenge: A key stage will involve presenting your portfolio, focusing on growth-related case studies. You may be given a design challenge or asked to walk through a specific project in detail, demonstrating your process, decision-making, and impact.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and potentially other designers to assess collaboration style, technical understanding, and strategic thinking.

• Leadership Interview: A final interview with a senior leader (e.g., Head of Product, Head of Design, or CEO) to evaluate strategic alignment, leadership potential, and cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Quantify Everything: For each growth project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the actions taken, and most importantly, the quantifiable results (e.g., "increased conversion by X%", "reduced drop-off by Y%").

• Focus on Process & Rationale: Be prepared to deep-dive into your thought process: why you made certain design decisions, how you synthesized data, and how you handled tradeoffs.

• Showcase Systemic Thinking: Highlight examples where you designed reusable patterns or systems, explaining how they improved efficiency or scalability for growth efforts.

• Tailor to Growth: Emphasize projects that directly relate to acquisition, activation, retention, and experimentation. Clearly articulate your understanding of product-led growth principles.

• Be Ready for Design Challenges: Practice tackling growth-related design problems under time constraints. Focus on demonstrating a structured approach, clear communication, and data-informed rationale.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Clay's Product: Familiarize yourself with Clay's platform, its target audience, and its value proposition. Research their current growth strategies if possible.

• Growth Frameworks: Refresh your knowledge of common growth frameworks (e.g., AARRR, HEART), experimentation methodologies, and key growth metrics.

• Data Analysis & Interpretation: Be prepared to discuss how you interpret funnel data, A/B test results, and user feedback to inform design decisions.

• Communication: Practice articulating your ideas clearly and concisely, both visually and verbally. Be ready to present your work and thought process to various stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio review for this role is critical. Candidates should select case studies that explicitly demonstrate their ability to drive measurable growth through design, their understanding of experimentation, and their capacity to build scalable systems. The "staff level" expectation means they'll be looking for strategic thinking and impact beyond individual feature design.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly probable given industry trends), Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite.

• Prototyping & Interaction: Figma, ProtoPie, InVision, or similar tools for creating interactive prototypes to test growth hypotheses.

• Design Systems Management: Tools for managing and documenting design systems (e.g., Zeroheight, Storybook) may be part of the workflow.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, or similar platforms for tracking user behavior, funnel analysis, and experiment results.

• A/B Testing Platforms: Optimizely, VWO, or internal experimentation tools for designing, running, and analyzing A/B tests.

• Data Visualization: Tableau, Looker, or internal dashboards for understanding and communicating performance metrics.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot (to understand customer data flows and sales/marketing touchpoints, though direct use might be less common for a designer).

• Collaboration & Documentation: Notion, Confluence, Slack, Google Workspace for team communication, documentation, and project management.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job title is Product Designer, the "Growth" aspect and emphasis on experimentation and data mean familiarity with analytics and A/B testing platforms is crucial. The ability to translate data insights into design actions and to design for integration with these systems will be highly valued. Figma is almost certainly a core tool.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Creativity as a Practice: Growth is viewed as an inventive field requiring unique ideas and continuous iteration, not just formulaic execution.

• Data-Informed Judgment: A strong emphasis on using both quantitative and qualitative data to guide decisions, but with an understanding that data informs, not dictates, judgment.

• Efficiency & Scalability: A drive to build systems and processes that enable faster, more consistent execution, particularly in growth experimentation.

• Impact & Results Orientation: Focus on shipping experiments and delivering measurable impact on key business metrics.

• Collaboration & Alignment: Strong emphasis on working effectively across teams (Product, Engineering, Design) to achieve shared goals.

• Continuous Learning: Encouragement to explore new ideas, experiment, and learn from both successes and failures.

Collaboration Style:

• Pod-Based Partnership: Deep integration within a cross-functional growth pod, fostering close, daily collaboration.

• Consultative Approach: Willingness to step outside the immediate pod to advise and mentor other teams, sharing best practices and patterns.

• Open Communication: Default to visual communication but with strong verbal and written skills, comfortable with both synchronous and asynchronous methods.

• Feedback Culture: Expectation of constructive feedback exchange to drive continuous improvement in design and product outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's stated operating principles like "negative maintenance" and "non-attached action," along with their unique culture, suggest an environment that values introspection, deliberate action, and a departure from conventional corporate norms. Candidates should be prepared to understand and potentially embrace these distinct cultural elements.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Speed with Quality: Shipping rapid experiments without creating long-term design debt or inconsistent user experiences.

• Systematizing Experimentation: Designing flexible, reusable components and patterns that truly enable non-designers or less experienced designers to run effective experiments.

• Data Interpretation & Synthesis: Effectively gathering, interpreting, and acting upon diverse quantitative and qualitative data streams to identify the most impactful growth levers.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Influencing roadmap decisions and gaining buy-in from multiple stakeholders with potentially competing priorities.

• Defining "Durable" Product Experiences: Identifying when an experiment has proven successful enough to be productized into a shared, long-term pattern versus remaining a temporary test.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Expertise in Growth Design: Become a leading expert in designing for acquisition, activation, and retention within a high-growth SaaS environment.

• Scalable Systems Design: Develop advanced skills in creating and managing design systems and reusable components for a rapidly evolving product.

• Data-Driven Product Strategy: Hone abilities in using analytics and experimentation to directly shape product strategy and business outcomes.

• Mentorship & Thought Leadership: Opportunity to mentor junior designers and become a thought leader in growth design within the company and potentially the broader industry.

• Exposure to AI & Cutting-Edge Tech: Work with a product that leverages AI, offering exposure to emerging technologies and their application in growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to a fast-paced growth environment. The opportunities highlight the role's potential for significant professional development and impact, particularly for someone looking to specialize in growth operations and product strategy.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Growth Strategy & Vision: "Describe a time you identified a significant growth opportunity through data and how you translated that into a product strategy and design execution. What were the results?"

• Systems & Scalability: "How would you approach designing a system of reusable components for growth experiments (e.g., onboarding carousels, upgrade prompts) that could be easily iterated on by PMs and Engineers? Walk me through your process."

• Data Synthesis & Tradeoffs: "Imagine you have conflicting data signals for a growth experiment. How would you reconcile these to make a design decision? What tradeoffs would you consider?"

• Stakeholder Management: "How do you influence stakeholders (PM, Eng, Leadership) to prioritize investments in scalable design systems for growth, especially when there's pressure for short-term wins?"

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Based on your research, what do you see as Clay's biggest growth opportunity, and how would design play a role in it?"

• "Our operating principles include 'negative maintenance' and 'non-attached action.' How do these resonate with your approach to design and collaboration?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: For each case study, start with the business objective and key metrics. Clearly define your role and contribution. Detail the problem, your hypothesis, the design solution, and the experimentation methodology. Crucially, present the quantitative results and your key learnings.

• Highlight Systemic Contributions: If you have examples of reusable patterns or design system contributions, present them separately or weave them into your growth case studies, explaining how they enabled scalability.

• Focus on Rationale: Be prepared to answer "why" for every decision. Explain the data and research that informed your choices and how you handled uncertainty or conflicting information.

• Engage Your Audience: Make it a conversation. Ask clarifying questions, gauge their interest, and be ready to dive deeper into specific aspects of your work.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interviewers will be looking for a blend of strategic thinking, operational execution, and strong communication skills. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate how they move beyond just aesthetics to drive quantifiable business outcomes through design and how they can build repeatable processes for growth.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer, Growth position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that clearly demonstrate your experience in growth design, experimentation, and building scalable systems. Quantify your impact with specific metrics.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight keywords related to growth, product-led growth, experimentation, A/B testing, design systems, data analysis, and staff-level contributions. Emphasize achievements over responsibilities.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice articulating your portfolio projects, focusing on your process, strategic thinking, and the measurable results you achieved. Be ready to discuss how you would approach growth challenges at Clay.

• Research Clay Labs: Understand their product, mission, recent funding news, and their unique operating principles and culture. This will help you tailor your responses and demonstrate genuine interest.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions for a role of this nature and level. All details regarding responsibilities, qualifications, and the interview process should be verified directly with Clay Labs during the application and interview stages.