Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: Knak

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: 2025-10-31

Experience Level: Mid-Senior (2-5 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (Remote OK)

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the design and development of innovative features for a leading enterprise email and landing page creation platform.

• Lead product growth initiatives, particularly in the emerging area of campaign generation using generative AI.

• Conduct continuous user research and translate insights into actionable design improvements and user-centered solutions.

• Contribute to and maintain a scalable design system, ensuring consistency and enhancing user experience across the platform.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management and Engineering teams to define, prioritize, and deliver high-impact features.

📝 Enhancement Note: The raw job description lacks a specific "Senior" designation in the title but implies it through the depth of responsibilities and the need for leadership in design system development and UX vision. The provided experience level of "2-5 years" aligns with a mid-senior, not strictly senior, but the scope of work suggests a level where strategic input and ownership are expected. This enhancement categorizes it as Mid-Senior to accurately reflect the responsibilities.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Feature Design & Development:

  • Partner with Product Managers and Engineers to define, prioritize, and scope new features, aligning with user needs, market trends, and business objectives.
  • Develop detailed, high-fidelity design mockups, interactive prototypes, and comprehensive user interface specifications.
  • Ensure design implementation accuracy and uphold user-friendliness through close collaboration with engineering teams.
  • Provide design expertise and support within agile development sprints, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, and user story elaboration.

• User Research & UX Vision:

  • Lead and execute continuous discovery methodologies, including user interviews, journey mapping, and opportunity exploration to uncover unmet user needs.
  • Plan and conduct diverse user research initiatives, such as usability testing, surveys, and in-depth interviews.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and align UX strategies, translating research findings into tangible design improvements.
  • Champion user-centered design principles and foster a deep understanding of user needs across the organization.
  • Facilitate design workshops, critiques, and story-mapping sessions to drive innovation and collective problem-solving.

• Design System Management:

  • Actively contribute to the development, maintenance, and evolution of Knak's comprehensive design system for its email marketing platform.

  • Define, document, and enforce design principles, reusable components, and patterns to ensure a consistent and delightful user experience.

  • Integrate design system components seamlessly into the development workflow in partnership with Product and Engineering.

  • Continuously refine and update the design system based on user feedback, performance data, and emerging industry best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities are detailed and cover the full product design lifecycle, from discovery and research to detailed design and system maintenance. The emphasis on generative AI and campaign generation suggests a forward-thinking product strategy, which is a key area for product designers to focus on.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• Proven experience as a Product Designer or similar role, with a strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in designing user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX) for web applications, particularly in a SaaS environment.

Required Skills:

• Design Proficiency: Mastery of design and prototyping tools, with a strong emphasis on Figma. Experience with AI-based design tools is required.

• UX Methodologies: Deep understanding of usability principles, user-centered design methodologies, and accessibility standards (WCAG).

• Research Acumen: Experience with user research methodologies, including usability testing, surveys, and interviews, and a data-driven approach to design decisions.

• Technical Understanding: Good technical understanding of web standards, modern front-end development concepts, and especially CSS (including experience with frameworks like Tailwind, Bootstrap, etc.). Knowledge of HTML and how it impacts web accessibility is crucial.

• Collaboration & Communication: Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills to effectively articulate design ideas, rationale, and user insights to diverse stakeholders (technical and non-technical).

• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical thinking skills to break down complex problems into manageable, actionable components that deliver incremental value.

• Design Systems: Experience contributing to or maintaining design systems, understanding of design principles, components, and patterns.

Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience in email marketing platforms or SaaS product design.

• Familiarity with modern front-end frameworks like Vue.js or React.js.

• Experience with generative AI tools and their application in design workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The job description explicitly calls for proficiency in Figma and AI-based design tools. It also highlights the importance of HTML/CSS knowledge and web accessibility, which are critical for a product that deals with web-based content like emails and landing pages. The "2-5 years" experience level suggests that while senior-level strategic thinking is valued, hands-on execution and a solid foundation in core design principles are paramount.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 end-to-end product design projects that highlight your process from problem identification to final solution.

• Demonstrate your ability to conduct user research, define user problems, and translate insights into intuitive user interfaces and experiences.

• Include examples of high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, and user flow diagrams.

• Clearly articulate your role and contributions within each project, especially in cross-functional team settings.

• Showcase your understanding of design systems and how you've either contributed to or utilized them.

Process Documentation:

• For each portfolio project, clearly outline the design process followed, including:

  • Discovery and Research phases (e.g., user interviews, competitive analysis, data analysis).

  • Ideation and Conceptualization (e.g., wireframing, user flows, brainstorming sessions).

  • Design and Prototyping (e.g., UI design, interactive prototypes, design system application).

  • Validation and Iteration (e.g., usability testing, A/B testing, feedback incorporation).

  • Collaboration with Engineering and Product Management.

📝 Enhancement Note: The prompt explicitly requests a portfolio link. This section infers the expected content and structure based on industry best practices for product design roles, emphasizing the end-to-end process, user-centricity, and the demonstration of tangible impact. The mention of generative AI implies a need to see how candidates approach emerging technologies.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Benefits:

• Competitive Salaries

• Equity in the Company

• Comprehensive Health and Dental Benefits

• Generous Paid Vacation time

• Life Leave Days (for personal emergencies and life events)

• Regular Team Lunches

• Company Off-Sites and Team Building Events

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours, approximately 40 hours per week.

• Flexibility may be available, particularly for remote or hybrid arrangements, to accommodate effective work completion and collaboration across different time zones if applicable.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary range is estimated based on typical mid-senior Product Designer roles in Ottawa, Canada, considering the company's industry (SaaS) and size. Benefits are directly extracted from the job description. Working hours are standardized at 40 hours/week, with an acknowledgment of potential flexibility.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Software as a Service (SaaS), Marketing Technology (MarTech), Enterprise Software.

Company Size: (LinkedIn data not provided. Based on typical Greenhouse/startup growth, likely 50-250 employees, growing.)

Founded: (Founding date not provided, but the company is established and growing, indicated by its presence on Greenhouse and awards.)

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is part of a dynamic and expanding design department.

• Designers collaborate closely with Product Managers, Engineers, and potentially Marketing teams.

• The role involves working within agile development processes, implying close-knit, cross-functional teams.

Methodology:

• User-Centered Design: A core methodology, emphasized through continuous discovery, user research, and turning insights into actionable improvements.

• Agile Development: Design work is integrated into agile sprints, requiring iterative development and close collaboration with engineering.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Insights derived from user research and potentially product analytics inform design choices.

• Design Systems: A structured approach to ensure design consistency and efficiency.

• Generative AI Integration: Exploring and implementing emerging technologies like generative AI for product enhancement.

Company Website: https://knak.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Information about company size and founding date was not provided. Assumptions are made based on the platform (Greenhouse) and common startup growth trajectories. The company's mission and values are heavily emphasized in the provided text, which is crucial for understanding their culture.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Mid-Senior Product Designer. This level signifies an individual contributor role with significant ownership over product areas, a strong command of design principles and tools, and the ability to influence product strategy through design. They are expected to mentor junior designers and lead complex projects.

Reporting Structure: Likely reports to a Head of Product Design, Design Manager, or Director of Product, depending on the company's organizational structure. Will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads.

Operations Impact: The Product Designer's work directly impacts the user experience of Knak's platform, influencing customer adoption, retention, and satisfaction. By improving the usability and efficiency of the email and landing page creation tools, and by driving innovation with features like AI-powered campaign generation, the designer contributes directly to customer success and the company's market competitiveness. This role is critical in translating business goals into user-friendly solutions that drive engagement and conversions for Knak's clients.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in areas like UX research, design systems, AI-driven design, or front-end development integration.

• Leadership: Progress to a Senior Product Designer role with increased strategic influence, or move into a Lead Product Designer or UX Manager position.

• Cross-functional Exposure: Gain deeper understanding of Product Management, Engineering, and Marketing strategies.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior designers and contribute to the growth of the design team.

• Impact with Emerging Tech: Be at the forefront of integrating generative AI into a core SaaS product, offering valuable experience with cutting-edge technology.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section infers career trajectory and impact based on the role's responsibilities and the company's focus on innovation and growth. The "Mid-Senior" designation is key here, implying a balance of execution and strategic input.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Knak is recognized as "Ottawa's Best Places to Work 2024," suggesting a positive and supportive in-office environment. The "Remote OK" status indicates a hybrid work model is supported.

Office Location(s): Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Specific office address not provided)

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative: The company culture emphasizes collaboration, with opportunities to work closely with cross-functional teams (Product, Engineering, Marketing).

• Tools & Technology: Access to industry-standard design and prototyping tools (Figma), and potentially AI-powered design software. The company likely provides necessary hardware and software for design work.

• Team Interaction: Regular team lunches, off-sites, and design workshops foster strong team cohesion and knowledge sharing.

Work Schedule:

• Standard full-time, approximately 40 hours per week.

• Hybrid work model is supported, allowing for a mix of in-office and remote work, providing flexibility for effective workflow management, especially for designers who may need focused time away from office distractions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Remote OK" status combined with an office location in Ottawa points to a hybrid model. The award for "Best Places to Work" strongly suggests a positive and well-structured work environment.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

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

• Portfolio Review & Technical Interview: A more in-depth discussion with a hiring manager or senior designer, focusing on your portfolio. Be prepared to walk through 2-3 key projects, explaining your process, design decisions, challenges, and outcomes. Expect questions about your approach to user research, problem-solving, design systems, and collaboration.

• Design Challenge (Potential): You may be asked to complete a take-home design exercise or a live design challenge to assess your problem-solving skills, design thinking, and ability to articulate your process under time constraints. This often involves a specific product problem or feature ideation.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with Product Managers and Engineers to assess collaboration style, technical understanding, and ability to work effectively within a cross-functional team.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader (e.g., Head of Product, CTO) to discuss strategic alignment, long-term vision, and overall fit with the company.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Storytelling: Structure your portfolio case studies like a narrative: problem, your role, process, solution, and impact.

• Process Emphasis: Detail your design process, including research, ideation, iteration, and validation. Show why you made certain decisions.

• Visual Clarity: Ensure your mockups and prototypes are clean, professional, and easy to understand.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, include metrics that demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., improvements in conversion rates, user satisfaction scores, task completion times).

• Highlight AI & Systems: Specifically, if you have experience with generative AI in design or significant contributions to design systems, make these prominent.

• Tailor to Knak: Briefly explain why Knak's mission and product resonate with you and how your skills align with their needs.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Problem: If given a challenge, ensure you fully grasp the problem statement and its business context.

• Define Scope: Clearly define the scope of your solution and any assumptions you make.

• Show Your Thinking: Articulate your thought process, even if you don't reach a perfect solution. Focus on how you approach problem-solving.

• Consider Constraints: Acknowledge technical constraints (HTML/CSS, web standards) and business goals.

• Presentation: Prepare to present your solution concisely and professionally, highlighting key design decisions and rationale.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section outlines a typical interview process for a product design role in a SaaS company. The emphasis on portfolio review and potential design challenges is standard. Specific advice is tailored to highlight the requirements mentioned in the job description, such as AI and design systems.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

• Figma: The core design and prototyping tool. Proficiency is essential for creating high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, and user flows.

• AI-Based Design Tools: Experience with any AI tools that assist in design ideation, generation, or workflow optimization.

Design System Management:

Collaboration & Communication:

• Project Management Tools: Likely Jira, Asana, or similar for agile sprint management and task tracking.

• Communication Platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar for daily team communication.

• Video Conferencing: Zoom, Google Meet for remote meetings and interviews.

Web Technologies (Understanding Required):

• HTML & CSS: Strong understanding of web standards, especially how they impact design implementation and web accessibility.

• CSS Frameworks: Experience with frameworks like Tailwind CSS or Bootstrap is beneficial.

• Front-End Frameworks (Familiarity): Knowledge of modern frameworks like Vue.js or React.js is a plus, aiding in collaboration with engineering.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section focuses on the tools explicitly mentioned or strongly implied by the job description. Figma is paramount. The inclusion of AI tools and web technologies like HTML/CSS and front-end frameworks is crucial for a product designer in this context.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Creativity & Innovation: Empowering people to be creative is the company's mission. This translates to valuing innovative design solutions and encouraging creative problem-solving.

• Customer Centricity: A strong focus on making successful and happy customers by providing a powerful, easy-to-use platform. Decisions are often driven by user needs and feedback.

• Efficiency & Impact: The platform is built by marketers for marketers to make them more efficient and improve campaign conversion rates. The design role is expected to contribute to these efficiency gains.

• Collaboration: Working closely with cross-functional teams is a key aspect of the role, indicating a collaborative and team-oriented culture.

• Growth Mindset: The company emphasizes career growth for its employees, suggesting a culture that supports learning and development.

• Fun: The company states they have "a bit of fun while doing it, too!" indicating a desire for a positive and enjoyable work environment.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Designers work hand-in-hand with Product Managers and Engineers, participating in agile processes.

• Data-Informed: Design decisions are informed by user research and potentially product analytics.

• Iterative & Feedback-Driven: The agile environment fosters continuous feedback and iterative design improvements.

• Design Critiques & Workshops: Actively engaging in design critiques and workshops to foster innovative solutions and collective problem-solving.

📝 Enhancement Note: Values are extracted directly from the company's stated mission and culture points, emphasizing creativity, customer focus, efficiency, and collaboration. The "Best Places to Work" award reinforces a positive and supportive team culture.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Integrating Generative AI: Designing intuitive and effective user experiences for campaign generation using generative AI, a nascent and rapidly evolving field. This involves managing user expectations and ensuring AI outputs are useful and controllable.

• Balancing User Needs with Technical Constraints: Designing within the realities of HTML/CSS limitations for email and web, ensuring accessibility and cross-browser/client compatibility while meeting ambitious feature goals.

• Scalability of Design System: Continuously evolving and maintaining a robust design system that supports rapid feature development across a growing platform.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring design vision is consistently understood and implemented across multiple engineering teams and product stakeholders.

• User Research in a Niche Market: Deeply understanding the specific needs and workflows of enterprise marketers using email and landing page platforms.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Emerging Technology: Gaining hands-on experience with generative AI in a product design context.

• Design System Leadership: Deepening expertise in design system architecture, governance, and implementation.

• SaaS Product Design: Refining skills in designing for complex, enterprise-level SaaS applications.

• Cross-functional Mastery: Enhancing collaboration and communication skills with Product Management and Engineering.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to grow into a mentorship role for junior designers.

• Industry Recognition: Contributing to a product that has been recognized as "Ottawa's Best Places to Work."

📝 Enhancement Note: Challenges are derived from the role's specific responsibilities (AI, design systems, SaaS) and common product design hurdles. Growth opportunities are framed around skill development and career progression within the context of the role and company.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Tell me about a time you used generative AI in your design process. What were the challenges and outcomes?"

  • Preparation: Be ready to discuss specific tools, your approach to prompt engineering for design, how you validated AI outputs, and any ethical considerations. Showcase how you managed the unpredictability of AI.

• "Describe your experience building or contributing to a design system. How do you ensure adoption and maintain its scalability?"

  • Preparation: Detail your process for defining components, patterns, and guidelines. Discuss how you collaborate with engineering for implementation and how you handle versioning and updates. Use examples from your portfolio.

• "How do you balance user needs with technical constraints, especially concerning HTML/CSS for email and web accessibility?"

  • Preparation: Prepare an example where you had to make trade-offs. Discuss your understanding of web standards, accessibility best practices (WCAG), and how you communicate these constraints to stakeholders.

• "Walk me through a complex UX problem you solved. What was your process, and what was the impact?"

  • Preparation: Select a strong portfolio piece and be ready to explain the problem, your research, ideation, design decisions, and the measurable results. Focus on your analytical and problem-solving skills.

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why Knak? What about our mission and product interests you?"

  • Preparation: Research Knak's mission ("Empowering people to be creative"), their product (enterprise email/landing page creation), and their recent awards. Connect your passion for design and your skills to their goals.

• "How do you approach collaboration with product managers and engineers?"

  • Preparation: Discuss your experience in agile environments, your communication style, and how you ensure alignment and buy-in for your design solutions. Reference specific examples of successful cross-functional work.

• "Describe a time you had to advocate for a user-centered design decision that was initially met with resistance."

  • Preparation: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to illustrate how you used data, research, and persuasive communication to champion the user's needs.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select Wisely: Choose 2-3 projects that best showcase your end-to-end design process, problem-solving skills, and experience relevant to Knak (SaaS, UI/UX, potentially AI or design systems).

• Focus on Process: Don't just show final screens; explain the why behind your decisions. Detail your research, ideation, iteration, and testing phases.

• Emphasize Impact: Quantify the results of your designs whenever possible. If exact metrics aren't available, discuss anticipated impacts or qualitative feedback.

• Highlight Collaboration: Mention how you worked with PMs and engineers, and any challenges or successes in that collaboration.

• Keep it Concise: Aim for 5-10 minutes per project, leaving ample time for discussion and questions.

• Technical Nuances: Be prepared to discuss your understanding of HTML/CSS and accessibility in the context of your designs.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation is structured around common product design interview formats, focusing on strategy, company fit, and portfolio presentation. Specific questions are crafted to probe the key requirements mentioned in the job description, such as AI, design systems, and technical understanding.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position:

• Submit Your Application: Utilize the provided link (likely through Greenhouse.io).

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest projects that best demonstrate your end-to-end design process, problem-solving abilities, and relevant experience. Ensure your portfolio clearly highlights your contributions, research methodologies, design rationale, and any measurable impact. Specifically, showcase any experience with AI-driven design or design system contributions.

• Optimize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight keywords and responsibilities mentioned in the job description, such as "Product Design," "UX/UI," "Figma," "User Research," "Design Systems," "Generative AI," "HTML/CSS," and "Agile Development." Quantify your achievements where possible.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice walking through your selected portfolio projects. Be ready to articulate your design process, the challenges you faced, the solutions you implemented, and the outcomes achieved. Prepare answers to common interview questions related to collaboration, problem-solving, and company fit.

• Research Knak: Understand Knak's mission ("Empowering people to be creative"), their product offerings, and their company culture, especially their recognition as "Ottawa's Best Places to Work." Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer.

⚠️ 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.