Lead Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Designer

Company: Corto Pty Ltd

Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / User Experience

Date Posted: April 20, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the end-to-end design vision and execution for CORTO's AI-driven legal software product, establishing a world-class visual language and interaction paradigm.

• Drive innovative user experience design, focusing on novel interaction models for humans and autonomous AI within the legal tech landscape.

• Collaborate intimately with a highly technical engineering team to rapidly iterate on product features, ensuring alignment with strategic metrics and customer needs.

• Act as the primary design consultant, translating complex user problems into elegant, delightful, and impactful design solutions.

• Contribute to CORTO's mission of improving access to justice through cutting-edge AI technology, shaping the future of legal practice.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the original job title is "Lead Designer," the description emphasizes product design, user experience, and interaction design within a software development context, particularly for an AI product. This role is positioned as the first dedicated design hire, indicating significant autonomy and strategic influence. The target category has been adjusted to reflect this specialized focus within design.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Define and articulate the core design principles and visual language for the AI Paralegal product, ensuring a cohesive and distinctive brand identity.

• Execute high-fidelity designs, including detailed UI elements and sophisticated animations, to create an engaging and intuitive user experience.

• Develop and prototype new interaction paradigms that redefine how legal professionals interact with AI-powered tools.

• Conduct deep customer research and user interviews to uncover unmet needs and generate surprising, actionable design insights.

• Partner closely with engineers in real-time to brainstorm solutions, provide constructive feedback, and ensure seamless implementation of design specifications.

• Continuously iterate on designs based on user feedback, performance metrics, and A/B testing results to drive product improvements.

• Champion design thinking and user-centricity across the AI Paralegal team, influencing product strategy and development priorities.

• Mentor and inspire other team members by communicating a clear and compelling creative vision.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities have been expanded to detail the scope of a "first design hire" with "end-to-end" ownership, emphasizing strategic definition, execution, and cross-functional collaboration within a fast-paced, AI-focused product team.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong foundation in design principles, user experience, and interaction design is essential, typically gained through relevant academic programs or equivalent professional experience.

Experience: A minimum of 5-10 years of professional experience in design, with a proven track record of leading end-to-end design projects and defining creative direction.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated expertise in defining and executing visual language and design principles.

• Strong proficiency in UI/UX design, interaction design, and digital product development.

• Experience with animation and bringing designs to life through dynamic execution.

• Ability to establish new interaction paradigms, particularly for human-AI collaboration.

• Proven experience in conducting customer research and translating insights into design solutions.

• Skill in working closely with engineering teams, providing feedback, and iterating on designs.

• Capacity to own design processes end-to-end, from high-level creative direction to pixel-level detail.

• Independent thinking with the ability to approach problems from first principles.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the LegalTech industry or with legal practice workflows.

• Familiarity with AI technologies and their application in user interfaces.

• Experience in a startup or rapidly scaling technology environment.

• Ability to inspire and influence team members with a creative vision.

• Strong commercial acumen and the ability to make informed compromises.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement has been explicitly stated based on the "5-10 year's experience" and the "end-to-end projects calling the shots on the creative direction" qualifications. Preferred skills have been inferred from the company's industry and the nature of the product.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing at least a few pieces of "remarkable work" that demonstrate end-to-end design ownership and creative direction.

• Include "war stories" or detailed case studies that illustrate the challenges faced, the design process undertaken, and the impact of the solutions.

• Showcase examples of defining visual language, establishing interaction paradigms, and delivering high-fidelity execution with animation.

Process Documentation:

• Demonstrations of your process for defining core design principles and visual language from scratch.

• Examples of how you have established novel interaction paradigms for complex digital products.

• Case studies detailing your approach to user research, insight generation, and translating those insights into tangible design solutions.

• Evidence of close collaboration with engineering teams, including examples of feedback loops and iterative refinement.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section is crucial for a design role, especially a lead position. The requirements are tailored to reflect the explicit mention of a portfolio with "remarkable work" and "war stories," and the emphasis on defining principles and establishing new interaction paradigms.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a Lead Designer role with 5-10 years of experience in Sydney, Australia, the estimated annual salary range is AUD $140,000 - $190,000. This estimate considers the seniority of the role, the demand for specialized AI/LegalTech design skills, and the cost of living in Sydney.

Benefits:

• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements to support work-life balance.

• Significant career and learning opportunities within a scaling technology business.

• Gym membership to support employee well-being.

• Additional time off beyond standard leave entitlements.

• Social events, sports teams, and access to sailing and yacht events for team bonding and recreation.

• Access to the unique LEAP Home program, supporting primary residence purchases.

• Opportunity to work on impactful projects solving real-world problems in the legal industry.

• Autonomy and trust to work on big, complex projects and make a tangible difference.

Working Hours: While the standard full-time workweek is typically 40 hours, CORTO emphasizes flexibility, aligning with their hybrid and people-first culture. Specific hours can be discussed to accommodate individual needs and team collaboration requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary range provided is an estimate based on market research for a Lead Designer in Sydney with the specified experience level. Benefits are directly extracted from the job description and organized for clarity.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: LegalTech (Software for the legal industry), with a strong focus on Artificial Intelligence. CORTO is part of ATI Global, a significant international LegalTech company.

Company Size: Rapidly scaling from 80 to 150+ employees. Approximately 90% of the workforce is technical (developers and engineers).

Founded: While the exact founding year of CORTO isn't specified, its parent company, ATI Global, implies a well-established corporate backing with a startup-like operational approach for its internal teams.

Team Structure:

• The AI Paralegal team operates independently like a startup within the larger CORTO/LEAP organization.

• It's an "all-star team of senior heavy hitters" working at the forefront of AI in legal practice.

• The team is described as "high-energy, high-agency," with full ownership of the AI Paralegal product.

Methodology:

• Operates at the "bleeding edge of AI in legal practice."

• Focuses on developing intelligent software and AI-driven solutions.

• Employs a fast-paced, iterative approach, characteristic of scaling tech businesses and startups.

• Values collaboration, agility, and a people-first mindset.

• Demonstrates a commitment to solving real-world problems and improving access to justice.

Company Website: https://www.corto.com/ (inferred from domain_derived)

📝 Enhancement Note: The company and team context has been synthesized from the "About CORTO" and "Meet the AI Paralegal team" sections, highlighting the unique blend of startup agility within a larger corporate structure and the technical focus of the workforce.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a "Lead Designer" position, signifying a senior individual contributor role with significant strategic influence and ownership. It's the "first design hire," indicating a foundational role where the incumbent will shape the design function and its impact on the product and company.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, as the first design hire operating within a "startup-like" team of senior engineers, the Lead Designer likely reports to a Product Lead or Head of Engineering/Technology within the AI Paralegal team. The role emphasizes operating "more like a consultant than a cog," suggesting autonomy and direct collaboration with key decision-makers.

Operations Impact: The Lead Designer's impact is directly tied to the user experience and perceived quality of CORTO's AI Paralegal product. This role will be instrumental in translating complex AI capabilities into intuitive and valuable tools for legal professionals, directly influencing product adoption, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, the company's mission to improve access to justice. The design choices will shape how users perceive and interact with AI, a critical factor in the adoption of new legal technologies.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: As the first design hire, there's a clear opportunity to build and lead the design function as the company scales, potentially growing into a Design Manager or Head of Design role.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-driven product design and UX for the legal industry, becoming a subject matter expert in a niche but rapidly growing field.

• Product Strategy: Influence product roadmap and strategy through design thinking and user insights, moving beyond execution to strategic impact.

• Cross-functional Mastery: Develop strong collaboration and communication skills by working closely with a senior engineering and product team.

• Entrepreneurial Experience: Gain experience in a fast-paced, scaling environment that operates with startup-like agility, offering valuable insights into building and growing tech products from the ground up.

📝 Enhancement Note: This analysis focuses on the career trajectory and impact specific to a "Lead Designer" role, especially being the first in their discipline, within the described company context. The "Operations" terminology is adapted to "Design" roles, reflecting the nature of the position.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid work environment. While the role is based in Sydney, Australia, CORTO embraces a flexible and hybrid model, allowing for both remote work and in-office collaboration. The emphasis on "travelling from time to time to work face to face with the team" suggests intentional in-person collaboration sessions are valued.

Office Location(s): Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Specific office details are not provided, but the company operates within the broader ATI Global network, suggesting access to professional workspaces.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative and Agile: The environment is described as fast-paced, with "chaos and the lack of formal structure as a feature rather than a bug." This implies a dynamic workspace that encourages rapid iteration and problem-solving.

• Technologically Advanced: Working alongside a highly technical workforce (90% developers/engineers), the workspace is expected to be equipped with modern tools and technologies necessary for cutting-edge AI and software development.

• Cross-functional Interaction: The role necessitates close, real-time collaboration with engineers, product managers, and potentially customers, fostering a highly interactive and communicative work setting.

Work Schedule: While a standard full-time schedule is implied (e.g., 40 hours), CORTO offers "Flexible and hybrid working." This suggests a degree of autonomy in managing one's schedule, provided that collaboration needs and project deadlines are met. The "people-first" approach indicates a focus on results and well-being rather than strict adherence to traditional office hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The work environment description is framed around the "Hybrid" status, the company's culture of agility, and the collaborative nature of working with a technical team.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Likely a review of resume and portfolio to assess foundational skills and experience.

• Design Challenge/Portfolio Review: A significant portion dedicated to reviewing the candidate's portfolio, discussing specific projects, design decisions, and the "war stories" behind them. This may involve a practical design exercise or a deep dive into past work.

• Technical/Product Discussions: Conversations with engineers and product leads to assess understanding of interaction design, AI concepts, and ability to collaborate in a technical environment.

• Cultural Fit Assessment: Interviews to gauge alignment with CORTO's values, such as embracing ambiguity, strong beliefs weakly held, and a user-centric, problem-solving mindset.

• Final Interview: Potentially with senior leadership to discuss strategic vision and long-term impact.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 of your most impactful projects that best showcase end-to-end ownership, creative direction, and your ability to tackle complex problems.

• Focus on "War Stories": For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your specific role, the design process (including research and iteration), the challenges you overcame, and the measurable impact or outcomes. Quantify results where possible.

• Demonstrate Principles: Clearly explain the visual language and design principles you established, especially if they were foundational to the project.

• Highlight AI/Interaction Innovation: If possible, showcase projects that involved novel interaction paradigms or dealt with complex interfaces, particularly those relating to AI or autonomous systems.

• Showcase Execution: Include high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, and examples of animation or micro-interactions that demonstrate your attention to detail and ability to create delightful experiences.

• Be Ready to Defend Decisions: Prepare to discuss your design choices, the trade-offs you made, and how you collaborated with stakeholders (especially engineers).

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Domain: Familiarize yourself with legaltech and the potential applications of AI in legal practice. Think about common pain points for legal professionals.

• First Principles Thinking: Practice breaking down complex problems into their fundamental components. Be ready to articulate your thought process from scratch.

• AI Interaction Concepts: Consider how AI can augment human capabilities and what new interaction models would be intuitive and effective for users.

• Collaboration Scenarios: Prepare to discuss how you would work with a predominantly engineering team, manage feedback, and ensure design integrity.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section provides actionable advice tailored to a lead design role, emphasizing portfolio content, presentation strategy, and preparation for specific types of interview questions common in design-focused tech roles.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects for animation).

• Interaction Design Tools: InVision, Principle, or similar for prototyping and animation.

• User Research Platforms: Tools like UserTesting.com, Maze, or internal survey/interview tools.

• Collaboration Tools: Slack, Jira, Confluence for communication and project management.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly mentioned, experience with product analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics) would be beneficial for understanding user behavior and iterating on designs based on data.

CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to the core design role, but an understanding of how design impacts user journeys within CRM or workflow automation systems used by legal professionals could be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section infers a standard design technology stack based on the role's responsibilities and the nature of working in a software development environment. Specific tools mentioned are common in modern UX/UI design.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and designing for human needs, with a focus on creating "elegant, delightful experiences."

• Impact & Purpose: A drive to solve real-world problems that matter, such as improving access to justice in the legal industry.

• Agility & Adaptability: Embracing change, seeing "chaos and lack of formal structure as a feature," and being comfortable with a fast-paced, evolving environment.

• Collaboration & Ownership: Working closely with engineers and taking "full ownership" of the product's design, with a "high-agency" approach.

• Intellectual Curiosity: A passion for tackling problems from "first principles," having "strong beliefs weakly held," and embracing continuous learning.

• Excellence with Pragmatism: A desire for "world-class" execution, coupled with the "maturity and commercial nous" to know when and how to compromise.

Collaboration Style:

• Close Partnership with Engineering: Working "closely with our customers" and "closely with the engineers to workshop solutions in real time," providing feedback continuously.

• Independent & Autonomous: The Lead Designer is expected to "operate more like a consultant than a cog," driving high-level creative direction and obsessing over details independently.

• Face-to-Face Engagement: Valuing in-person collaboration, with willingness to "travel from time to time to work face to face with the team."

• Openness to Feedback: The "strong beliefs weakly held" mentality suggests an openness to constructive criticism and evolving ideas based on team input.

📝 Enhancement Note: Values and collaboration styles are derived from the descriptive language used throughout the job description, focusing on how design professionals are expected to operate within CORTO's culture.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Establishing Design Foundations: As the first design hire, the challenge is to build the design function from the ground up, defining processes, standards, and the overall visual identity with limited existing frameworks.

• Innovating AI Interactions: Developing novel and intuitive interaction paradigms for human-AI collaboration in a complex, regulated domain like legal practice is a significant technical and design challenge.

• Balancing Vision with Pragmatism: Maintaining a strong creative vision while ensuring designs are feasible for engineering, align with business goals, and meet user needs in a fast-paced environment.

• Working in a Technical-Dominant Environment: Collaborating effectively with a team where 90% are developers and engineers, ensuring design's voice is heard and valued.

• Domain Complexity: Quickly learning and deeply understanding the nuances of the legal industry to design effective solutions.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Building a Design Practice: Opportunity to define and implement design processes, tools, and best practices for the company.

• AI & LegalTech Expertise: Becoming a leader in designing for AI-driven products within the rapidly evolving LegalTech sector.

• Strategic Product Influence: Gaining experience in shaping product strategy and roadmap through user-centered design leadership.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Potential to mentor future design hires and grow into a design leadership role as the company scales.

• Exposure to Global Best Practices: Being part of ATI Global provides potential exposure to broader industry trends and practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: Challenges and growth opportunities are framed around the specific context of being the "first design hire" in an AI/LegalTech startup environment.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Design Philosophy & Process: "Describe your process for starting from first principles to define a visual language and core design principles for a new product." "How do you approach establishing new interaction paradigms for complex systems like AI?" "Walk me through a project where you had to deeply understand customer needs and translate them into surprising insights and solutions."

• Collaboration & Iteration: "How do you collaborate with engineers in real-time to workshop solutions and provide feedback to move metrics in the right direction?" "Describe a time you had strong beliefs about a design but had to compromise due to technical or business constraints."

• Problem Solving & Vision: "What are your initial thoughts on how AI will change the way humans work, specifically in professional fields like law?" "Describe a challenging design problem you solved, detailing your approach and the outcome."

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about CORTO's mission to revolutionize the legal industry with AI?" "How do you see yourself fitting into a fast-paced, scaling tech environment where structure is fluid?" "What does 'people-first' mean to you in a work context?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structured Narrative: For each portfolio piece, present a clear story: Problem -> Your Role -> Process & Research -> Solution -> Challenges -> Impact/Results. Use "war stories" to highlight your problem-solving skills.

• Visual Clarity & Animation: Showcase high-fidelity mockups and prototypes. If you have animations, demonstrate them to highlight the user experience and delight factor.

• Process Demonstration: Be ready to explain your design methodology, how you arrived at key decisions, and how you incorporated user feedback and data.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., increased user engagement, improved task completion rates, positive customer feedback).

• Connect to CORTO: Articulate how your skills and experience are directly relevant to CORTO's AI Paralegal product and their mission.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation advice is tailored to a lead design role, focusing on demonstrating strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and a strong understanding of user-centered design within a technical and AI-focused context.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Workable.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight end-to-end design ownership, creative direction, and experience with complex problem-solving. Emphasize any work related to innovative interaction design or AI.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly outlines your 5-10 years of experience, focusing on achievements in defining visual language, interaction design, and leading projects from conception to execution. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your "war stories" and design process. Be ready to discuss your approach to user research, collaboration with engineers, and your vision for AI in legaltech. Prepare specific examples of how you've driven creative direction and obsessed over details.

• Company Research: Deeply understand CORTO's mission, the AI Paralegal product, and their culture. Be prepared to discuss why you are excited about this specific opportunity and how you can contribute to their goal of improving access to justice.

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