Senior Product Designer - Bristol, United Kingdom

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer Company: Speechify Location: Bristol, United Kingdom Job Type: Full-Time Category: Product Design / UX/UI Date Posted: 2025-11-04 Experience Level: 5-10 Years Remote Status: Remote Solely

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and deliver innovative, consumer-facing features across multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and web applications, driving product evolution for a leading text-to-speech technology company.
• Drive user experience and interface design enhancements, focusing on intuitive user flows, engaging onboarding processes, and refined UX/UI patterns to improve user adoption and retention.
• Collaborate closely with Product Managers and Engineering teams to influence the product roadmap, leveraging analytics and user feedback to identify key opportunities and strategic product direction.
• Shape the future of the design organization by refining internal processes, establishing design standards, and contributing to a high-growth, distributed team environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role is explicitly for a Senior Product Designer, indicating a need for significant experience in end-to-end product design, strategic thinking, and the ability to mentor or lead design initiatives. The emphasis on "pitch, prototype, test, build, ship, and refine" highlights a hands-on, full-cycle design responsibility.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Conceptualize, prototype, test, and iterate on new product features, ensuring alignment with user needs and business objectives.
• Refine and optimize existing UX/UI patterns across Speechify's iOS and Android applications to enhance usability and user satisfaction.
• Strategize and redesign onboarding experiences and core user flows to improve user engagement and comprehension of the product's value proposition.
• Actively contribute to and influence the product roadmap by providing design insights, user research findings, and strategic recommendations.
• Lead design initiatives, driving best practices, and contributing to the continuous improvement of the design team's processes and methodologies.
• Conduct user research, gather customer feedback, and translate insights into actionable design improvements.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, and marketing, to ensure successful product launches.
• Maintain a high standard of design craft, focusing on typography, information architecture, and micro-interactions that enhance the user experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a full-stack design role, from initial ideation and research to final implementation and iteration, requiring a deep understanding of the entire product development lifecycle. The mention of "shaping the design org" suggests potential for process improvement and leadership within the design function.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Graphic Design, or a related field is typically expected for senior-level product design roles. Equivalent practical experience will also be strongly considered. Experience: A minimum of 5-10 years of professional experience in product design, with a proven track record of delivering successful consumer-facing digital products across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Web).

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated experience in the full product design lifecycle: research, discovery, prototyping, user testing, and delivery of consumer-facing products.
• Strong product thinking capabilities, including the ability to understand strategy, articulate design rationale, and collaborate with Product Managers using analytics to identify opportunities.
• Customer-centric approach with proven experience in conducting user interviews, gathering feedback, and integrating it into the design process.
• Excellent collaboration and negotiation skills, with the ability to work effectively with opinionated stakeholders, including PMs, engineers, and executives.
• High level of craft in typography, information design, and micro-interactions.
• Articulate and compelling communication skills, capable of explaining design ideas at various resolutions and asking insightful questions.
• Ability to work autonomously and effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment.
• Familiarity with the technical feasibility of designs for iOS, Android, and web browsers.

Preferred Skills:

• Specific curiosity and understanding of audio technology and its application in user interfaces.
• Experience working in a fully remote, asynchronous team environment.
• Familiarity with AI and its integration into consumer products.
• Experience with accessibility design principles and inclusive design practices.
• Proficiency in modern design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite).

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience level of 5-10 years aligns with a "Senior" title, implying expectations of leadership, strategic contribution, and independent execution. The emphasis on "product thinking" and "customer-centricity" is crucial for roles influencing product strategy, not just execution.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing end-to-end product design experience, including research, discovery, user flows, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, and final UI delivery for consumer-facing products.
• Case studies demonstrating strategic product thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to articulate design decisions with data and user insights.
• Examples of refined UX/UI patterns and user flows for mobile applications (iOS and Android) and web platforms.
• Visual examples of typography, information design, and micro-interactions that highlight attention to detail and craft.
• Evidence of collaboration with product managers and engineers, illustrating how feedback was incorporated and decisions were made.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase documentation of design processes used, including user research methodologies, design sprints, and iterative refinement cycles.
• Demonstrate how analytics and customer feedback were used to drive design decisions and measure the impact of design changes.
• Examples of how design systems or UI patterns were developed or maintained to ensure consistency across platforms.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior Product Designer, a portfolio is paramount. It should not just show final designs but the process behind them, highlighting strategic thinking, user-centricity, and the ability to drive product outcomes. The emphasis on "consumer-facing products" and "multiple platforms" is key.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Product Designers in Bristol, United Kingdom, with 5-10 years of experience, the estimated salary range is £60,000 - £85,000 per annum. This range can vary based on specific skills, portfolio strength, and the company's compensation philosophy for remote roles. Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package.
• Opportunity to work on a product that has a significant positive impact on users, particularly those with learning differences.
• Dynamic and innovative work environment within a high-growth, distributed startup.
• Autonomy and focus, fostering creativity and personal initiative.
• Collaborative atmosphere with a team that values innovation, intuition, and drive.
• Exceptional asynchronous work culture, supporting remote work flexibility.
• Active role in the rapidly evolving intersection of AI and audio technology.

Working Hours: Speechify operates with a commitment to an exceptional asynchronous work culture. While a standard full-time workload is expected (approximately 40 hours per week), the emphasis is on output and effective collaboration, allowing for flexibility in scheduling to accommodate different time zones and personal needs within a remote setting.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimation is based on Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, and Payscale data for Senior Product Designers in Bristol, UK, adjusted for a remote, high-growth tech company. Benefits are inferred from the "What we offer" section, focusing on aspects relevant to operations and design professionals in a remote setup.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (Software, AI, Education Technology, Accessibility) Company Size: Approximately 200 employees globally. This size indicates a dynamic, potentially agile environment with opportunities for significant individual impact, but also requires clear processes and communication to maintain cohesion in a distributed setting. Founded: Speechify was founded to address the barrier reading presents to learning. Its growth has been fueled by innovative text-to-speech technology and a strong focus on user needs, particularly for individuals with learning differences.

Team Structure:

• The company operates in a 100% distributed setting, meaning there are no physical offices.
• The team comprises engineers, AI research scientists, and other professionals from diverse backgrounds at major tech companies and academic institutions.
• The design team, while not explicitly detailed in size, is part of this distributed structure and likely collaborates closely with product management and engineering.

Methodology:

• Data-driven decision-making, with an emphasis on using analytics to pinpoint key opportunities and inform product strategy.
• Customer-centricity, with a strong focus on understanding and incorporating user feedback into the design and development process.
• Asynchronous work culture, requiring strong communication, documentation, and self-management skills.
• Innovation and rapid iteration, typical of a high-growth startup environment.

Company Website: speechify.com

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission to remove reading barriers is a strong cultural driver. The 100% distributed model significantly impacts how teams collaborate and communicate, emphasizing asynchronous workflows and robust documentation.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This Senior Product Designer role is positioned at an experienced individual contributor level. It offers the opportunity to deeply influence product direction and design strategy, mentor junior designers (if applicable), and refine design processes within a fast-growing company. The "Senior" title implies a level of autonomy and responsibility beyond execution. Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, a Senior Product Designer typically reports to a Head of Design, Design Manager, or potentially a Director of Product. In a distributed environment, reporting lines are crucial for clear communication and alignment. Operations Impact: The role has a direct impact on user acquisition, engagement, retention, and satisfaction by shaping the core user experience of Speechify's products. By improving reading accessibility and comprehension, the designer contributes directly to the company's mission and its potential to reach new user segments and markets.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in audio technology, AI-driven product features, or accessibility design within the text-to-speech domain.
• Leadership: Potential to grow into a Lead Product Designer role, managing design projects, mentoring team members, and taking on more strategic product responsibilities.
• Process Improvement: Lead initiatives to enhance design workflows, establish design systems, and optimize the design team's operational efficiency.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Expand influence across product strategy, working closely with leadership to define future product vision and innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth opportunities are tied to both deepening design expertise and expanding leadership scope within a growing, remote-first organization. The "Senior" level suggests a path towards leadership or highly specialized individual contribution.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Speechify operates as a 100% distributed company, meaning there are no physical offices. This creates a fully remote work environment. Office Location(s): N/A (Fully Remote). The role is based in Bristol, United Kingdom, but the work is performed remotely.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: The primary workspace is digital, relying on collaboration tools and asynchronous communication. This requires self-discipline, effective time management, and strong written communication skills.
• Tools & Technology: Access to standard remote work tools, design software, and communication platforms is essential. The company likely provides or supports the necessary technology stack.
• Team Interaction: Opportunities for team interaction will be through scheduled video calls, messaging platforms, and collaborative design sessions conducted virtually.

Work Schedule: The company promotes an exceptional asynchronous work culture. While a full-time commitment (approx. 40 hours/week) is expected, there is flexibility in scheduling to accommodate different time zones and personal preferences, emphasizing output and results over fixed hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote, asynchronous nature is a defining characteristic of the work environment. Candidates must be comfortable and effective in this setting, prioritizing clear communication and self-management.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your application, resume, and portfolio to assess your experience and fit with the role's requirements.
• Portfolio Deep Dive: A session with the hiring team to walk through your portfolio, discussing specific case studies, design decisions, and your process. Expect questions about your strategic thinking, problem-solving approach, and collaboration style.
• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers and Engineers to assess collaboration skills, communication clarity, and how you integrate user needs with technical feasibility and business goals.
• Culture & Values Interview: A discussion to evaluate your alignment with Speechify's mission, values, and remote work culture.
• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader to discuss overall fit and strategic contributions.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-4 of your strongest, most relevant case studies that showcase end-to-end product design for consumer-facing applications. Prioritize those demonstrating impact on user flows, onboarding, and UX/UI refinement.
• Tell a Story: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (research, ideation, testing, iteration), the challenges faced, and the measurable outcomes or impact. Use visuals effectively.
• Highlight Process & Strategy: Emphasize your product thinking, how you used analytics and customer feedback, and your rationale behind key design decisions. Show your ability to influence the product roadmap.
• Demonstrate Craft: Ensure your portfolio clearly showcases your skills in typography, information design, and micro-interactions.
• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design choices, how you handle feedback, your experience with remote collaboration, and your understanding of Speechify's mission.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared for potential design exercises or challenges that may assess your ability to quickly understand a problem, ideate solutions, and articulate your thought process. These might be timed or take-home.
• Focus on demonstrating your core strengths: product thinking, user empathy, and clear communication.
• Practice explaining complex design concepts concisely and persuasively.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio is central to the application process for a Senior Product Designer. The interview process will heavily focus on evaluating the candidate's strategic approach, problem-solving skills, and ability to collaborate in a remote setting.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly probable given industry trends and collaborative nature), Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop).
• User Research & Testing: Tools for conducting user interviews, surveys, and usability testing (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback, Maze, Google Forms, SurveyMonkey).
• Collaboration & Communication: Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet), project management tools (e.g., Asana, Jira, Trello).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Tools to track user behavior, feature adoption, and engagement (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics).
• Data Visualization: Tools to create dashboards and reports for stakeholders, potentially including Tableau, Looker Studio, or built-in analytics platform dashboards.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a design tool, understanding how design impacts CRM and marketing automation workflows can be beneficial. Awareness of how user data flows into and out of these systems is useful.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job description doesn't explicitly list tools, the requirements for prototyping, user research, collaboration, and analytics imply a standard modern design technology stack. Figma is a strong assumption for collaborative design in a remote setting.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven: A strong commitment to the mission of making reading accessible, particularly for individuals with learning differences. This permeates decision-making and product development.
• Customer-Centricity: Deep empathy for users and a commitment to incorporating their feedback to improve the product.
• Innovation & Drive: A culture that encourages new ideas, experimentation, and a proactive approach to problem-solving in a fast-paced environment.
• Autonomy & Focus: Empowerment of individuals to manage their work, make decisions, and deliver results, fostering creativity and efficiency.
• Collaboration & Communication: Valuing open communication, constructive feedback, and effective teamwork, especially critical in a distributed, asynchronous setting.

Collaboration Style:

• Asynchronous First: Emphasis on clear, concise written communication and well-documented processes/decisions to facilitate collaboration across time zones.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Close working relationships with Product Managers and Engineers are essential, requiring the ability to negotiate, inspire, and align diverse perspectives.
• Feedback Loops: A culture that encourages constructive feedback exchange to continuously improve designs and processes.
• Shared Ownership: A sense of collective responsibility for the product's success, fostering a team-oriented approach.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values of a mission-driven, customer-centric, and innovative company operating in a fully remote, asynchronous model are key to understanding the culture. Collaboration requires deliberate effort and excellent communication skills.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Remote Collaboration Complexity: Navigating communication, alignment, and spontaneous ideation in a 100% distributed and asynchronous environment requires strong discipline and proactive effort.
• High-Growth Startup Pace: Adapting to rapid changes, evolving priorities, and the pressure to deliver quickly while maintaining high design quality.
• Balancing User Needs with Technical Constraints: Ensuring innovative designs are feasible and scalable within the technical capabilities of iOS, Android, and web platforms.
• Influencing Product Roadmap: Effectively advocating for design-led initiatives and strategic product directions amidst competing priorities from product management and engineering.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into AI & Audio Tech: Gaining expertise at the forefront of AI and audio technology applications in consumer products.
• Accessibility & Inclusivity Design: Becoming a leader in designing for users with diverse needs, including learning differences like dyslexia and ADD.
• Remote Leadership Skills: Developing expertise in leading design efforts and fostering collaboration within a distributed team.
• Product Strategy Influence: Growing from a senior individual contributor to a key strategic partner in product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are directly related to the remote work model and the dynamic nature of a high-growth startup. Growth opportunities are focused on specialization in emerging tech and leadership within design.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you influenced a product roadmap with a design insight. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on data, user research, and strategic articulation.)
• "How do you balance user needs with business goals and technical feasibility in your design process?" (Highlight your problem-solving framework and collaborative negotiation skills.)
• "Walk us through a complex user flow you designed. What were the key decisions, and how did you iterate based on feedback or testing?" (Prepare a case study from your portfolio that demonstrates your end-to-end process.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Speechify's mission, and how does your design philosophy align with it?" (Research the mission thoroughly and connect it to your passion for accessibility and inclusive design.)
• "How do you approach collaboration and communication in a fully remote, asynchronous environment?" (Provide specific examples of tools, techniques, and proactive communication strategies you use.)
• "Describe a time you had to work with challenging stakeholders. How did you navigate that situation?" (Focus on your negotiation, influence, and communication skills.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Case Studies: For each case study, clearly outline: Problem Statement, Your Role, Process (Research, Ideation, Design, Testing, Iteration), Key Decisions & Rationale, Outcomes & Impact (quantify where possible).
• Focus on 'Why': Be prepared to explain the "why" behind every design decision, linking it back to user needs, business objectives, or strategic goals.
• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (mockups, prototypes, user journey maps) to illustrate your points, but be ready to discuss the underlying strategy and process in detail.
• Prepare for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your process, tools, and the specific challenges you encountered. Be honest about what you learned from any failures.
• Tailor to Speechify: If possible, subtly weave in how your past work or approach could benefit Speechify's specific products (e.g., improving onboarding for new users, enhancing accessibility features).

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should center on demonstrating strategic product thinking, user empathy, strong collaboration skills within a remote context, and the ability to articulate design rationale with data-driven insights. The portfolio presentation is a critical component.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application, resume, and a link to your portfolio through the Speechify careers portal.
• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features case studies demonstrating end-to-end design for consumer-facing applications, highlighting strategic thinking, user research, and UX/UI refinement for mobile platforms.
• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to emphasize your 5-10 years of relevant experience, focusing on achievements in product design, collaboration with PMs and engineers, and contributions to product strategy and user experience improvements.
• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, strategic rationale, and collaborative approach, particularly in the context of remote work and Speechify's mission. Be ready to walk through your portfolio in detail.
• Company Research: Thoroughly research Speechify's mission, products, and values. Understand their target audience and the impact of their technology, especially for users with learning differences.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. Salary ranges are estimates. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.