Product Designer - Agents

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer - Agents

Company: Pencil

Location: EMEA (European Union)

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / SaaS Design

Date Posted: 2026-06-19

Experience Level: 5+ Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote (Work from anywhere in your home country)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end design strategy and execution for the Agent Marketplace, a core area of Pencil's AI-powered SaaS platform.

• Drive the design of specialized AI agents and third-party integrations to deliver immediate, tangible value to clients and maximize time-to-value.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management and Engineering to translate complex client needs into intuitive, AI-driven workflows and high-quality interfaces.

• Focus on creating user experiences that foster high adoption and reuse of agents, emphasizing practical client use cases over generic features.

• Contribute to and evolve the design system, ensuring consistency while maintaining rapid iteration speeds in a client-driven environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a senior Product Designer with significant ownership over a critical product area. The emphasis on "Agents," "Agent Marketplace," and "specialized agents for real client use cases" indicates a focus on modular, task-specific AI functionalities within the broader SaaS platform. The "third-party integrations" aspect highlights the need for a systems-aware designer who can conceptualize how Pencil's AI capabilities connect with external tools and data. The primary goal is delivering "direct, immediate value" and "time-to-value," suggesting a need for designers who can prioritize impact and move quickly.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the complete product design lifecycle for the Agent Marketplace, from initial problem definition and concept exploration through to final UI design and successful product launch.

• Partner with Product Managers and Engineers to define the strategy and roadmap for new agents, ensuring they address real client pain points and deliver immediate business impact.

• Design user interfaces and interaction models for AI-driven workflows that simplify complexity, making advanced AI capabilities accessible and predictable for users.

• Develop and refine designs for third-party integrations that enhance the Agent Marketplace's value proposition by connecting Pencil with external ecosystems and data sources.

• Conduct user research, including client interviews and close collaboration with commercial teams, to gather insights and validate design decisions against actual business needs.

• Ensure design fidelity and intent are accurately translated into development by actively participating in implementation reviews and providing iterative feedback.

• Contribute to the growth and maintenance of Pencil's design system, advocating for standardization where it enhances consistency and efficiency without hindering rapid development.

• Champion a user-centric approach, focusing on driving high adoption and reuse rates for agents by prioritizing practical, high-value client use cases.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a proactive, ownership-driven approach. The focus on "agents that drive high adoption and reuse" and prioritizing "value over sheer volume" suggests a strategic design approach rather than just feature velocity. The mention of "integrations as a multiplier" points to a need for designers who can think about platform extensibility and ecosystem play.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong understanding of design principles, user experience, and product development is essential, typically gained through formal education or equivalent professional experience.

Experience: 5+ years of dedicated experience in digital product design. This experience should ideally be within Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) environments or in designing complex, workflow-driven tools where user efficiency and process optimization are paramount.

Required Skills:

• End-to-End Product Design: Proven ability to manage the entire design process from ideation to final implementation, demonstrating full product ownership.

• Portfolio of Shipped Work: A robust portfolio showcasing successful end-to-end product design projects, with a specific emphasis on translating complex client needs into clear, actionable outcomes, particularly for AI-driven concepts or workflows.

• Problem Solving & Agility: Exceptional problem-solving skills coupled with the ability to think and act quickly, moving from concept to prototype rapidly even with incomplete information.

• Craftsmanship & Quality: Deep appreciation for design detail across UI, interaction design, and system thinking, with a high standard for visual and functional quality.

• Autonomy & Ambiguity Tolerance: Demonstrated ability to work independently and effectively in ambiguous environments, adapting to shifting priorities driven by client demands and market opportunities.

• Systems Thinking & Integrations: A strong understanding of how different systems, tools, and data sources connect to form a cohesive user experience, particularly in the context of third-party integrations.

• Engineering Collaboration: Proven experience working closely and effectively with engineering teams, ensuring seamless translation of design intent into production-ready user interfaces.

• Figma Proficiency: High-level fluency in Figma for idea exploration, prototyping, system design, and cross-functional communication.

• AI Curiosity: A genuine interest in and comfort with designing for AI-powered systems, motivated to explore how AI can unlock new user workflows and capabilities.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in advertising technology or marketing technology (AdTech/MarTech) domains.

• Familiarity with generative AI concepts and their application in creative or workflow tools.

• Experience contributing to or managing design systems in a fast-paced environment.

• Background in user research methodologies and their application to SaaS products.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements strongly emphasize practical experience and a "doer" mentality. The explicit mention of "translating messy client needs into clear, actionable agent concepts" and being a "strong problem solver and fast thinker and doer" points to a need for a designer who can deliver tangible results quickly, rather than solely focusing on theoretical design. The "systems-aware designer" requirement is critical given the focus on integrations and the Agent Marketplace.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 comprehensive case studies demonstrating your ownership of a product area from initial problem framing to shipped solution.

• Problem-Solution Articulation: Clearly articulate the client problem or business opportunity, your design process, the rationale behind key decisions, and the final solution.

• AI/Workflow Focus: Highlight projects involving complex workflows, AI-driven features, or system integrations where you simplified intricate processes.

• Impact & Outcomes: Quantify the impact of your design work where possible (e.g., increased adoption, improved efficiency, client satisfaction metrics).

• Actionable Agent Concepts: Include examples of how you translated abstract client needs into concrete, actionable feature concepts or "agent" ideas.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Provide examples of how you mapped, analyzed, and optimized complex user workflows within a digital product.

• System Integration Design: Showcase instances where you designed interfaces or experiences that facilitated seamless integration between different tools or data sources.

• Usability & Iteration: Demonstrate your iterative design process, including user research, prototyping, testing, and how feedback informed design refinements to improve usability and clarity.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio is crucial for this role, acting as the primary evidence of a candidate's ability to deliver. The emphasis is not just on visual design but on the entire product thinking process, especially concerning AI, workflows, and integrations. Candidates should be prepared to discuss the "why" behind their design choices and the measurable impact they achieved.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Given the role is fully remote within the European Union and requires 5+ years of experience, a competitive salary range can be estimated. Factors such as specific country of residence within the EU, cost of living, and individual experience will influence the final offer.

• Estimated Range: €70,000 - €110,000 per annum.

This estimate is based on typical compensation for experienced Product Designers in senior roles within European tech companies, considering the SaaS and AI focus, and the fully remote nature. Research on comparable roles in major tech hubs within the EU (e.g., Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin) and general cost of living adjustments for other EU countries were considered.

Benefits:

• Flexible Time Off: 25 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) plus public holidays, with a Flexible Time Off (FTO) scheme that allows for greater autonomy.

• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive health insurance and private medical cover.

• Personal Development: A monthly stipend dedicated to wellness, fitness, and continuous learning and development, supporting professional growth.

• Global Remote Work: The flexibility to work from anywhere within your home country in the European Union.

• Family Support: Enhanced parental leave policies, supporting new parents through birth, adoption, or surrogacy.

• Office Access: For employees based in the UK, access to the Pencil office located in The Shard, London.

• Flexible Working Hours: The ability to adjust working hours to accommodate personal needs and optimize productivity.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimation based on industry benchmarks for experienced remote Product Designers in the EU market. The specific salary will be determined by the candidate's experience, location, and negotiation, and should be discussed directly with Pencil. The benefits package is comprehensive, emphasizing flexibility, well-being, and work-life balance, which are attractive to remote professionals.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Advertising Technology (AdTech) / SaaS, with a strong focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI. Pencil is disrupting traditional advertising by making AI the default for content creation.

Company Size: While not explicitly stated, the Ashby job posting suggests a growing startup environment. The focus on empowering individual designers with "full ownership" implies a lean, agile team structure that values individual contribution and rapid execution. Based on typical startup growth trajectories, Pencil likely falls within the 50-200 employee range.

Founded: Pencil was founded in 2019. This means the company has moved past the very early startup phase and is likely in a growth or scaling phase, with established product-market fit and a focus on expanding its platform and client base.

Team Structure:

• Design Team: The role implies a dedicated design team, with designers owning specific product areas. Collaboration is key, but individual ownership is highly valued. The team likely consists of Product Designers, with potential support from UX Researchers and UI Designers depending on the company's growth.

• Reporting: The Product Designer will likely report to a Head of Product, Design Lead, or a senior Product Manager, given the emphasis on product strategy and execution.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Close partnerships with Product Management and Engineering are fundamental. Designers will work daily with these teams to define requirements, iterate on solutions, and ensure successful implementation. Collaboration with commercial teams (Sales, Customer Success) is also essential for user research and understanding client needs.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Product Development: The emphasis on "client-driven environment," "real client demands," and "maximizing time-to-value" suggests a methodology that prioritizes client feedback and measurable impact.

• Agile & Iterative Design: The need for speed, iteration, and working with shifting priorities indicates an agile development process where design is integrated closely with engineering sprints.

• Design System Approach: The use and contribution to a design system highlights a commitment to efficient, consistent design practices while allowing for flexibility.

Company Website: https://trypencil.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Pencil operates in a dynamic and innovative space, blending AdTech with cutting-edge AI. The company culture appears to be one that empowers individuals, values speed and execution, and is deeply connected to client needs. The structure suggests designers are integral to strategic product decisions, not just execution.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Senior Product Designer or Lead Product Designer within a specific product domain (Agent Marketplace). It offers significant autonomy and end-to-end ownership, moving beyond task execution to strategic product definition. The emphasis on "owning a core area" and "driving design from strategy to execution" signifies a role with substantial responsibility and influence.

Reporting Structure: The Product Designer will likely report to a Head of Product, Design Lead, or a senior Product Manager. This structure allows for mentorship and strategic guidance while maintaining a high degree of autonomy in design execution for the Agent Marketplace. Collaboration will be tight with Engineering leads.

Operations Impact: The Product Designer's impact is directly tied to driving client adoption, satisfaction, and revenue through the Agent Marketplace. By creating intuitive AI-driven workflows and valuable integrations, the designer directly contributes to Pencil's core value proposition and its mission to make AI the default in advertising. Success in this role means directly influencing client success and, consequently, Pencil's growth and market position.

Growth Opportunities:

• Product Leadership: Potential to grow into a Design Lead or Head of Design role as the company scales, managing larger design teams and influencing broader product strategy.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI product design, AdTech, or complex workflow design, becoming a subject matter expert within Pencil.

• Strategic Influence: Gain experience in defining product strategy, market positioning, and contributing to the company's overall vision, especially concerning AI adoption and platform extensibility.

• Cross-Functional Development: Enhance skills in product management, engineering collaboration, and client relationship management through close-knit teamwork.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a significant opportunity for career advancement within a rapidly growing AI-focused SaaS company. The emphasis on ownership and strategic contribution provides a clear path for designers looking to move beyond execution into product leadership and strategic influence.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: While Pencil has an office in London for UK employees, this specific role is Fully Remote. This means the primary work environment will be a home office setup. The company's culture supports remote work, emphasizing asynchronous communication and digital collaboration tools.

Office Location(s):

• Primary: Remote (Work from anywhere in your home country in the European Union).

• Secondary (Optional): Access to Pencil's office in The Shard, London, for UK-based employees.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Autonomy: A work environment that trusts employees to manage their time and workspace effectively, fostering independence and self-discipline.

• Digital Collaboration: Heavy reliance on digital collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Figma, video conferencing) for communication, design reviews, and team alignment.

• Agile & Fast-Paced: The environment is likely dynamic, with a strong emphasis on rapid iteration, quick decision-making, and adapting to client needs and market shifts.

• Focus on Output: Performance is measured by demonstrable impact and successful product delivery rather than strict adherence to office hours or location.

Work Schedule:

• Flexible Working Hours: Employees have the flexibility to set their own working hours, allowing for a better work-life balance and accommodation of different time zones within the EU.

• Core Collaboration Hours: While flexible, there will likely be implicit or explicit core hours for essential team meetings, cross-functional syncs, and real-time collaboration, especially with engineering teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote and flexible work environment is a key aspect of this role, offering significant autonomy. Candidates should be comfortable with asynchronous communication and possess strong self-management skills. The option to use the London office provides a physical touchpoint for those in the UK.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

1. Application & Portfolio Review: Initial screening based on resume and portfolio. Emphasis will be on demonstrated end-to-end product thinking, AI/workflow design, and impact.

2. Hiring Manager Interview: A conversation with the hiring manager (likely a Design Lead or senior Product Manager) to discuss your experience, approach to design, motivations, and fit with the team's culture. Expect questions about your portfolio projects and how you handle ambiguity.

3. Design Challenge/Workshop: A practical exercise designed to assess your problem-solving skills, design process, and ability to translate complex requirements into design solutions. This might involve a take-home assignment or a live workshop focusing on a simulated problem related to the Agent Marketplace.

4. Cross-Functional Interview: A meeting with Product Management and Engineering peers to evaluate your collaboration style, technical understanding, and ability to work effectively in a cross-functional team.

5. Final Interview: Potentially with a company leader to discuss overall strategic alignment, your long-term career goals, and assess cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Storytelling: Frame each case study as a narrative. Start with the problem, walk through your process and decisions, and conclude with the solution and its impact.

• Focus on "Why": Clearly articulate the rationale behind your design choices, especially when dealing with complex AI or integration scenarios.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals effectively – wireframes, prototypes, final UI mockups, user flow diagrams – to illustrate your process and outcomes.

• Highlight Impact: Quantify results whenever possible. If exact metrics aren't available, discuss the intended impact and how you would measure success.

• Tailor to Pencil: Emphasize projects that demonstrate your ability to design for SaaS, complex workflows, AI, and integrations. Showcase your "systems-aware" design thinking.

• Be Ready to Discuss: Prepare to dive deep into any project in your portfolio, discussing challenges, trade-offs, and learnings.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Domain: Familiarize yourself with Pencil's product, the AdTech industry, and the concept of AI agents and marketplaces.

• Practice Problem Solving: Be ready to tackle design problems under pressure. Think aloud, articulate your assumptions, and demonstrate a structured approach.

• Focus on Core Responsibilities: Prepare for challenges that might involve designing AI-driven workflows, simplifying complex features, or considering integration points.

• Communicate Clearly: Practice explaining your design decisions and process concisely and effectively.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess not only design craft but also strategic thinking, problem-solving agility, and collaborative capabilities, especially in the context of AI and integrations. A strong, relevant portfolio is paramount.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: This is explicitly mentioned as a required skill. Proficiency will be expected for all aspects of design, from wireframing and prototyping to creating design systems and collaborating with engineering.

• Prototyping Tools: While Figma has robust prototyping capabilities, experience with other dedicated prototyping tools (e.g., Principle, ProtoPie) might be beneficial for complex interactions, though Figma is likely sufficient.

• User Research Platforms: Familiarity with tools for conducting remote user interviews and usability testing (e.g., Lookback, UserTesting.com, Maze) would be advantageous.

Analytics & Reporting:

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

• Data Visualization Tools: While not explicitly required, an understanding of how data is visualized in dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Looker) can help in designing for data-informed decision-making.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM Systems: Awareness of how CRMs (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) function and integrate with other tools is valuable, especially for understanding client data and workflows.

• Integration Platforms: Understanding concepts related to APIs and how third-party services integrate is crucial, given the role's focus on integrations.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis is on Figma as the core design tool. Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they leverage design tools to facilitate collaboration and ensure design intent is met in development. Familiarity with analytics tools is important for demonstrating the impact of design work.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Client-Centricity: A deep focus on understanding and solving real client business problems, ensuring that product development is driven by tangible client value and immediate impact.

• Speed & Agility: A culture that values rapid iteration, quick decision-making, and the ability to respond swiftly to evolving client needs and market opportunities.

• Ownership & Autonomy: Empowering designers to take full responsibility for their product areas, fostering a sense of ownership and encouraging independent problem-solving.

• Excellence & Craftsmanship: Maintaining a high bar for design quality, attention to detail, and thoughtful execution across all aspects of the product.

• Innovation & AI Exploration: A forward-thinking approach that embraces new technologies like AI and actively explores how they can unlock new capabilities and user workflows.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Strong emphasis on close collaboration between Design, Product, and Engineering, working together as a unified team to deliver value.

• Direct Client Engagement: Designers are encouraged to stay close to clients and commercial teams to ground their work in real-world needs and feedback.

• Open Communication: A culture that supports open dialogue, constructive feedback, and proactive communication, especially in a remote environment.

• Systematic Thinking: A collaborative approach that considers how individual product areas integrate into the broader platform and ecosystem, promoting consistency and efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture at Pencil appears to be a blend of startup agility and a mature approach to product development, driven by client success and a commitment to innovation in AI. Designers are expected to be proactive, collaborative, and deeply integrated into the product lifecycle.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Designing for Ambiguity: Navigating the inherent ambiguity in a fast-paced startup environment and translating evolving client needs into concrete design solutions.

• Simplifying AI Complexity: Making advanced AI-powered features and workflows intuitive and accessible to a broad range of users, especially within the context of specialized agents and integrations.

• Balancing Speed and Quality: Maintaining a high standard of design craft and user experience while meeting aggressive development timelines and responding rapidly to client demands.

• Integration Design: Conceptualizing and designing seamless user experiences across Pencil and various third-party tools, ensuring a cohesive and valuable client journey.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI Design Mastery: Deepen expertise in designing user experiences for cutting-edge AI and generative AI applications, a rapidly evolving field.

• Platform Strategy: Gain hands-on experience in shaping the strategy of a growing SaaS platform, particularly around its extensibility through an agent marketplace and third-party integrations.

• Product Leadership Skills: Develop strategic product thinking, client engagement, and cross-functional leadership capabilities.

• Industry Expertise: Become a specialist in the AdTech/MarTech space, understanding its unique challenges and opportunities.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role presents a unique opportunity to tackle complex design challenges at the intersection of AI, SaaS, and advertising technology. The growth opportunities are significant for designers looking to advance into product leadership and gain deep expertise in a high-demand field.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach designing a new 'agent' for our marketplace that addresses a specific client pain point in advertising creation?" (Focus on your problem-framing, ideation, and validation process).

• "Describe a time you had to simplify a complex workflow or system. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?" (Demonstrate your ability to distill complexity and create intuitive experiences).

• "How do you balance the need for a consistent design system with the need for rapid iteration and delivering client-specific solutions?" (Show your understanding of design system governance and pragmatic application).

• "Imagine we want to integrate with X type of third-party tool. What are the key design considerations you would prioritize to ensure a seamless user experience?" (Assess your systems thinking and integration design approach). Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you most about Pencil's mission and our approach to AI in advertising?" (Show your research and genuine interest).

• "How do you prefer to collaborate with Product Managers and Engineers, especially in a remote setting?" (Highlight your communication and teamwork skills).

• "Describe a situation where you received critical feedback on your design. How did you respond, and what did you learn?" (Assess your receptiveness to feedback and ability to iterate). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: For each case study, start with a concise overview of the project, the problem, and your role.

• Process Visualization: Use diagrams, flowcharts, and annotated screenshots to visually represent your design process and key decisions.

• Highlight AI/Integration Aspects: Specifically call out any elements of your work that relate to AI workflows, agent concepts, or system integrations.

• Quantify Impact: For each project, clearly state the measurable results or intended impact. If you can't quantify, discuss how you would measure success.

• Conciseness: Be mindful of time. Focus on the most impactful parts of your work and be prepared to answer questions rather than presenting every detail.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating a blend of strategic product thinking, strong design craft, and an ability to navigate ambiguity and complexity, particularly within the AI and integration space. Your portfolio is your primary tool for showcasing these capabilities.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position at Pencil:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight experience in SaaS, AI product design, complex workflows, and system integrations. Quantify achievements where possible with metrics related to user adoption, efficiency, or client impact.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 strong case studies that best demonstrate your end-to-end product design process, focusing on AI-driven features, agent concepts, or integration design. Ensure clear articulation of problems, solutions, and outcomes.

• Practice Your Pitch: Be prepared to walk through your portfolio projects, clearly explaining your design decisions, process, and the impact of your work. Practice articulating your thoughts on AI and its role in product design.

• Research Pencil: Understand Pencil's mission, product, and target market. Be ready to discuss why you are specifically interested in this role and company, especially regarding their AI-driven approach.

⚠️ 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.