Junior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Junior Product Designer

Company: Clera

Location: Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI Design

Date Posted: 2026-09-13

Experience Level: Junior (0-2 years)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• This Junior Product Designer role is crucial for a Series A B2B SaaS company specializing in AI-powered procurement software.

• You will be instrumental in defining and designing user experiences for novel "agentic workflows," contributing to a nascent product category.

• The position emphasizes end-to-end product design ownership, from discovery through launch, ensuring rapid iteration and customer-centric development.

• Collaboration with cross-functional teams (product, engineering, domain experts) is key to reducing handoff friction and ensuring high-quality product delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role is specifically within the B2B SaaS and AI-powered software sector, focusing on procurement. This implies a need for understanding complex business workflows, data-intensive interfaces, and the integration of AI into user experiences. The "agentic workflows" aspect suggests a focus on how AI agents assist users, requiring thoughtful design of trust, review, and interaction models.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Design and prototype end-to-end product flows, screens, and interactive experiences that are shipped to paying customers on a weekly cadence.

• Define and visualize user interaction patterns for AI agents, including how they surface work, how humans review it, and how trust is established between AI and human users.

• Utilize Figma, coding, and AI tools for rapid ideation, prototyping, and communication of design concepts to stakeholders.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and procurement domain experts to ensure seamless design-to-development handoffs and alignment.

• Participate in code reviews, specifically for last-mile interaction and visual tweaks, to maintain and elevate shipped product quality.

• Contribute to raising visual and interaction design standards across the product and actively participate in the development and maintenance of the design system.

• Take ownership of features from initial discovery and user research through to final launch and post-launch iteration.

• Rapidly iterate on designs based on direct customer feedback, usage data, and real-world application insights.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a hands-on design role with a strong emphasis on shipping product quickly and iterating based on feedback. The mention of "coding" and "reviewing pull requests" suggests a designer who is comfortable working closely with engineers and potentially has some front-end development skills or a strong understanding of implementation constraints. The ownership aspect from "discovery through launch" means this role is not just about creating static screens but about driving the entire feature lifecycle.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 0 to 2 years of professional product design experience, with significant internship experience being highly valued. A strong portfolio showcasing shipped products is a mandatory requirement.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated proficiency in end-to-end product design, from ideation to implementation.

• Strong visual and interaction design fundamentals, with a keen eye for detail and consistency.

• Experience with Figma for wireframing, prototyping, and high-fidelity design.

• Practical experience with AI tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, v0, Figma Make) for ideation and prototyping.

• Systems thinking: ability to understand and design how multiple features and components work together cohesively.

• Understanding of the design-to-development lifecycle and the importance of cross-functional alignment.

• Comfort working in ambiguous environments with a bias for shipping functional solutions.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills for effective cross-functional teamwork. Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience designing for B2B products, particularly in complex workflows or data-heavy interfaces.

• Experience contributing to or maintaining design systems.

• Ability to prototype using HTML, CSS, or React.

• Experience designing for non-technical users within complex domain areas.

• Developed opinions and insights on how AI should be integrated into products beyond basic chat interfaces.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a portfolio of "shipped work" is critical for junior candidates. It indicates the company values demonstrable impact and practical application of design skills over theoretical knowledge. The emphasis on AI tools and "agentic workflows" suggests a forward-thinking company looking for designers comfortable with emerging technologies and defining new interaction paradigms.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase 2-3 significant projects that demonstrate end-to-end product design ownership, from problem definition to shipped solution.

• Include case studies detailing your process, problem-solving approach, design decisions, and the impact of your work (quantifiable metrics preferred).

• Highlight examples of complex B2B workflows or data-intensive interfaces if applicable.

• Present clear examples of your interaction design and visual design skills, showcasing attention to detail and consistency.

• Demonstrate your ability to use AI tools effectively in your design process, with examples of how they aided ideation or prototyping. Process Documentation:

• Clearly articulate your design process for each project, emphasizing how you tackled ambiguity and iterated rapidly.

• Document how you collaborated with engineering and product teams, highlighting methods used to reduce friction and ensure alignment.

• Explain how you gathered and incorporated customer feedback and real-world usage data into your design iterations.

• Showcase contributions to or use of design systems, illustrating how you maintained consistency and scalability.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Junior Product Designer role, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to clearly illustrate the candidate's ability to execute on the described responsibilities, especially the end-to-end ownership and the application of AI tools. The company is looking for practical application and a demonstrated ability to ship, rather than just theoretical design exercises.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: €45,000 - €60,000 per year (estimated).

• Methodology: This estimate is based on junior product designer roles in Munich, Germany, considering a Series A B2B SaaS company with a focus on AI. Salary benchmarks for similar roles in the region, factoring in 0-2 years of experience, typically fall within this range. Cost of living in Munich is also a contributing factor to this estimation.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary and potential for early-stage equity.

• Comprehensive health insurance package.

• Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning in AI and product design.

• Generous paid time off and public holidays.

• Collaborative and innovative work environment with a focus on cutting-edge technology.

• Potential contributions to design system development and tooling.

Working Hours: Approximately 40 hours per week, with the expectation of flexibility to meet project deadlines and shipping cadences.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the company is Series A and in the B2B SaaS space, offering equity could be a significant part of the compensation package, especially for early hires. The salary range is an estimation for a junior role in a high-cost-of-living city like Munich.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: B2B SaaS, Artificial Intelligence, Procurement Software, Fintech (Procurement often intersects with financial operations).

Company Size: Small (likely 10-50 employees, typical for Series A stage). This implies a fast-paced, agile environment where individual contributions have a significant impact.

Founded: Not specified, but as a Series A company, it's likely a relatively young startup (e.g., founded within the last 5-10 years) focused on innovation.

Team Structure:

• Small, cross-functional team structure, common in startups, fostering close collaboration between design, product, and engineering.

• Direct reporting likely to a Head of Product, Lead Designer, or CTO, depending on the organizational setup.

• High degree of autonomy and direct interaction with senior leadership and founders. Methodology:

• Agile development methodologies with weekly shipping cadences.

• Emphasis on rapid iteration, customer feedback loops, and data-driven decision-making.

• Lean UX principles, prioritizing shipping functional products and learning quickly.

• Focus on building foundational UX patterns for a new product category (AI agentic workflows).

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

📝 Enhancement Note: A Series A startup environment means high growth potential, but also inherent ambiguity and a need for self-starters. The "small, cross-functional team" aspect is crucial for operations candidates to understand—they'll be working very closely with everyone.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Junior Product Designer. This level focuses on execution, learning, and building foundational skills under guidance. The role is hands-on, requiring the candidate to translate defined problems into tangible design solutions.

Reporting Structure: Likely reports to a senior design or product leader. The close-knit team structure means frequent interaction and collaboration with engineering and product management.

Operations Impact: While this is a design role, its impact on revenue is indirect but significant. Well-designed AI-powered procurement software can lead to substantial cost savings for customers, increased efficiency, and better decision-making, driving customer adoption, retention, and expansion. The design directly influences the usability and effectiveness of the AI, which is the core value proposition.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Opportunity to deeply specialize in AI-driven UX, agentic workflows, and complex B2B SaaS design.

• Design System Contribution: Potential to heavily influence and contribute to the company's design system, a valuable skill for future roles.

• Career Progression: Clear path to Mid-Level Product Designer, Senior Product Designer, or even Product Lead roles as the company scales.

• Learning & Development: Exposure to cutting-edge AI technology and the challenges of designing for a nascent product category. Access to industry conferences, workshops, and mentorship from experienced team members.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Junior" title suggests a focus on learning and execution. Growth opportunities will likely stem from taking on more complex features, leading design initiatives, and contributing strategically as the company matures. The company's early stage offers a unique chance to shape product and design processes.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: On-site in Munich, Germany. This indicates a traditional office setup where in-person collaboration is prioritized.

Office Location(s): Munich, Bavaria, Germany. A major European tech hub, offering a vibrant professional community.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative open-plan office or dedicated team spaces designed to foster interaction between design, product, and engineering.

• Access to modern design tools and technology, including high-performance workstations and potentially specialized hardware or software for AI development.

• Opportunities for informal "water cooler" conversations, whiteboard sessions, and quick design critiques that are essential for rapid iteration.

• A culture that likely values direct communication and problem-solving through in-person collaboration.

Work Schedule: Full-time, approximately 40 hours per week. While core hours will be expected for team collaboration and shipping, there might be some flexibility depending on project needs and team agreements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement in Munich is a key detail. It suggests the company values spontaneous collaboration, team cohesion, and direct mentorship, which are often more effective in person, especially for junior roles.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Application Submission: Submit resume and a compelling portfolio link.

• Portfolio Review: Initial screening by the hiring team to assess alignment with required skills and experience, focusing on shipped work and design process.

• Hiring Manager/Lead Designer Interview: Discussion about your background, design philosophy, and approach to problem-solving.

• Design Exercise/Case Study: A take-home assignment or live exercise to assess your design skills, problem-solving abilities, and ability to articulate design decisions. This will likely involve designing a solution for a specific problem within the procurement domain or related to AI workflows.

• Cross-functional Team Interviews: Meetings with engineers and product managers to assess collaboration skills, communication style, and understanding of the development lifecycle.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a founder or senior executive to assess cultural fit and strategic alignment.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate for Impact: Select 2-3 strong projects that best showcase your end-to-end design process and shipped work. Prioritize quality over quantity.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, your process (research, ideation, prototyping, testing, iteration), design decisions, and the outcome (quantifiable results are a huge plus).

• Highlight AI Integration: If you have projects involving AI, explicitly detail your approach to designing for AI and its interaction with users.

• Showcase Process: Include wireframes, user flows, prototypes, and final UI screens to demonstrate your progression. Explain why you made certain decisions.

• System Thinking: If possible, show how your designs fit into a larger system or design language.

• Conciseness: Keep your explanations clear and to the point. Respect the reviewer's time.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Domain: Research AI in procurement, common procurement workflows, and the challenges B2B SaaS companies face.

• Think Agentic: Consider how AI agents can best augment human decision-making in complex processes. Focus on trust, transparency, and review mechanisms.

• Design Process: Be prepared to walk through your design process methodically. Articulate your rationale for each step and decision.

• Collaboration: Think about how you would collaborate with engineers and product managers to ensure successful implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will heavily lean on the portfolio. Candidates must be prepared to deeply discuss their projects, their design decisions, and their understanding of the B2B SaaS and AI landscape. The design exercise is crucial for demonstrating practical skills.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core tool for wireframing, UI design, and prototyping. Proficiency is essential.

• AI Tools: Daily use of tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, v0, or Figma Make for ideation, content generation, and rapid prototyping.

• Prototyping Tools: Figma's advanced prototyping features, or potentially dedicated tools if used by the team.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not a primary design tool, an understanding of how user behavior is tracked and analyzed (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics) is beneficial for iteration. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly used by designers in their day-to-day, but understanding the context of CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) for B2B sales processes can provide valuable context. Bonus/Preferred Tools:

• HTML/CSS: For front-end prototyping or direct implementation.

• React: For building interactive prototypes or understanding front-end development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on Figma and AI tools is critical. Candidates should be ready to discuss their proficiency and creative use of these tools. Familiarity with front-end technologies like HTML/CSS/React is a strong plus, indicating a designer who can bridge the gap between design and development.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Shipping & Iteration: A core value is the ability to ship code and designs frequently and to iterate based on real-world feedback. This means prioritizing progress over perfection.

• Collaboration & Alignment: Strong emphasis on working together across disciplines (design, product, engineering) to achieve common goals and minimize friction.

• Customer Focus: Designing solutions that directly address customer pain points and deliver tangible value in procurement processes.

• Innovation & Ambition: A drive to build novel solutions, explore new product categories (like agentic workflows), and push technological boundaries with AI.

• Data-Informed Decisions: While design intuition is valued, decisions should be informed by customer feedback and usage data where possible.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Design is deeply embedded within product and engineering teams, not a separate silo. Expect daily interaction and joint problem-solving.

• Open Feedback: A culture that encourages constructive feedback on designs, code, and processes to drive continuous improvement.

• Agile & Fast-Paced: The team operates with agility, adapting quickly to new information and market needs.

• Ownership Mindset: Team members are encouraged to take ownership of their areas and drive initiatives forward.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture is typical of a fast-growing B2B SaaS startup: dynamic, collaborative, and focused on rapid delivery. Candidates should be comfortable with ambiguity and a high degree of autonomy within a supportive team structure.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Defining a New Product Category: Designing for "agentic workflows" is inherently challenging as it's an emerging field. Candidates will need to navigate ambiguity and help establish best practices.

• Balancing Speed and Quality: The need to ship weekly while maintaining high interaction and visual standards requires efficient processes and strong decision-making.

• AI Integration Complexity: Designing intuitive interfaces for AI-powered systems, especially for complex business processes like procurement, requires careful consideration of trust, transparency, and user control.

• Cross-functional Alignment: Ensuring all stakeholders (product, engineering, domain experts) are aligned on design decisions and implementation details in a fast-paced environment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Cutting-Edge Technology: Deep dive into AI, machine learning, and their application in enterprise software.

• Product Strategy: Gain exposure to product strategy development in a rapidly scaling startup.

• Design System Mastery: Contribute significantly to a growing design system, honing skills in scalability and consistency.

• Industry Expertise: Develop a strong understanding of procurement processes and B2B SaaS business models.

• Mentorship: Potential for mentorship from experienced product leaders and engineers within the company.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are opportunities for growth. Candidates who thrive in ambiguous environments and are eager to learn about AI and B2B SaaS will find this role highly rewarding.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you designed an end-to-end product flow. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your methodology, decision-making, and impact).

• "How would you approach designing an AI agent that needs to surface complex work to a human reviewer, and how would you build trust?" (Demonstrate your understanding of AI UX principles, trust, and human-AI collaboration).

• "Imagine you have a tight deadline to ship a new feature. How do you balance speed with design quality, and how do you collaborate with engineering to achieve this?" (Highlight your agility, communication skills, and understanding of the development lifecycle). Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Clera's mission and our focus on AI-powered procurement?" (Show your research and genuine interest).

• "How do you handle constructive criticism or feedback on your designs, especially from engineers or product managers?" (Assess your openness to feedback and collaborative spirit).

• "What are your thoughts on the future of AI in enterprise software, particularly in areas like procurement?" (Demonstrate forward-thinking and industry awareness). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly define the problem, your role, your process (discovery, ideation, design, testing, iteration), key design decisions and rationale, and the final outcome/impact.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (flows, wireframes, mockups, prototypes) to illustrate your points.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., improved conversion rates, reduced task completion time, increased user satisfaction).

• Highlight AI & B2B Context: Emphasize how you applied AI tools or designed for complex B2B workflows.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about specific design choices, trade-offs you made, and challenges you encountered.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating practical design skills, a clear understanding of the product domain (AI, B2B SaaS, procurement), and strong collaboration abilities. The portfolio is the primary tool for showcasing these skills.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Junior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features projects demonstrating end-to-end product design, shipped work, and ideally, experience with complex workflows or AI tools. Tailor your project selection to highlight relevant skills.

• Resume Optimization: Highlight key skills such as Figma, prototyping, interaction design, visual design, systems thinking, and any experience with AI tools or B2B SaaS products. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice walking through your portfolio projects, articulating your design process, and answering strategy and behavioral questions. Be ready to discuss how you'd approach the challenges of designing AI-driven workflows.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Clera, its mission, its product, and the broader AI and procurement software market. Understand their current stage (Series A) and what that implies for their culture and pace.

⚠️ 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.