Lead Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer

Company: Clera

Location: Vienna, Austria

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: 2026-08-16

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead end-to-end product design, encompassing UX, UI, branding, and the development/maintenance of robust design systems.

• Drive hands-on design execution, including user research, customer interviews, and brand evolution for a growing AI communication SaaS platform.

• Lead and scale the design team, fostering a culture of excellence across website, branding, and product design initiatives.

• Collaborate intimately with founders and engineering teams in rapid, iterative feedback loops to shape product direction and strategy.

• Cultivate deep customer understanding through direct engagement with target users, ensuring product-market fit and user-centricity.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a critical leadership opportunity within an early-stage, high-growth AI SaaS company. The emphasis on "owning design end-to-end" and "team leadership" suggests a blend of individual contributor craft and strategic management, requiring a candidate who can both execute at a high level and build a design function from the ground up. The "AI-first workflow" requirement highlights the company's forward-thinking approach and the need for designers to be comfortable integrating AI tools into their daily practice.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of the product design lifecycle, from conceptualization and user flows to high-fidelity mockups and detailed specifications.

• Conduct and synthesize user research, including customer interviews and usability testing, to inform design decisions and product strategy.

• Develop and evolve the company's brand identity, ensuring consistency across all touchpoints including the website, marketing materials, and product interfaces.

• Design and maintain scalable design systems to ensure product consistency, efficiency, and a cohesive user experience across multiple product areas.

• Lead, mentor, and grow the design team, setting performance expectations, providing constructive feedback, and fostering professional development.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product Management and Engineering to define product roadmaps, prioritize features, and ensure successful product launches.

• Champion a data-driven design approach, utilizing analytics and user feedback to measure the impact of design decisions and drive continuous improvement.

• Actively engage with target customer segments (e.g., tradespeople, medical practices, professional services) to gain deep insights into their workflows and pain points.

• Set and enforce design standards and best practices across all visual and interactive elements of the company's digital presence.

• Ship high-impact designs on a daily basis, demonstrating creativity, efficiency, and a strong understanding of business objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities indicate a significant strategic and leadership component. The expectation to "lead and scale the design team" suggests the need for experience in hiring, team development, and process establishment. The dual focus on "individual craft" and "team/design leadership" (50/50 split) is a key differentiator, requiring a candidate who is comfortable with both hands-on execution and strategic oversight.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field is often preferred for senior design leadership roles. A strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent practical experience will be considered.

Experience: Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in end-to-end product design, with a significant portion involving leadership or management responsibilities. Experience in a fast-paced, seed-stage or high-growth tech environment is highly desirable.

Required Skills:

• Native German speaker (Deutsch) with excellent English proficiency to facilitate communication within an international team and with target markets.

• Proven experience leading or managing design teams, or a strong demonstrated aptitude and desire to step into design leadership while maintaining hands-on craft.

• 5+ years of end-to-end product design experience, with demonstrated ownership across multiple product areas and complex features.

• Expert proficiency in Figma for UI design, prototyping, and collaborative workflows.

• Strong user research skills, including conducting customer interviews, usability testing, and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data.

• Demonstrated experience in branding and visual identity development, with the ability to set and uphold design standards.

• Solid experience building, scaling, and maintaining design systems for consistent implementation across diverse product areas.

• An analytics-driven design mindset: ability to define key metrics, measure design impact, and iterate based on data.

• Familiarity and comfort with integrating modern AI tools (e.g., Cursor, v0, Claude) to enhance design processes and accelerate prototyping. Preferred Skills:

• Experience building and maintaining a design system at scale within a growing product portfolio.

• Domain familiarity with B2B software, professional services, or CRM-like environments, understanding user needs in these contexts.

• Experience with web design and development principles, enabling effective collaboration with front-end engineering.

• A strong understanding of communication technologies and AI-powered solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "dealbreakers" section, particularly the native German speaker requirement, is crucial. The 5+ years of experience is a baseline, but the emphasis on "ownership across multiple product areas" and "team leadership" suggests a need for a candidate who has navigated complexity and managed people or projects with significant scope. The AI tool integration is a modern requirement that sets this role apart.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase of end-to-end product design projects, detailing problem identification, user research, ideation, design execution, and outcomes.

• Specific examples of product UX/UI design for complex features or applications, demonstrating problem-solving skills.

• Case studies highlighting the creation, implementation, and evolution of design systems, emphasizing consistency and scalability.

• Examples of branding and website design projects, illustrating brand strategy and visual identity development.

• Demonstrations of user research methodologies and how findings directly influenced design decisions and product improvements.

• Evidence of data-driven design practices, including metrics used and the impact of design iterations.

• Any experience with AI-assisted design workflows or tools should be highlighted. Process Documentation:

• Workflow diagrams and process maps illustrating how design projects are initiated, executed, and delivered within a team setting.

• Documentation of design system components, guidelines, and their application across different product interfaces.

• Examples of user research reports and how insights are translated into actionable design recommendations.

• Frameworks or methodologies used for collaborative design reviews and feedback incorporation.

• Processes for measuring design effectiveness and iterating based on performance data.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Lead Product Designer role, especially in a fast-paced startup, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to demonstrate not just design skill but also strategic thinking, leadership potential, and the ability to manage complex projects and systems. The emphasis on "end-to-end" and "scaling" implies a need for process-oriented thinking and documentation.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: €80,000 – €150,000 gross per year. This range is competitive for a Lead Product Designer role in Vienna, Austria, reflecting the company's stage, the high impact of the position, and the required experience and leadership capabilities. The broadness of the range allows for significant differentiation based on the candidate's specific experience, leadership track record, and proven ability to drive business outcomes through design.

Benefits:

• High degree of creative autonomy and direct impact on product direction and company strategy.

• Opportunity to build and lead the design function from an early stage, shaping its culture and processes.

• Work directly with founders in a fast-moving, shipping-focused environment with short feedback loops.

• Exposure to cutting-edge AI technology and its application in communication SaaS.

• Collaborative and dynamic startup environment with ambitious growth plans.

• Potential for significant career growth as the company scales.

Working Hours: While a standard full-time work week (approximately 40 hours) is implied, the emphasis on a "fast-moving, shipping-focused environment" and "short feedback loops" suggests a need for flexibility and a results-oriented approach, rather than strict adherence to rigid hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is quite broad, typical for leadership roles where compensation is heavily influenced by experience, proven impact, and negotiation. The benefits listed are standard for a startup, highlighting autonomy, impact, and leadership potential, which are key attractors for senior talent. The note about visa sponsorship not being available is a critical piece of information for international candidates.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: AI Communication SaaS. Clera operates within the rapidly evolving AI and Software as a Service (SaaS) sectors, specifically focusing on enhancing business communication for SMBs. This industry context implies a need for innovation, rapid iteration, and a strong focus on user adoption and value delivery.

Company Size: Around 50 people. As a seed-stage company, this size indicates a relatively flat hierarchy, close-knit teams, and a high degree of individual impact and ownership. Operations professionals here will likely wear multiple hats and experience rapid change.

Founded: The company is described as "seed-stage," suggesting it was founded relatively recently and is in a phase of rapid growth and product development, backed by early-stage funding.

Team Structure:

• The design team is in its nascent stages and will be led and scaled by this role, implying a current structure that is either very small or non-existent in a formal capacity, with the Lead Designer expected to build it.

• This role reports directly to founders, indicating a high level of visibility and direct influence on strategic decisions.

• Cross-functional collaboration is emphasized, particularly with Product and Engineering, suggesting agile development methodologies and integrated team structures. Methodology:

• AI-first workflow: Embracing AI tools to accelerate design and prototyping is a core methodology.

• Customer-centricity: Deep customer understanding is driven through regular interviews and direct access.

• Iterative Development: Short feedback loops and daily shipping suggest an agile, iterative approach to product development and design.

• Data-driven decision-making: Design choices are measured and iterated upon based on data, not solely intuition.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's "seed-stage" status and "around 50 people" size are critical for understanding the operational environment. This means a dynamic, fast-paced setting where processes are still being defined. The Lead Product Designer will be instrumental in shaping the design function's processes and culture from the ground up. The focus on AI and communication SaaS provides specific domain context.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a senior leadership position, specifically a "Lead" role, indicating responsibility for a functional area (Design) and potentially a team. It sits at the intersection of individual contributor craft and management, requiring a blend of deep technical expertise and strategic leadership. For operations professionals, this level often signifies a move towards influencing broader GTM strategies or operational excellence.

Reporting Structure: The Lead Product Designer reports directly to the founders. This offers unparalleled visibility and direct influence over strategic decisions, product direction, and company growth. For operations roles, this means close alignment with executive leadership and a direct line to business impact.

Operations Impact: The design function, led by this role, will have a profound impact on customer acquisition, retention, and overall user experience. By owning product UX, branding, and design systems, the Lead Product Designer directly influences how users perceive and interact with Clera’s AI communication platform, which is critical for a SaaS business aiming for rapid adoption and growth in competitive markets. This impact translates directly to revenue potential and market positioning.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: The primary growth opportunity is to build and lead the design team, establishing its structure, processes, and culture as the company scales. This could lead to a Head of Design or VP of Design role.

• Product Strategy Influence: Direct access to founders provides opportunities to influence broader product strategy, roadmap prioritization, and go-to-market initiatives.

• Domain Expertise: Deepening expertise in AI, communication SaaS, and B2B software for SMBs, particularly within the DACH region.

• Entrepreneurial Experience: Gaining hands-on experience in a fast-paced, seed-stage startup environment, contributing to foundational company building.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth potential here is significant, tied to the company's scaling trajectory. For a Lead Product Designer, the chance to build a team and influence strategy from an early stage is a major draw. This also translates to potential growth for operations professionals in terms of understanding how design impacts GTM, customer success, and operational efficiency.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is explicitly an "on-site role" based in Vienna, Austria. This suggests a traditional office environment designed for in-person collaboration, fostering a strong team dynamic and facilitating the "short feedback loops" mentioned.

Office Location(s): Vienna, Austria. This is a hub for technology and innovation in Central Europe, offering a vibrant professional environment. Candidates are expected to be based in or willing to relocate to Vienna.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The on-site nature and emphasis on direct collaboration with founders and engineering point to an open and interactive workspace designed to facilitate quick communication and brainstorming.

• Tools & Technology: Access to industry-standard design tools (Figma) and modern AI tools (Cursor, v0, Claude) is expected, supporting an efficient and innovative workflow.

• Team Interaction: Daily interaction with founders, engineering, and future design team members is a core aspect of the workspace, promoting a strong sense of team cohesion and shared purpose.

Work Schedule: While the role is full-time, the startup environment and focus on "daily shipping" likely mean a dynamic schedule that prioritizes results and responsiveness over strict 9-to-5 adherence. Flexibility to accommodate fast-paced development cycles is expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement in Vienna is a key aspect of the work environment. This suggests a company that values in-person collaboration and team cohesion, which can be beneficial for rapid problem-solving and culture building. For operations roles, understanding this collaborative dynamic is important for how cross-functional work gets done.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio, with a specific focus on your design leadership experience, end-to-end product design ownership, and proficiency with Figma and design systems.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A session where you present your portfolio, highlighting 1-2 key projects that demonstrate your ability to lead design, drive impact, and manage complex product areas. Expect deep dives into your process, decision-making, and leadership approach.

• Founder/Executive Interviews: Conversations with the founders to assess cultural fit, strategic thinking, leadership potential, and alignment with the company's vision and mission. This is where your understanding of AI, SaaS, and B2B markets will be tested.

• Design Team/Cross-functional Interviews: Potential interviews with members of engineering and product teams to evaluate collaboration style and technical understanding.

• Final Offer: Based on overall assessment of skills, experience, leadership potential, and cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best showcase your leadership, end-to-end ownership, design system expertise, and ability to drive measurable outcomes. Prioritize quality over quantity.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed, the challenges you overcame, the solutions you designed, and the impact of your work (quantified where possible).

• Highlight Leadership: Explicitly demonstrate instances where you led a design effort, mentored designers, or influenced product strategy.

• Showcase Process: Detail your user research, ideation, prototyping, and iteration processes. Include examples of how you've built and scaled design systems.

• Demonstrate Data-Driven Approach: Explain how you used data and analytics to inform your design decisions and measure success.

• Include AI Integration: If applicable, showcase how you've leveraged AI tools to enhance your design workflow or outcomes.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared to discuss hypothetical design challenges related to AI communication platforms for SMBs.

• Practice articulating your design process and strategic thinking under pressure.

• Prepare questions that demonstrate your interest in the company's vision, product, and the challenges ahead.

• Understand Clera's target market (DACH region SMBs) and potential user needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio review and presentation indicates that practical demonstration of skills and process is key. The direct involvement of founders in the interview process suggests a strong focus on strategic alignment and cultural fit. Operations candidates applying for similar roles should prepare to articulate their impact on business metrics and GTM processes.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core tool for UI design, prototyping, and collaborative workflows. Expertise in its advanced features, component libraries, and auto layout is essential.

• Prototyping Tools: Proficiency in Figma's prototyping capabilities or other tools like InVision, Principle, or Adobe XD for creating interactive user flows.

• User Research Platforms: Experience with tools for conducting and analyzing user interviews, surveys, and usability tests (e.g., UserTesting.com, Maze, Lookback, SurveyMonkey).

• AI Design Tools: Familiarity with modern AI tools such as Cursor (AI-powered code editor), v0 (AI-generated UI from text/images), and Claude (AI assistant for various tasks) to accelerate design and development processes.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics Tools: Experience with tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Google Analytics to track user behavior, measure feature adoption, and understand user journeys.

• Data Visualization Tools: Ability to interpret and present data using tools like Tableau, Power BI, or even advanced Excel/Google Sheets to communicate design impact.

• A/B Testing Platforms: Familiarity with implementing and analyzing A/B tests to validate design hypotheses and optimize user flows.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM Systems: While not directly a CRM role, understanding how design impacts CRM-like workflows or B2B SaaS user management is beneficial. Familiarity with systems that manage customer data and interactions.

• Project Management Tools: Experience with tools like Jira, Asana, Trello, or Monday.com for managing design tasks, sprints, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Communication Tools: Proficiency in Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar platforms for daily team communication and collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma and AI tools like Cursor, v0, and Claude is critical. This indicates a modern tech stack and a forward-thinking approach to design execution. For operations candidates, understanding how design tools integrate with GTM and customer success platforms is often a key requirement.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and serving the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, ensuring the AI communication platform provides tangible value.

• Innovation & AI-First: Embracing cutting-edge AI technology to create novel solutions and drive efficiency in communication.

• Shipping & Velocity: A culture that prioritizes rapid iteration, frequent releases, and a bias for action to deliver value quickly.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Working closely with founders, engineering, and product teams in an open, communicative environment with short feedback loops.

• Ownership & Accountability: Each team member is expected to take ownership of their domain and be accountable for delivering high-impact results.

Collaboration Style:

• Direct & Fast-Paced: Collaboration is characterized by quick decision-making and direct communication, often facilitated by co-location and frequent interaction with founders and engineering.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Design is tightly integrated with Product and Engineering, fostering a shared understanding of goals and challenges.

• Feedback-Oriented: A culture that encourages constructive feedback to continuously improve designs, processes, and products.

• Empowerment: Team members are empowered to make decisions within their areas of ownership, fostering autonomy and initiative.

📝 Enhancement Note: The core values emphasize speed, customer focus, and innovation, typical of a successful early-stage tech startup. The collaboration style is designed to maximize efficiency and agility. For operations professionals, understanding how these values translate into daily work and decision-making is crucial for assessing cultural fit.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Building a Design Function: Establishing design processes, standards, and a scalable team from the ground up in a rapidly growing company.

• Balancing Craft and Leadership: Effectively managing the 50/50 split between hands-on design work and team/strategic leadership responsibilities.

• Rapid Iteration & Shipping: Maintaining high design quality and consistency while adhering to a fast-paced, daily shipping schedule.

• AI Integration Complexity: Effectively integrating AI tools into the design workflow and ensuring the AI communication platform itself is intuitive and valuable.

• Market Penetration: Designing for diverse SMB needs across the DACH region and potentially beyond, ensuring broad appeal and usability.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Opportunity to hone leadership skills by building and managing a design team, defining its vision, and developing talent.

• Strategic Influence: Direct exposure to founder-level decision-making, offering insights into business strategy, fundraising, and company growth.

• Product & AI Expertise: Deepening knowledge in AI-driven communication solutions and the B2B SaaS market for SMBs.

• System Design at Scale: Gaining experience in architecting and scaling design systems for a growing product portfolio.

• Cross-Functional Acumen: Developing strong working relationships and understanding across product management, engineering, and business functions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary challenge is building a design function in a startup environment. The growth opportunities are heavily centered on leadership development and strategic impact within a scaling tech company, which are attractive for ambitious professionals.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach building a design system from scratch for a rapidly growing SaaS company, and what would be your initial priorities?" (Focus on process, scalability, and collaboration).

• "Describe a situation where you had to balance ambitious design vision with technical constraints or tight deadlines. How did you navigate it, and what was the outcome?" (Assesses problem-solving, negotiation, and results).

• "Given our focus on AI communication for SMBs, what are the key UX challenges you foresee, and how would you use data and user research to address them?" (Tests domain understanding and data-driven approach). Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you most about Clera's mission and our AI-first approach to business communication?" (Assesses alignment with vision).

• "How do you envision leading and growing a design team in a fast-paced startup environment, and what are your core leadership principles?" (Evaluates leadership style and team-building approach).

• "How do you measure the impact of design on business outcomes, and can you provide an example?" (Focuses on ROI and business acumen). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly define the problem, your role, the process, key decisions, challenges, solutions, and quantifiable results.

• Highlight Leadership & Ownership: Emphasize instances where you took initiative, led others, or owned a significant part of the product lifecycle.

• Showcase Design Systems: Be prepared to walk through the architecture, components, and implementation guidelines of any design systems you've built or contributed to.

• Explain Your Process: Articulate how you conduct user research, ideation, prototyping, and testing, and how data informs your iterations.

• Demonstrate AI Integration: If applicable, explain how you've used AI tools to enhance your workflow or outcomes.

• Ask Insightful Questions: Prepare questions about the product roadmap, design challenges, team structure, and company culture to show engagement and strategic thinking.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation for this role requires a strong focus on leadership, strategic thinking, and practical application of design principles within a startup context. Candidates should be ready to articulate their process, demonstrate impact, and show how they can build and lead a team.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight experience in end-to-end product design, design leadership, design systems, and proficiency with Figma. Quantify achievements wherever possible, focusing on impact relevant to SaaS growth and user experience.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Ensure your portfolio clearly showcases your leadership capabilities, end-to-end project ownership, design system expertise, and data-driven approach. Prepare a concise narrative for each project.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio and key case studies, focusing on storytelling, process articulation, and demonstrating measurable outcomes. Be ready to discuss your leadership philosophy and approach to building a design team.

• Research Clera: Understand their product, target market (DACH SMBs), AI focus, and company mission. Prepare questions that demonstrate your strategic thinking and genuine interest in their growth and challenges.

⚠️ 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.