Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer

Company: EQL

Location: Cremorne, Victoria, Australia (Melbourne)

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / GTM Operations Support

Date Posted: April 15, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Level (2-5 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and develop user-centric product experiences for both merchant operational tools and fan-facing commerce platforms, ensuring seamless integration and high utility.

• Collaborate closely with senior designers, product managers, and engineers to translate complex user needs and business requirements into intuitive and effective design solutions.

• Contribute to the evolution and consistent application of EQL's design system, ensuring scalability and maintainability across all product touchpoints.

• Leverage AI-augmented design tools to accelerate design exploration and iteration, while applying critical craft judgment to the output.

• Drive product improvements through a research-informed approach, utilizing qualitative feedback, user data, and empirical observation to shape design decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Product Designer," the description emphasizes designing for "operational experiences that merchants rely on" and "merchant workflow," indicating a strong connection to Go-To-Market (GTM) operations and B2B SaaS product design. The role requires understanding both sides of a platform (merchant/operations and fan/customer), which is crucial for operations professionals seeking roles that bridge product and business execution.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design for well-scoped product challenges, from initial problem framing and user research to final shipped solutions, navigating ambiguity with support.

• Apply design thinking and empathy mapping to deeply understand merchant and fan user challenges, with guidance from senior designers and product managers on scope and direction.

• Analyze customer feedback and usage patterns, combining qualitative research and quantitative data to identify and propose experience improvements.

• Develop high-quality visual and interaction designs, demonstrating a strong understanding of typography, layout, color, and interactive principles, and articulating design rationale.

• Design for complexity, including multi-state workflows, information-dense user interfaces, and task-oriented experiences, prioritizing clarity and utility.

• Integrate AI design and prototyping tools into the design workflow to enhance efficiency and exploration, critically evaluating the quality of AI-generated outputs.

• Actively participate in design reviews, share perspectives, and build alignment with engineering and product management partners to foster cross-functional collaboration.

• Contribute to EQL's design culture by forming evidence-based opinions, remaining open to feedback, and actively seeking critique as a growth mechanism.

• Work within and contribute to EQL's established design system, ensuring consistency, scalability, and adherence to established patterns.

• Foster a collaborative team environment by giving and receiving constructive critique, sharing knowledge, and learning from more senior designers.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of user-centered design for both B2B (merchant operations) and B2C (fan experience) contexts. For operations professionals, understanding how product design impacts operational efficiency and user adoption is key. This role requires a designer who can think about workflows, data management, and user enablement, which are core to operations.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Not explicitly stated, but a Bachelor's degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for mid-level product design roles. A strong portfolio can often substitute formal education.

Experience: Solid experience in product design within a startup or fast-paced software product environment, with a portfolio that shows shipped work.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience in product design, with a portfolio showcasing shipped products, not just concepts.

• Demonstrated ability to design for complex scenarios, including multi-state workflows, information-dense UIs, and task-oriented B2B experiences.

• Strong visual design skills, including proficiency in typography, layout, color theory, and interaction design principles.

• Ability to articulate and defend design decisions clearly, explaining the principles behind them.

• Capacity to take a well-scoped problem from brief to shipped solution with growing independence, demonstrating good judgment regarding trade-offs.

• Familiarity with AI-augmented design tools and a willingness to integrate them into the workflow, coupled with the craft judgment to evaluate output quality.

• Experience working within and contributing to a design system, with a focus on consistency and scalability.

• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with engineers and product managers, understanding how technical and business constraints influence design.

• A curious, research-informed approach, utilizing feedback, data, and observation to refine design work.

Preferred Skills:

• B2B product design background or demonstrated capability in designing complex operational workflows.

• Experience with e-commerce, retail tech, or platforms managing high-demand events.

• Proficiency in specific design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite).

• Understanding of agile development methodologies and their impact on design processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "designing for complexity - multi-state workflows, information-dense UIs, task-oriented experiences" and "B2B background is desirable but not required" directly aligns with the needs of a GTM Operations or Revenue Operations function that relies on efficient, complex software tools. Candidates should highlight their experience with enterprise software or operational dashboards.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 2-3 significant projects demonstrating end-to-end product design ownership.

• Include a mix of B2B (merchant/operational) and B2C (fan-facing) design examples, if possible, to reflect the dual nature of EQL's platform.

• Clearly articulate the problem statement, your role, the design process, key decisions, trade-offs made, and the final shipped outcome with measurable results.

• Demonstrate the application of design thinking, user research methodologies, and data-informed decision-making.

• Highlight experience with designing for complex workflows, information architecture, and user interface design.

Process Documentation:

• For each portfolio project, clearly document the problem-solving process, including:

  • Initial user research and problem definition.
  • Ideation and concept development stages.
  • Wireframing, prototyping, and user testing phases.
  • Iteration based on feedback and data.
  • Final design specifications and collaboration with engineering.
  • Post-launch analysis of impact and learnings.

• Showcase an understanding of how design processes integrate with agile development and product management workflows.

• Provide evidence of how you used AI design tools within your process and how you evaluated their output.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations-focused roles that interact with product design, a portfolio that clearly articulates workflow optimization, efficiency gains, and user adoption metrics is highly valued. Candidates should emphasize how their design solutions solved operational pain points or improved process efficiency.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a Product Designer with 2-5 years of experience in Melbourne, Australia, and considering the startup environment, a competitive annual salary range is estimated to be between AUD $90,000 - $130,000. This range accounts for the cost of living in Melbourne, the company's backing by VCs, and the demand for skilled product designers in the tech sector.

Benefits:

• Equity in EQL: Opportunity to own a stake in the company's success.

• Competitive Compensation: Market-aligned salary with regular review.

• Flexible Work Environment: Support for diverse working styles and needs.

• Generous Time Off: Ample paid time off beyond statutory requirements, promoting well-being and engagement.

• Pet-Friendly Workplace: Welcoming environment that includes furry friends.

• Comprehensive Health and Wellness Programs (implied by typical tech startup offerings, though not explicitly detailed).

Working Hours: A standard full-time work week is typically 38-40 hours, with flexibility offered by the company. The role is hybrid, implying a blend of in-office collaboration and remote work.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimation is based on current market data for Product Designers in Melbourne, Australia, factoring in the startup context and the company's funding status. Benefits like equity and flexible work are strong indicators of a modern tech company culture that values employee investment and work-life balance, which are attractive to operations professionals as well.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: E-commerce Technology, SaaS, Retail Tech. EQL operates in the high-stakes world of commerce, specifically focusing on managing demand for popular product launches and events. This involves sophisticated backend systems for retailers and engaging front-end experiences for consumers.

Company Size: EQL is a growing startup, likely in the Seed to Series A funding stage, with a team size that is expanding but still relatively small (e.g., 20-100 employees). This means a dynamic, fast-paced environment where individual contributions are highly visible and impactful.

Founded: EQL was founded to address the broken experience of high-demand product launches. The company's mission is to create fair launch platforms for brands with passionate fan bases, backed by leading VCs and angels. This foundation implies a mission-driven culture focused on solving significant real-world problems in commerce.

Team Structure:

• The design team likely consists of a Head of Design or Senior Design Lead, senior designers, and this mid-level Product Designer role.

• Collaboration is explicitly cross-functional, involving Product Management and Engineering as core partners.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: Emphasis on staying close to customer feedback and usage patterns, using qualitative research and data to inform design improvements.

• Agile Development: Working within a fast-paced environment implies agile methodologies, requiring iterative design and close collaboration with development sprints.

• Design Thinking & Empathy: Core to the design process, focusing on understanding user challenges through empathy mapping and design thinking frameworks.

• Systematic Approach: Working within and contributing to a design system promotes consistency, scalability, and efficient development.

Company Website: https://eql.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, understanding a startup's culture means anticipating a high level of autonomy, rapid iteration, and direct impact on product and business outcomes. The emphasis on "curious, kind, and ambitious people" and "play bigger than we are" suggests a culture that values proactive problem-solving and continuous learning.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a mid-level Product Designer (2-5 years of experience). While not directly an "operations" role, the design of merchant-facing tools and workflows means this person will be instrumental in shaping the efficiency and usability of operational processes managed by EQL's clients. This provides valuable insight into how product design supports GTM operations.

Reporting Structure: The Product Designer will report to a Senior Designer or Head of Design. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering teams, fostering essential cross-functional relationships critical for GTM success.

Operations Impact: The Product Designer's work directly impacts the operational efficiency and effectiveness of EQL's merchant clients. By designing intuitive operational tools, they enable merchants to manage demand, prevent fraud, and deliver better fan experiences, thereby enhancing EQL's value proposition in the market. This role bridges the gap between product development and operational execution.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in B2B SaaS product design, focusing on complex workflows and operational tool design.

• Design System Contribution: Become a key contributor to the growth and evolution of EQL's design system, potentially leading aspects of its development.

• Leadership Potential: As the company grows, opportunities may arise to mentor junior designers or take on design leadership for specific product areas.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gain significant experience working with product and engineering teams, understanding the full product development lifecycle from a business operations perspective.

• Industry Expertise: Develop specialized knowledge in the e-commerce, retail tech, and high-demand event management sectors.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations candidates, this role offers a unique perspective on how product design influences operational processes. Understanding this interplay is crucial for roles in RevOps, Sales Ops, or GTM Ops, as it informs how to work with product teams to optimize tools and workflows. The growth opportunities are significant in a startup environment.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: EQL offers a hybrid work environment with a physical workspace that welcomes the whole team, including pets. This suggests a modern, flexible office designed for collaboration, team building, and focused work.

Office Location(s): The primary office is located at 105-115 Dover St, Cremorne, Victoria, 3121, Australia (Melbourne). Cremorne is a well-known tech hub in Melbourne, offering a vibrant ecosystem of startups and tech companies.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The office is designed to facilitate in-person collaboration, team events, and spontaneous interactions.

• Tools & Technology: Designers will have access to industry-standard design and prototyping software, likely including AI-augmented tools. The company emphasizes using technology to solve problems efficiently.

• Team Interaction: The hybrid model encourages intentional in-person interaction for team building and complex problem-solving, balanced with the flexibility of remote work.

Work Schedule: A standard full-time schedule is expected (approx. 40 hours/week), with flexibility provided to support individual work styles and needs. This flexibility is key for operations professionals who often need to adapt schedules for data analysis or urgent tasks.

📝 Enhancement Note: The pet-friendly office and emphasis on collaboration in a hybrid model are indicative of a progressive startup culture. For operations roles, this environment often translates to a high degree of autonomy and a focus on results over strict adherence to traditional office hours, provided work is completed effectively.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess experience and fit.

• Design/Portfolio Review: A dedicated session with a senior designer or design lead to walk through your portfolio, discuss your process, and evaluate your craft. Be prepared to discuss your contributions to shipped products, problem-solving approach, and design rationale.

• Cross-Functional Interview: An interview with a Product Manager and/or Engineer to assess collaboration skills, understanding of technical/business constraints, and ability to work within a team.

• Hiring Manager/Team Lead Interview: A final interview to discuss overall fit, career aspirations, and alignment with EQL's values and culture.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Clearly articulate the business impact and user outcomes of your design work. Quantify results wherever possible (e.g., improved conversion rates, reduced error rates, increased user engagement).

• Showcase Process: Detail your design process for each project, including research, ideation, iteration, and collaboration. Explain why you made certain decisions.

• Highlight B2B/Operational Design: If you have experience designing operational dashboards, complex workflows, or B2B tools, emphasize these projects. Explain how your designs improved efficiency or solved operational challenges.

• Demonstrate AI Tool Usage: Be ready to discuss how you've used AI design tools, what their benefits were, and how you maintained design quality and critical judgment.

• Storytelling: Frame your projects as compelling stories of problem-solving and impact.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Exercise: Be prepared for a take-home design challenge or a live design exercise, likely focused on a well-scoped problem relevant to EQL's platform.

• Process Focus: Demonstrate a structured approach to the challenge, clearly outlining your steps, assumptions, and rationale.

• Collaboration Simulation: If it's a live exercise, think about how you would articulate your thoughts and collaborate with others. For a take-home, consider how you would present your solution to stakeholders.

• Operations Alignment: If the challenge involves a merchant-facing tool, consider how your design would impact operational efficiency or user adoption for businesses.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio showcasing shipped work and demonstrating "design for complexity" is critical. Operations professionals should look for roles where product design directly supports their functional areas, and this role offers that insight. Preparing to discuss operational impact in design decisions will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly probable, industry standard), Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator).

• AI Design Tools: Specific tools are not named, but candidates are expected to be familiar with and willing to integrate AI-augmented design platforms (e.g., tools for generating design variations, content, or initial wireframes).

• Collaboration & Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello (common in startup environments for tracking design tasks and sprints).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Google Analytics for tracking user behavior, feature adoption, and identifying areas for improvement.

• Data Visualization: Tableau, Looker, or internal dashboards for understanding user data and presenting insights.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly used by the designer, understanding CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and marketing automation platforms is beneficial, as EQL's clients will use these to manage their customer relationships and launch campaigns. This context helps the designer understand the broader ecosystem.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, familiarity with the tools that designers use can facilitate better collaboration. Understanding the analytics tools used to measure design impact is also crucial for operations roles focused on performance metrics and ROI.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values: (Interpreted from company description and role expectations)

• Curiosity: A drive to understand user problems deeply and explore innovative solutions.

• Kindness: A collaborative and supportive approach to working with colleagues and understanding user needs.

• Ambition: A willingness to tackle complex problems, "play bigger," and contribute to significant company growth.

• Data-Informed: Decisions grounded in evidence, user feedback, and data analysis, not just intuition.

• Excellence & Craftsmanship: A commitment to producing high-quality design work, even in a fast-paced environment.

• Coachability: Openness to feedback, iteration, and continuous learning as mechanisms for growth.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Partnership: Close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering is fundamental, with a shared responsibility for product success.

• Constructive Critique: An environment where feedback is regularly given and received to improve designs and processes.

• Systemic Thinking: Working within a design system promotes consistency and efficiency, fostering a collaborative approach to maintaining and evolving these standards.

• Shared Ownership: Embracing ambiguity and solving tough problems together, with individuals taking ownership while supporting the team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on values like curiosity, ambition, and coachability is key for operations professionals looking to join a startup. These values often translate to a proactive, problem-solving culture that is highly conducive to driving operational improvements.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Merchant & Fan Needs: Designing effectively for two distinct user groups with potentially competing needs requires careful prioritization and user research.

• Navigating Ambiguity: As a startup, processes may be evolving, requiring designers to be comfortable with uncertainty and to help define best practices.

• Pace of Iteration: Working in a fast-paced environment means rapid iteration and the need to ship solutions quickly, sometimes with incomplete information.

• AI Integration: Effectively leveraging AI design tools while maintaining high craft standards and critical judgment requires continuous learning and adaptation.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design Skills: Opportunities to hone skills in complex workflow design, information architecture, and interaction patterns.

• Product Strategy Involvement: Deeper involvement in product strategy discussions as the designer's influence grows.

• Design System Leadership: Potential to take on more responsibility for managing and evolving the design system.

• Industry Specialization: Becoming an expert in the unique challenges of the e-commerce and high-demand launch space.

• Startup Environment Experience: Gaining invaluable experience in a high-growth, dynamic tech company.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are common in growing tech companies and offer significant learning opportunities. For operations professionals, understanding these design challenges can inform how to better support product teams and integrate operational requirements into the product roadmap.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you designed a complex workflow for a B2B product. What were the challenges, and how did you ensure it was intuitive and efficient?" (Focus on process, trade-offs, and operational impact).

• "How do you approach balancing user needs with technical and commercial constraints when designing a new feature?" (Highlightability to compromise effectively and communicate rationale).

• "Walk us through a project where you used data or user research to significantly change your design direction." (Emphasize research-informed decision-making and iterative process).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about EQL's mission and the problem we're solving in commerce?" (Show genuine interest in the company's domain).

• "How do you approach giving and receiving design critique? Can you share an example?" (Assess coachability and collaborative spirit).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: Organize your portfolio logically, with a clear introduction to the company/problem, your role, the process, key decisions, and outcomes.

• Focus on Process: Don't just show final screens; explain how you got there. Use diagrams, sketches, and user flows to illustrate your thinking.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., "Increased conversion by X%", "Reduced task completion time by Y%").

• Highlight Collaboration: Mention how you worked with PMs, engineers, and other stakeholders.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Prepare to answer detailed questions about any aspect of your projects.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations candidates, understanding these interview questions can help them prepare for similar questions if they were to interview for product-adjacent roles or to better assess product teams they work with. The emphasis on process, data, and collaboration is universal.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the EQL careers portal via the provided link.

• Tailor your Resume: Highlight experience in product design, particularly any B2B or operational tool design, and emphasize your ability to design for complexity. Use keywords from the job description.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Ensure your portfolio clearly showcases shipped work, your end-to-end design process, and quantifiable results. Specifically, include examples that demonstrate your ability to design complex workflows and your experience with AI design tools.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Be ready to articulate your design philosophy, your approach to problem-solving, and how your skills align with EQL's mission and values. Practice presenting your portfolio projects with a focus on impact and collaboration.

• Research EQL: Understand their product, target market, and company mission. Familiarize yourself with their existing design aesthetic and user experience to demonstrate informed 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.

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