Lead Product Designer, Marketplace

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer, Marketplace

Company: Jobgether (Partner Company)

Location: Croatia

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design / Marketplace Operations

Date Posted: 2026-08-28

Experience Level: Lead / Senior Level (5+ years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead end-to-end design direction for a high-impact discovery marketplace, connecting creators with audiences.

• Shape product strategy for a complex two-sided marketplace, balancing creator visibility with consumer trust.

• Design and implement AI-driven discovery experiences, focusing on personalization, recommendations, and trust signals.

• Drive design quality, consistency, and innovation across the marketplace platform.

• Mentor and support other designers, influencing design thinking and execution.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is for a Lead Product Designer focused on a marketplace platform, emphasizing AI integration in the discovery experience. The "operations" aspect is derived from the need to manage the dynamics of a two-sided marketplace, optimize discovery flows, and ensure efficient connections between creators and consumers, which aligns with GTM and marketplace operations principles.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own Marketplace Discovery End-to-End: Take full ownership from opportunity identification and problem framing through to defining design direction, rapid prototyping, and shipping high-quality, user-centric experiences.

• Shape Two-Sided Marketplace Strategy: Balance the needs of creators (visibility, growth, trust) with the needs of consumers (relevance, confidence, meaningful experiences) to drive platform engagement and value.

• Design AI-Driven Discovery Experiences: Create intuitive and human-centered interfaces for conversational discovery, curation journeys, personalized recommendations, and robust trust signals.

• Connect Product Systems and Experiences: Understand and design for the interplay between community, creator, content, engagement, and broader marketplace dynamics that influence user discovery and decision-making.

• Rapid Prototyping and Iteration: Utilize AI-assisted development and prototyping tools to quickly explore concepts, validate ideas, and bridge the gap between design and production-ready features.

• Collaborate with Product and Engineering: Actively contribute to product direction, make informed trade-offs, and ensure designs are technically feasible, scalable, and aligned with business and user objectives.

• Drive Design Quality and Consistency: Apply strong interaction, visual, and systems thinking to maintain and elevate the overall marketplace experience.

• Mentor and Support Designers: Contribute to the growth of the design team by sharing expertise, raising the bar for design thinking, and providing constructive feedback.

• Operate Effectively in Ambiguity: Build conviction through experimentation, iteration, feedback, and evidence, demonstrating a proactive approach to problem-solving in an evolving product landscape.

• Communicate Proactively and Transparently: Share design thinking, surface decisions early, articulate trade-offs clearly, and ensure alignment across a globally distributed team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize end-to-end ownership, strategic product shaping, and AI integration within a marketplace context, aligning with advanced product design roles that influence GTM strategy through optimized user journeys and platform dynamics.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent practical experience and a deep understanding of design principles is paramount.

Experience: 5+ years of product design experience with a proven track record of shipping complex products, particularly in multi-user or two-sided marketplace environments.

Required Skills:

• Marketplace or Two-Sided Platform Design: Demonstrated experience and understanding of the dynamics between supply-side participants (creators) and consumers within a platform.

• End-to-End Product Ownership: Proven ability to own a product area at a senior or lead level, setting design direction, making strategic trade-offs, and driving measurable outcomes.

• 0→1 Product Development: Strong experience in taking ambiguous opportunities from early exploration and ideation through to launch and iteration.

• Marketplace Discovery Expertise: Deep understanding of discovery mechanisms, including search, ranking, recommendations, user engagement, trust signals, creator visibility, and conversion dynamics.

• AI-Assisted Prototyping & Development: Genuine fluency with tools like Cursor, Claude Code, v0, Lovable, or comparable technologies for rapid concept exploration and testing.

• Advanced Figma Proficiency: Ability to create high-fidelity designs, interactive prototypes, and design systems that facilitate effective cross-functional collaboration.

• Product and Systems Thinking: Capacity to connect individual user experiences to broader platform dynamics, business outcomes, and marketplace health.

• Excellent Communication Skills: Ability to articulate design rationale clearly, constructively challenge assumptions, and build alignment across product, engineering, and design teams.

• Comfort with Ambiguity: A bias toward experimentation, iteration, and learning in the face of uncertainty.

• Proactive & Autonomous Work Style: Essential for success in a remote, asynchronous environment, demonstrating strong ownership and clear communication.

• Professional Fluency in English: Equivalent to CEFR C2 / ILR 5 for effective global collaboration.

• Alignment with Collaborative Principles: Strong adherence to high-ownership working principles, focusing on outcomes, craft, and continuous improvement.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing for AI-driven personalization and recommendation engines.

• Familiarity with conversational interface design principles.

• Experience with A/B testing and data-driven design optimization.

• Understanding of creator economy platforms and their unique challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements highlight a specialized blend of product design, marketplace dynamics, and cutting-edge AI prototyping tools, indicating a need for a designer who can operate strategically and technically at a lead level. The emphasis on "0->1 product development" and "ambiguity" suggests a startup-like environment within a growing company.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Shipped Products: Demonstrate at least 2-3 significant products or features that have been launched and are live, showcasing your direct impact.

• Complex Multi-User or Marketplace Experiences: Showcase projects that illustrate your understanding of balancing distinct user needs (e.g., creators and consumers) and complex interaction flows.

• Product Strategy Contributions: Include examples where you've influenced product direction, identified new opportunities, or made strategic trade-offs based on user research and business goals.

• AI Tool Integration Examples: If possible, include case studies or examples that highlight your use of AI-assisted tools in the design and prototyping process, demonstrating your fluency and efficiency gains.

• Design System Examples: Showcase your ability to build and maintain design systems or contribute to them, ensuring consistency and scalability across the platform.

Process Documentation:

• Discovery to Delivery Workflows: Illustrate your process for taking a product idea from initial concept and research through to detailed design, prototyping, and handoff for development.

• User Research and Validation Methods: Detail how you conduct user research, gather feedback, and validate design decisions, especially in the context of a marketplace.

• Iterative Design and Optimization: Present how you approach iterative improvements post-launch, using data and user feedback to refine features and optimize user journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Lead Product Designer role, the portfolio should not only showcase visual and interaction design but also strategic thinking, ownership, and the ability to navigate complex systems and emergent technologies like AI-assisted tools. Demonstrating a structured approach to design processes and an understanding of marketplace dynamics is crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: USD $140,000–$170,000 annually. This range is benchmarked against U.S. standards and reflects the scope of the Lead or Senior level role, depending on candidate experience.

Benefits:

• Equity Participation: Including ongoing refresh grants, offering a stake in the company's success.

• Generous Paid Time Off: 35 days of paid time off annually, supporting work-life balance.

• Fully Remote Working Environment: Flexibility to work from anywhere, fostering autonomy and a global perspective.

• Twice-Yearly Company Retreats: Opportunities to connect with the global team in person.

• Health, Wellbeing, and Professional Development Support: Comprehensive benefits package to support personal and professional growth.

• High-Autonomy Culture: Emphasis on ownership, trust, and meaningful outcomes over hours logged.

• Global and Diverse Team: Opportunity to collaborate with professionals from over 30 countries.

• Significant Growth Opportunities: Ability to shape a key product area and influence overall product direction.

Working Hours: While a standard full-time commitment is expected, the company emphasizes a high-autonomy culture. This suggests flexibility in daily working hours, provided that responsibilities are met, collaboration is maintained, and asynchronous communication is handled effectively. The focus is on outcomes rather than strict adherence to 9-to-5.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is clearly stated and benchmarked internationally. The benefits package emphasizes remote work flexibility, equity, and professional development, aligning with expectations for senior-level tech roles. The mention of "working hours" being tied to autonomy and outcomes is a key differentiator for remote-first companies.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology / Online Marketplaces / Creator Economy

Company Size: The description implies a growing company with a globally distributed team (30+ countries) and a founder-led product team, suggesting a size that allows for significant individual impact but also requires robust processes for collaboration. The AI matching process by Jobgether points to a tech-forward approach to talent acquisition.

Founded: Not specified, but the emphasis on "0->1 product development" suggests it's likely in a growth or scaling phase, possibly a Series A or B funded company.

Team Structure:

• Founder-Led Product Team: Direct collaboration with founders, indicating a fast-paced, strategic environment.

• Globally Distributed Team: Comprised of talent from over 30 countries, fostering diversity of thought and requiring strong asynchronous communication skills.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Close work with experienced engineers and product managers, emphasizing a collaborative approach to product development.

• Design Team Influence: While not a formal people management role, the Lead Designer is expected to mentor and influence other designers, contributing to a culture of design excellence.

Methodology:

• AI-Powered Matching: Utilizes AI for objective candidate review, indicating a data-driven and efficiency-focused approach to talent acquisition.

• Experimentation and Iteration: Embraces a continuous cycle of experimentation, learning, and iteration to drive product development and design decisions.

• Data-Driven Insights: Focuses on using evidence, feedback, and data to build conviction and guide product strategy.

• High-Ownership Culture: Emphasizes individual accountability, autonomy, and a focus on achieving meaningful outcomes.

Company Website: jobgether.com (for Jobgether's platform), but the actual partner company's website is not provided.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture appears to be fast-paced, innovative, and deeply integrated with technology (AI). The emphasis on remote work, global distribution, and high ownership suggests a need for self-motivated individuals who thrive in autonomous environments. The "partner company" aspect means direct company culture insights are limited, but Jobgether's operational approach provides clues.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Lead Product Designer role, positioning the individual as a senior individual contributor with influence. It's a critical role in shaping a core product area (marketplace discovery) and influencing product strategy. The role requires not just execution but also strategic thinking and mentorship.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, the role involves close collaboration with a "founder-led product team." The Lead Designer would likely report to a Head of Product, VP of Product, or potentially a founder directly, depending on the company's specific structure. The mentorship aspect suggests they will guide junior designers without direct reporting lines.

Operations Impact: The Lead Product Designer's impact is significant, directly influencing the success of a two-sided marketplace. By optimizing discovery, trust, and engagement, they drive core business metrics such as creator acquisition, consumer conversion, platform usage, and ultimately, revenue. The role is pivotal in ensuring the marketplace functions efficiently and effectively.

Growth Opportunities:

• Product Strategy Leadership: Opportunity to grow into a Product Design Manager role or take on broader product strategy responsibilities as the company scales.

• Specialization in AI & Marketplace Design: Deepen expertise in cutting-edge fields of AI-assisted design and complex marketplace dynamics, becoming a subject matter expert.

• Cross-Functional Influence: Expand influence across product, engineering, and business teams, contributing to company-wide strategic decisions.

• Mentorship and Team Building: Develop leadership skills through mentoring and potentially contribute to building out the design function.

• Impactful Product Ownership: Continue to own and drive critical product initiatives with significant autonomy and impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role offers a clear path for growth from a senior individual contributor to a leadership position, with opportunities to specialize in high-demand areas like AI and marketplace design. The emphasis on autonomy and strategic input provides a strong foundation for career advancement within a scaling tech company.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. This means there is no central physical office for this role.

Office Location(s): The role is based in Croatia, but the "fully remote" nature implies that candidates in Croatia are sought, but the company operates globally. Specific office requirements are not applicable.

Workspace Context:

• Flexible Home Office: Candidates are expected to have a suitable home office setup conducive to focused work and collaboration.

• Asynchronous Collaboration Tools: The environment relies heavily on tools and practices that support effective communication and collaboration across different time zones (e.g., Slack, Notion, Figma comments, video conferencing).

• Technology Stack Access: Access to necessary design software (Figma), AI prototyping tools, and communication platforms will be provided or expected.

• Global Team Interaction: Opportunities to engage with a diverse, international team, fostering a broad perspective on product development and user needs.

Work Schedule: While a full-time commitment is required, the company emphasizes high autonomy and an outcome-oriented culture. This suggests flexibility in daily working hours, allowing individuals to structure their day around personal needs and peak productivity times, provided they meet deadlines, attend necessary meetings, and communicate effectively with their distributed team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote nature is a defining characteristic of the work environment. This necessitates a high degree of self-discipline, excellent asynchronous communication skills, and comfort working independently across time zones. The emphasis on autonomy means individuals must be proactive in managing their workload and collaborating.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• AI-Powered Initial Screening: Jobgether's AI system will perform an initial objective review based on core requirements and portfolio alignment.

• Hiring Company Review: Shortlisted candidates' profiles and portfolios will be shared with the partner company's hiring team.

• Hiring Company Interviews: The partner company will manage subsequent interview stages, which typically include:

  • Design Deep Dive/Portfolio Review: A detailed discussion of your portfolio, focusing on your process, decision-making, and impact on shipped products, especially marketplace and AI-related projects.
  • Product Strategy & Problem-Solving Session: A session to assess your ability to frame ambiguous problems, develop design strategies, and make informed trade-offs, likely involving hypothetical scenarios related to the marketplace.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration Discussion: Interviews with product managers and engineers to evaluate your ability to collaborate effectively, communicate design rationale, and navigate technical constraints.
  • Cultural Fit & Mentorship Discussion: An assessment of your alignment with the company's high-ownership, collaborative, and iterative culture, and your approach to mentoring.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Quantify your contributions wherever possible. Use metrics to demonstrate the business and user impact of your designs.

• Showcase Process: Clearly articulate your design process for each project, highlighting how you tackled challenges, made decisions, and iterated.

• Highlight Marketplace & AI Experience: Dedicate specific examples or case studies to your marketplace design experience and your use of AI-assisted tools.

• Tell a Story: Structure your portfolio presentations as compelling narratives that explain the problem, your approach, the solution, and the outcome.

• Demonstrate Systems Thinking: Show how your designs fit into a larger product ecosystem and contribute to overall platform health.

• Prepare for Ambiguity: Be ready to discuss how you handle incomplete information and drive forward with limited requirements.

Challenge Preparation:

• Marketplace Dynamics Case Study: Be prepared to discuss or design solutions for common marketplace challenges like balancing supply and demand, ensuring trust, optimizing discovery, and managing creator/consumer relationships.

• AI Integration Scenarios: Anticipate questions about how AI can enhance user experiences in a discovery marketplace, focusing on personalization, recommendations, and content curation.

• Remote Collaboration Scenarios: Think about how you maintain effective communication and collaboration in a fully remote, asynchronous environment.

• Design Trade-offs: Practice articulating the rationale behind difficult design decisions and trade-offs you've made.

📝 Enhancement Note: The application process leverages AI for initial screening, followed by direct management by the partner company. The interview focus will be heavily on portfolio demonstration, strategic thinking, marketplace expertise, and AI tool proficiency, with a strong emphasis on remote work readiness.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Advanced proficiency required for high-fidelity design, prototyping, and design system development.

• AI-Assisted Prototyping Tools: Fluency with tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, v0, Lovable, or comparable technologies for rapid exploration and testing of AI-driven features.

• Prototyping Tools (General): While Figma handles much of this, familiarity with other advanced prototyping tools may be beneficial for specific experimental needs.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Analysis Tools: While not explicitly stated as a design requirement, a Lead Product Designer should be comfortable interpreting data from tools like Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel, or internal dashboards to inform design decisions and measure impact.

• A/B Testing Platforms: Familiarity with platforms used for A/B testing designs to validate hypotheses and optimize user flows.

CRM & Automation:

• Project Management/Collaboration Tools: Proficiency with tools like Jira, Asana, Notion, or Trello for managing design tasks, tracking progress, and collaborating with engineering teams.

• Communication Platforms: Expertise in Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar for real-time and asynchronous communication.

• Video Conferencing: Regular use of Zoom, Google Meet, or similar for team meetings and discussions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack emphasizes modern design tools like Figma and, crucially, emergent AI-assisted prototyping tools. This indicates a forward-thinking company that values efficiency and innovation in its design processes. Understanding how design integrates with data analytics and project management tools is also key.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• High Ownership: Taking full responsibility for your work, from conception to execution and impact. This translates to proactive problem-solving and a commitment to delivering results.

• Craftsmanship & Quality: A dedication to high-quality design execution, attention to detail, and continuous improvement of design standards.

• Collaboration & Inclusivity: Working effectively with a diverse, global team, fostering an inclusive environment where all voices are heard and valued.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Using evidence, user feedback, and analytics to inform design choices and measure success.

• Continuous Improvement & Learning: A commitment to staying current with design trends, tools (especially AI), and methodologies, and applying learnings to enhance product and processes.

• Efficiency & Speed: Utilizing tools and processes that enable rapid iteration and timely delivery of valuable features.

Collaboration Style:

• Asynchronous First: A primary reliance on asynchronous communication methods to accommodate global time zones, with synchronous meetings used strategically for key discussions.

• Transparent Communication: Open sharing of design thinking, decisions, and trade-offs to ensure alignment and build trust across teams.

• Constructive Feedback Culture: Encouraging an environment where feedback is given and received openly and constructively to improve designs and processes.

• Cross-Functional Synergy: Working closely with product managers and engineers as integrated partners in the product development lifecycle.

• Influence Through Impact: Driving change and consensus through well-reasoned design proposals, data-backed arguments, and successful product outcomes, rather than formal authority.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture is defined by a strong emphasis on autonomy, ownership, and a data-driven approach within a globally distributed, remote-first setting. The values encourage proactive contribution, high-quality work, and collaborative problem-solving, which are essential for success in this type of environment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Marketplace Complexity: Balancing the competing needs and incentives of creators and consumers in a dynamic marketplace requires continuous strategic design thinking and adaptation.

• Integrating AI Seamlessly: Designing AI-driven features that feel intuitive, trustworthy, and genuinely helpful, rather than intrusive or overly complex, is a significant design challenge.

• Remote & Asynchronous Collaboration: Maintaining strong team cohesion, clear communication, and efficient workflows across multiple time zones and without physical proximity.

• Driving Design Quality with Ambiguity: Ensuring high design standards are met while working with incomplete requirements and iterating rapidly in a fast-paced environment.

• Influencing Without Formal Authority: Mentoring and raising the design bar across the team through influence, persuasion, and demonstrating value through outcomes.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced AI Design Practices: Gaining hands-on experience and expertise in designing with and for AI technologies, a rapidly evolving field.

• Marketplace Strategy Expertise: Deepening understanding of marketplace mechanics, growth strategies, and platform economics.

• Leadership and Mentorship Skills: Developing capabilities in guiding and mentoring other designers, potentially leading to formal management roles.

• Product Strategy Influence: Opportunity to contribute significantly to the strategic direction of a core product area, impacting business growth.

• Exposure to Global Best Practices: Learning from and collaborating with a diverse international team, broadening perspectives on design and product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents significant challenges related to the complexities of marketplace dynamics and AI integration, as well as the inherent demands of remote work. However, these challenges are directly tied to substantial growth opportunities in specialized and high-demand areas of product design and leadership.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Marketplace Problem Solving: "Imagine a scenario where creator supply is high but consumer engagement is low. How would you approach designing a solution to improve this dynamic on our marketplace?" (Focus on process, data, user needs, and potential AI applications).

• AI Integration Strategy: "How would you design an AI-powered recommendation system for our marketplace that feels personalized but also encourages exploration of new creators?" (Focus on user control, transparency, and balancing known preferences with discovery).

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: "Describe a time you had to design for conflicting needs between two distinct user groups. How did you reconcile these needs and what was the outcome?" (Look for examples of negotiation, compromise, and finding win-win solutions).

Company & Culture Questions:

• Remote Work Philosophy: "How do you ensure effective collaboration and maintain strong relationships with colleagues in a fully remote, asynchronous environment?" (Highlight your communication strategies, proactive engagement, and tool utilization).

• Handling Ambiguity: "Describe a project where you had minimal direction or requirements. How did you define the problem, initiate work, and move towards a solution?" (Emphasize your initiative, research skills, and iterative approach).

• Design Mentorship: "How do you approach mentoring more junior designers, and what do you believe are the key elements of a strong design culture?" (Focus on constructive feedback, knowledge sharing, and fostering a collaborative atmosphere).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Focus on Your "Why": For each case study, clearly articulate the problem you were solving and the strategic goals.

• Detail Your Process: Walk through your steps – research, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, testing, iteration, and final handoff. Explain why you made certain choices.

• Quantify Impact: Use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs. If direct metrics aren't available, discuss proxy metrics or qualitative feedback.

• Showcase AI & Marketplace Specifics: Dedicate time to projects that clearly demonstrate your expertise in marketplace dynamics and your use of AI-assisted tools.

• Be Prepared for Live Design Exercises: While not explicitly mentioned, some companies may include a short, live design challenge or a whiteboarding session to assess problem-solving skills on the spot.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should heavily lean into demonstrating strategic product thinking, specific marketplace expertise, and hands-on experience with AI design tools. The emphasis on remote work, ambiguity, and mentorship highlights key cultural fit aspects.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer position:

• Submit Your Application: Utilize the application link provided, ensuring all required fields are completed accurately.

• Tailor Your Resume: Optimize your resume to highlight your 5+ years of product design experience, specifically focusing on marketplace platforms, AI-assisted design, and 0→1 product development. Use keywords from the job description.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest projects that best showcase your marketplace experience, end-to-end ownership, AI tool usage, and strategic product contributions. Ensure it is well-organized, visually appealing, and easy to navigate.

• Prepare Your Portfolio Presentation: Practice walking through your selected case studies, focusing on your process, decision-making, impact, and ability to articulate complex design challenges and solutions, especially those related to marketplaces and AI.

• Research the Company (Jobgether & Partner): Understand Jobgether's AI matching process and the partner company's mission and product vision as much as possible from available information. This will help tailor your responses and demonstrate genuine interest.

⚠️ 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.