Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer Company: Speechify Location: Remote (Global) Job Type: Full-Time Category: Product Design / UX/UI Date Posted: 2025-11-03T11:50:52 Experience Level: Mid-Senior (5-10 years) Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the design and refinement of consumer-facing products across multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and web applications.
• Drive innovation and user experience improvements within a rapidly evolving AI and audio technology domain, directly impacting millions of users.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and data scientists to translate user needs and business objectives into intuitive and effective design solutions.
• Influence the product roadmap and contribute to the strategic direction of Speechify's design organization in a fully distributed, high-growth startup environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The raw job description indicates a "Product Designer" role, but the responsibilities listed (Pitch, prototype, test, build, ship, and refine new features, Refine our UX/UI patterns across our iOS and Android apps, Rethink our onboarding and core user flows, Influence the product roadmap, Refine our process and help shape the design org) strongly align with a senior-level product designer who is deeply involved in the end-to-end product development lifecycle. The mention of "AI Infrastructure engineer" in the "Overview" section seems to be a misstatement or an error in the original job posting, as the detailed responsibilities and qualifications clearly point to a design role. This enhancement focuses on the Product Designer aspect.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end design process for new features and product enhancements, from initial research and discovery through to prototyping, user testing, and final delivery across Speechify's suite of products (iOS, Android, Chrome Extension, Web App).
• Conduct user research, analyze user feedback, and leverage analytics data to deeply understand user needs, identify pain points, and pinpoint key opportunities for product improvement.
• Translate complex requirements and user insights into elegant, intuitive, and user-friendly interfaces, focusing on typography, information design, and micro-interactions, with a particular emphasis on audio-centric experiences.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including Product Management, Engineering, and Data Science, to ensure design solutions are technically feasible, strategically aligned, and meet business objectives.
• Champion design best practices, refine UX/UI patterns, and contribute to the development of design systems and standards across all platforms, influencing the overall design strategy and process.
• Rethink and optimize core user flows, including onboarding, to improve user engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction.
• Actively participate in shaping the product roadmap by pitching innovative ideas and providing design-driven insights based on user research and market trends.
• Mentor and provide design guidance to other team members, contributing to the growth and evolution of the design organization within a remote-first setting.

📝 Enhancement Note: The original description mentions "AI Infrastructure engineer" in the overview, which is inconsistent with the detailed responsibilities of a Product Designer. The responsibilities have been interpreted and expanded based on typical Senior Product Designer roles in a fast-paced tech environment, focusing on user-centric design, cross-functional collaboration, and product strategy influence.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating practical application of design principles is paramount. Candidates with formal education in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or related fields will be considered alongside those with equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 5-10 years of progressive experience in Product Design, with a proven track record of delivering successful consumer-facing digital products across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Web). Demonstrated experience in a high-growth startup environment is highly valued.

Required Skills:

• Product Thinking & Strategy: Ability to understand business strategy, articulate design rationale ("what" and "why"), and work collaboratively with Product Managers to identify key opportunities through analytics and user insights.
• User Research & Discovery: Proficiency in conducting user research, synthesizing findings, and translating them into actionable design decisions. Experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• UX/UI Design: Expertise in designing intuitive and engaging user experiences and interfaces across mobile (iOS/Android) and web platforms.
• Prototyping & Iteration: Skilled in creating interactive prototypes (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) to test concepts and iterate on designs based on feedback.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively with engineers, product managers, data scientists, and other stakeholders, fostering a collaborative and productive design process.
• Communication & Articulation: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate design decisions, rationale, and trade-offs to diverse audiences.
• Customer-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and advocating for the user, with experience incorporating customer feedback throughout the design lifecycle.
• Craft & Execution: Strong command of typography, information design, visual hierarchy, and micro-interactions. Understanding of platform-specific design guidelines (iOS Human Interface Guidelines, Android Material Design).
• Focus & Adaptability: Ability to manage workload effectively in a fast-paced, remote environment, prioritizing tasks and adapting to changing priorities.

Preferred Skills:

• Audio Design Experience: Curiosity and understanding of audio-centric user experiences and interfaces.
• AI/ML Product Exposure: Familiarity with products leveraging AI/ML, particularly in the context of content consumption or accessibility.
• Analytics Tools Proficiency: Experience with product analytics platforms (e.g., Mixpanel, Amplitude, Google Analytics) to inform design decisions.
• Design System Development: Experience in creating or contributing to design systems for consistency and scalability.
• Experience with Learning Differences: Understanding or experience designing for users with learning differences (e.g., dyslexia, ADD).

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements were inferred from the "An Ideal Candidate Should Have" section and expanded to include standard expectations for a Senior Product Designer, emphasizing strategic thinking, research methodologies, and cross-functional collaboration, which are critical for influencing product direction in a startup.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing a range of end-to-end product design projects, demonstrating your process from research and ideation to final execution and impact.
• Projects should highlight your ability to tackle complex user problems, refine UX/UI patterns, and deliver user-centric solutions for consumer-facing products across mobile and web platforms.
• Include case studies that clearly articulate the problem, your role, the design process, key decisions made, and the measurable outcomes or impact of your work.
• Demonstrate proficiency in user research, prototyping, and iteration, with examples of how you've used data and user feedback to inform design.

Process Documentation:

• Portfolio entries should detail your approach to user research, including methodologies used and how insights were translated into design.
• Showcase your process for creating wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity mockups, emphasizing iterative design.
• Include examples of how you collaborated with engineering and product teams, illustrating your communication and negotiation skills.
• Present how you measure the success of your designs, using metrics or qualitative feedback to demonstrate impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: Portfolio requirements are crucial for design roles, especially at a senior level. These points emphasize demonstrating a structured, user-focused design process and quantifiable impact, which are key evaluation criteria for design leaders.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Senior Product Designer in a fully remote, global role with 5-10 years of experience, a competitive salary range can be estimated between $120,000 - $180,000 USD annually, depending on experience, specific skill set, and candidate location.

📝 Enhancement Note: Speechify operates as a global, remote company, and compensation can vary significantly based on the candidate's geographic location due to differences in cost of living and market rates. This range is an estimate based on industry benchmarks for similar roles in major tech hubs and remote markets. Specific compensation will be determined by the candidate's experience, skills, and location.

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation: Includes base salary, potential for equity or performance-based bonuses.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans, tailored for remote employees.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Vacation, sick leave, and public holidays to ensure work-life balance.
• Remote Work Stipend: Support for home office setup, internet, and other work-related expenses.
• Professional Development: Budget for conferences, courses, books, and other learning opportunities to foster continuous growth.
• Life-Changing Product Impact: The opportunity to work on a product that significantly helps millions of users, particularly those with learning differences.
• Asynchronous Work Culture: A commitment to an exceptional work environment that prioritizes effective asynchronous communication and collaboration, respecting global time zones.
• Team Building & Connection: Virtual events and opportunities to connect with a global, distributed team.

Working Hours: While Speechify operates on a 40-hour work week, the company emphasizes an exceptional asynchronous work culture. This means flexibility in daily schedules, with an expectation that team members are available for crucial meetings and collaborative sessions, respecting global time zones and promoting focused work periods.

📝 Enhancement Note: Benefits are inferred from typical offerings at high-growth, remote-first tech companies, with specific mention of asynchronous culture and impact on users with learning differences, as highlighted in the job description.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (SaaS, EdTech, AI, Accessibility) Company Size: Approximately 100-200 employees (as stated in description). This indicates a mid-stage startup environment where individuals can have significant impact. Founded: Company founded prior to 2025, with significant growth and recognition (Google Chrome Extension of the Year, Apple Design Award winner).

Team Structure:

• The design team is part of a larger, fully distributed organization comprising engineers, AI research scientists, product managers, and more.
• The structure likely involves direct reporting lines to a Head of Design or Lead Designer, with close collaboration across product, engineering, and data functions.
• Emphasis is placed on autonomy and collaboration within a remote setting, suggesting a flat hierarchy with open communication channels.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: Strong emphasis on using analytics and user feedback to inform design decisions and product strategy.
• Iterative Development: A continuous cycle of pitching, prototyping, testing, shipping, and refining features.
• Asynchronous Collaboration: Processes and tools are optimized for effective communication and collaboration across different time zones.
• User-Centricity: Deep focus on understanding and solving user problems, especially for individuals with learning differences.

Company Website: speechify.com

📝 Enhancement Note: Company context is derived from the provided description, highlighting Speechify's mission, product recognition, distributed nature, and growth stage, which collectively inform the operational culture and expectations for team members.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as "Senior Product Designer," indicating a level of experience where individuals are expected to lead projects, mentor junior designers, and significantly influence product strategy. It's beyond individual contribution and involves strategic thinking and potential leadership.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Product Designer will likely report to a Design Lead or Head of Design. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads on specific product initiatives, acting as a key collaborator in the product development lifecycle.

Operations Impact: The Senior Product Designer's impact is directly tied to improving user engagement, driving product adoption, and enhancing the overall user experience for Speechify's core text-to-speech products. By refining UX/UI patterns and core user flows, they contribute to user retention, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, the company's growth and mission success. Their work on accessibility features also directly supports the company's mission to remove reading barriers.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Potential to grow into a Lead Product Designer or Design Manager role, overseeing a team and shaping design strategy.
• Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in specific areas like audio UX, AI-driven product design, or accessibility.
• Product Strategy Influence: Increased responsibility in defining product roadmaps and contributing to long-term company vision.
• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior designers and contribute to the growth of the design organization.
• Industry Recognition: Working on award-winning products provides significant professional exposure and portfolio enhancement.

📝 Enhancement Note: Growth analysis is based on the "Senior" title and the company's described environment (high-growth, remote, award-winning product), inferring typical career progression paths and impact areas for such a role.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Speechify operates with a 100% distributed model, meaning there is no central office. Employees work remotely from their chosen locations globally.

Office Location(s): Global remote. Employees can work from anywhere, subject to any local employment regulations the company adheres to.

Workspace Context:

• Autonomous Work: The environment fosters autonomy, requiring self-discipline and effective time management.
• Asynchronous Focus: The work environment is optimized for asynchronous communication, necessitating clear documentation, thoughtful messaging, and flexible scheduling to accommodate global teams.
• Technology-Centric: Access to necessary design tools and collaboration platforms is assumed, enabling seamless remote work.
• Collaborative Culture: Despite being remote, there's a strong emphasis on collaboration, requiring proactive engagement and participation in virtual team activities and discussions.

Work Schedule: While a standard 40-hour work week is implied, the asynchronous nature allows for significant flexibility. The focus is on delivering results and being available for key team interactions rather than adhering to rigid office hours, promoting a healthy work-life balance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The work environment is characterized by its fully distributed nature and asynchronous work culture, which are key differentiators and require specific adaptations from employees.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess alignment with the role's requirements and assess design craft.
• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: Expect to walk through 2-3 key projects from your portfolio, detailing your process, decision-making, and impact. Be prepared to discuss your role, the challenges faced, and how you collaborated with teams.
• Design Challenge/Exercise: A practical design exercise (potentially a take-home or live session) to evaluate your problem-solving skills, design thinking, and ability to apply your craft to a relevant challenge.
• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with Product Managers, Engineers, and potentially other designers to assess collaboration skills, communication style, and cultural fit.
• Final Round: Discussion with senior leadership, focusing on strategic thinking, leadership potential, and overall alignment with Speechify's mission and values.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best showcase your end-to-end design process, problem-solving skills, and impact, particularly those relevant to consumer-facing apps or audio/accessibility products.
• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your specific contributions, the design challenges, your iterative process, and the measurable outcomes. Use visuals effectively to illustrate your journey.
• Highlight Collaboration: Showcase how you worked with product managers and engineers, demonstrating your ability to negotiate, incorporate feedback, and achieve shared goals.
• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data (user metrics, conversion rates, engagement improvements) or strong qualitative evidence to demonstrate the success of your designs.
• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design choices, trade-offs, and how you handle constructive criticism.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Product: Thoroughly research Speechify, its mission, target audience, and existing products.
• Embrace Constraints: Design for the context of a remote, asynchronous, high-growth environment. Consider feasibility and iterative improvements.
• Focus on User Value: Ensure your solutions directly address user needs and align with Speechify's mission of removing reading barriers.
• Articulate Your Process: Be ready to explain your thought process and design decisions clearly and concisely, as if presenting to a mixed audience of designers and non-designers.

📝 Enhancement Note: The application and review process is outlined based on common practices for senior design roles in tech companies, with specific emphasis on portfolio presentation and design challenges relevant to the role's responsibilities.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design & Prototyping Tools:

• Figma: Widely used for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration.
• Sketch: Another popular vector-based design tool for UI.
• Adobe XD: Comprehensive tool for design and prototyping.
• Prototyping Tools: InVision, Marvel, or built-in Figma/XD prototyping features.

User Research & Analytics Tools:

• UserTesting.com / Lookback / Maze: For remote user testing and feedback collection.
• Mixpanel / Amplitude / Google Analytics: For product analytics, user behavior tracking, and data-driven insights.
• SurveyMonkey / Typeform: For collecting user feedback and conducting surveys.

Collaboration & Communication Tools:

• Slack: For real-time team communication.
• Zoom / Google Meet: For video conferencing and virtual meetings.
• Notion / Confluence: For documentation, knowledge sharing, and project management.
• Jira / Asana: For task management and tracking development progress.

Design System Tools:

• Familiarity with tools or methodologies for building and maintaining scalable design systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The tools listed are standard for product designers in tech companies, especially those working on multi-platform consumer products and leveraging data for design decisions. Figma is often a primary tool in such environments.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven: A deep commitment to Speechify's mission of making reading accessible to everyone, particularly those with learning differences. This value guides decision-making and prioritizes user impact.
• Innovation & Drive: A culture that encourages proactive problem-solving, creative thinking, and a relentless pursuit of improvement in product and processes.
• Customer-Centricity: Placing the user at the heart of all design and product decisions, actively seeking to understand and address their needs.
• Collaboration & Transparency: Fostering an open environment where ideas are shared freely, feedback is constructive, and team members work together effectively across distances.
• Ownership & Autonomy: Empowering individuals to take ownership of their work, make decisions, and drive initiatives forward with a high degree of autonomy.

Collaboration Style:

• Asynchronous First: Emphasis on clear, documented communication and proactive engagement to ensure effective collaboration across global time zones.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Designers work hand-in-hand with Product Managers, Engineers, and Data Scientists, operating as integral members of product teams.
• Constructive Feedback: A culture that encourages open and honest feedback, both giving and receiving, to drive continuous improvement in design and product.
• Virtual Team Engagement: Active participation in virtual meetings, design critiques, and team-building activities to foster connection and shared understanding within the distributed team.

📝 Enhancement Note: Cultural values and collaboration styles are inferred from Speechify's mission, distributed nature, and emphasis on innovation and user impact.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating a Fast-Paced, High-Growth Environment: Adapting to rapid changes, evolving priorities, and the need for quick iteration while maintaining design quality.
• Designing for a Global, Diverse User Base: Catering to a wide range of users with varying needs, technical abilities, and cultural backgrounds, especially those with learning differences.
• Balancing Innovation with Technical Constraints: Pushing creative boundaries while ensuring designs are feasible within engineering timelines and technical limitations across multiple platforms.
• Maintaining Design Consistency in a Distributed Team: Upholding design integrity and a cohesive user experience across all product touchpoints with a fully remote team.
• Driving Impact with Limited Resources: Demonstrating significant design impact and user value in a startup setting where resources may be constrained.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into AI & Audio UX: Opportunity to become an expert in designing for cutting-edge AI technologies and audio-centric user experiences.
• Product Strategy & Roadmapping: Gain hands-on experience influencing product strategy and contributing to long-term roadmaps.
• Leadership & Mentorship Skills: Develop leadership capabilities by mentoring junior designers and potentially leading design initiatives.
• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Exposure to diverse functions like AI research, engineering, and data science, fostering a holistic understanding of product development.
• Industry Best Practices: Staying ahead of trends in UX/UI, accessibility, and AI product design through continuous learning and application.

📝 Enhancement Note: Challenges and growth opportunities are framed to align with the specific context of a senior designer role in a remote, high-growth, mission-driven tech company.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you significantly influenced a product roadmap through your design insights. What was your process?" (Assesses strategic thinking, collaboration, and impact.)
• "How do you approach designing for users with learning differences, such as dyslexia or ADD? Walk us through your process and any specific considerations." (Assesses customer-centricity, empathy, and domain-specific understanding.)
• "Given Speechify's mission, how would you prioritize design features that aim to improve reading speed versus those that enhance comprehension or retention?" (Assesses strategic prioritization and understanding of user needs.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you most about Speechify's mission, and how does your design philosophy align with it?" (Assesses cultural fit and mission alignment.)
• "How do you ensure effective collaboration and communication within a fully distributed, asynchronous team environment?" (Assesses remote work readiness and collaboration skills.)
• "Describe a challenging situation where you had to negotiate design decisions with opinionated stakeholders (PMs, engineers, executives). What was the outcome?" (Assesses collaboration, negotiation, and communication skills.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with a high-level overview of the project's goals and your role, then dive into the problem, your discovery process (research, user insights), key design decisions and iterations, and finally, the outcomes and learnings.
• Visual Storytelling: Use clear visuals (wireframes, prototypes, final UIs) to illustrate your process and design evolution. Annotate key decisions and rationale.
• Quantify Your Contribution: Be ready to articulate specific metrics or qualitative feedback that demonstrate the success of your designs. If exact numbers aren't available, describe the expected impact and how it would be measured.
• Focus on Process & Rationale: Be prepared to explain why you made certain design choices, the trade-offs you considered, and how you incorporated feedback from users and stakeholders.
• Tailor to Speechify: If possible, subtly weave in how your past experiences or design philosophies can benefit Speechify's specific products and mission.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation focuses on typical senior designer interview questions, emphasizing strategic thinking, user empathy, collaboration, and effective portfolio presentation, tailored to Speechify's context.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application via the provided Greenhouse link.
• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your most impactful projects that showcase your end-to-end design process, user research capabilities, and ability to deliver consumer-facing products. Ensure your portfolio clearly articulates the problem, your role, your process, and the measurable outcomes.
• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight experience relevant to consumer-facing apps (iOS, Android, Web), user research, prototyping, cross-functional collaboration, and any experience in high-growth startups or with AI/accessibility products. Use keywords from the job description.
• Prepare Your Narrative: Be ready to articulate your passion for Speechify's mission and how your skills and experience align with the role's requirements during interviews. Practice presenting your portfolio projects concisely and effectively.
• Research Speechify: Familiarize yourself with Speechify's products, mission, and recent achievements (e.g., Apple Design Award). Understand their target audience and competitive landscape.

⚠️ 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.