Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer

Company: Savvy Talent

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: 2026-06-12

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

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and deliver intuitive, elegant user experiences for marketplace and subscription products, impacting hundreds of thousands of users.

• Own the entire design lifecycle, from user research and wireframing to final UI delivery, ensuring rapid iteration and shipping velocity.

• Collaborate closely with Product Managers and Engineers to translate complex workflows into seamless, user-centric interfaces.

• Maintain and evolve a scalable design system, ensuring consistency and visual cohesion across the product suite.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a mid-level Product Designer with significant ownership expectations, suitable for candidates seeking to make a visible impact in a growth-stage company. The emphasis on owning the full design lifecycle and working within a fast-paced startup environment suggests a need for strong autonomy and proactive problem-solving.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the full product design lifecycle, encompassing user research, wireframing, prototyping, and final UI delivery for both marketplace and subscription products.

• Translate complex user needs and business objectives into intuitive, elegant, and scalable product experiences.

• Actively collaborate with Product Managers and Engineering teams to effectively scope, prioritize, and deliver design solutions within defined timelines.

• Develop detailed wireframes, user flows, and interactive prototypes to clearly communicate design concepts and decisions to stakeholders.

• Contribute to and evolve a consistent design system, ensuring scalability, visual cohesion, and adherence to product standards.

• Champion user experience principles while adeptly balancing business priorities, technical constraints, and aggressive shipping schedules.

• Iterate rapidly on designs based on quantitative user data, qualitative customer feedback, and key product performance indicators (KPIs).

• Deliver high-fidelity visual designs and production-ready assets that facilitate efficient engineering implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a hands-on approach to product design, requiring a candidate who can contribute at all stages of the design process. The mention of "shipping fast" and "iterating quickly" highlights the need for efficiency and adaptability in a dynamic startup environment.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is listed, a background in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or a related field is implied by the role's nature.

Experience: 3+ years of experience as a Product Designer, UI/UX Designer, or equivalent role within a SaaS, marketplace, or Product-Led Growth (PLG) company.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated expertise in end-to-end product design, evidenced by a strong portfolio showcasing both User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) work.

• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools, with a specific emphasis on Figma or equivalent industry-standard software.

• Deep understanding of usability principles, interaction design patterns, and the creation of responsive layouts for diverse devices.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a proven ability to work effectively across cross-functional teams including product, engineering, and leadership.

• Comfort and proven success working in a fast-paced startup environment characterized by limited resources and a high degree of autonomy.

• Self-sufficiency and accountability for meeting deadlines without constant direct supervision.

• Professional proficiency in English. Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience designing for two-sided marketplaces or platforms within the creator economy.

• Experience in designing marketing websites or conversion-focused landing pages.

• A background in graphic design, including the creation of marketing assets, social media visuals, or brand identity elements.

• Experience with motion design, advanced interaction design, or rapid prototyping tools.

• Foundational knowledge of front-end development (HTML/CSS/JS) to enhance collaboration with engineers and understand implementation feasibility.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements clearly prioritize practical experience and a strong portfolio over formal education. The "Nice to Have" section indicates areas where candidates can differentiate themselves, particularly in specialized platform types or related design disciplines like graphic design.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A robust portfolio demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the end-to-end product design lifecycle, from initial concept to final execution.

• Case studies that clearly articulate the problem, your design process, the solutions implemented, and the resulting impact on user experience and business metrics.

• Examples of wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity UI designs that showcase your ability to translate complex requirements into intuitive interfaces.

• Evidence of contributions to or creation of design systems, highlighting your approach to consistency, scalability, and maintainability. Process Documentation:

• Showcase your approach to user research methodologies, including how you gather insights and translate them into actionable design decisions.

• Detail your wireframing and prototyping processes, illustrating how you explore different solutions and validate concepts before development.

• Demonstrate your iteration process, explaining how you leverage user feedback, data analytics, and A/B testing results to refine designs.

• Illustrate your collaboration process with product managers and engineers, highlighting how you ensure alignment and efficient handoffs.

📝 Enhancement Note: A strong portfolio is critical for this role, serving as the primary evidence of a candidate's skills. The emphasis is not just on the final output but on the strategic thinking and iterative process behind it, particularly in the context of a startup environment where efficiency and impact are key.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $70,000 - $75,000 CAD per year.

Benefits:

• Annual Performance & Compensation Reviews: Structured yearly reviews to assess performance, discuss career growth, and adjust compensation accordingly, providing a clear path for salary progression.

• Paid Time Off: 2 weeks (10 business days) of vacation annually, standard for many full-time roles.

• Paid Holidays: Observance of all local and federal holidays in Canada, ensuring time off for national celebrations and observances.

• Paid Sick Leave: Comprehensive coverage for sick days, providing financial security and peace of mind during periods of illness.

Working Hours: Typically 40 hours per week, with the expectation of flexibility and autonomy common in startup environments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific to Vancouver, Canada. Based on industry benchmarks for mid-level Product Designers in major Canadian tech hubs, this range is competitive but at the lower to mid-end, reflecting the early-stage nature of the company and the hybrid work model. The benefits package is standard but offers clear opportunities for compensation growth through annual reviews.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: The company operates within the technology sector, with a focus on SaaS, marketplace, and potentially Product-Led Growth (PLG) models. This implies a data-driven, user-centric, and agile operational approach.

Company Size: Savvy Talent is described as a "growth-stage company," suggesting it has moved beyond the initial startup phase but is still scaling rapidly. This typically means a dynamic environment with evolving processes and a need for adaptable team members.

Founded: While the founding date isn't specified, the "growth-stage" descriptor implies a company that has achieved product-market fit and is now focused on expansion, hiring, and scaling its operations.

Team Structure:

• The Product Designer will report directly to Product Managers, indicating a close working relationship within the product development vertical.

• Collaboration with an existing senior product designer suggests opportunities for mentorship and knowledge sharing, as well as a collaborative design environment.

• Close partnerships with engineering teams are essential, underscoring the importance of cross-functional communication and shared ownership of product delivery. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Iteration: Designs are expected to be iterated upon rapidly based on user data, customer feedback, and product KPIs, indicating a strong emphasis on analytics and measurable outcomes.

• Agile Development: The mention of "shipping fast" and "iterating quickly" points towards agile methodologies, where flexibility and responsiveness are paramount.

• Design System Integration: A focus on maintaining and evolving a consistent design system highlights a commitment to scalable, efficient, and cohesive product development.

Company Website: savvytalent.com

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is likely to be fast-paced, autonomous, and focused on impact. As a growth-stage company, there's an opportunity to influence processes and shape the product direction. The emphasis on data and user feedback suggests a mature approach to product development despite the startup environment.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is classified as a Mid-Level Product Designer (2-5 years of experience). It requires independent contribution and ownership of design projects, moving beyond junior-level support to leading design initiatives within specific product areas.

Reporting Structure: The Product Designer reports directly to Product Managers. This structure facilitates close alignment with product strategy and roadmap, ensuring design efforts are focused on key business objectives. Collaboration with a senior designer offers learning opportunities and peer support.

Operations Impact: The Product Designer's impact is directly tied to shaping the user experience of core marketplace and subscription products. This influences user acquisition, engagement, retention, and ultimately, revenue through intuitive and effective interfaces that reach hundreds of thousands of users. The ability to translate complex workflows into elegant solutions directly contributes to operational efficiency and user satisfaction.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Opportunity to deepen expertise in UX/UI design, interaction design, and design systems, potentially specializing in areas like two-sided marketplaces or creator economy platforms.

• Leadership Potential: As the company grows, there may be opportunities to take on more senior design roles, mentor junior designers, or lead design initiatives for new product features or lines.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gaining experience working closely with product management and engineering provides a holistic understanding of product development, enhancing career versatility.

• Impactful Contributions: The high-ownership nature of the role allows for significant contributions to product strategy and user experience, which can be highlighted for future career advancements.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers substantial growth potential within a scaling company. The emphasis on ownership and direct reporting to Product Managers provides visibility and influence. Candidates looking to move from execution-focused roles to more strategic design contributions will find this appealing.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is designated as "Hybrid," meaning a combination of remote work and in-office presence is expected. The specific cadence of office days is not detailed but is typical for hybrid arrangements in tech companies.

Office Location(s): The primary location is Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This suggests the opportunity to work from a company office in Vancouver, fostering in-person collaboration and team connection.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model implies a need for effective asynchronous communication tools alongside in-person collaboration sessions, fostering a balanced work environment.

• Tools & Technology: Access to modern design tools (Figma) and the potential for rapid prototyping and iteration within the engineering workflow.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for direct interaction with Product Managers, Engineers, and potentially a Senior Product Designer, facilitating knowledge sharing and problem-solving.

Work Schedule: While a standard 40-hour work week is implied, the startup environment often necessitates flexibility. This means the ability to adapt schedules to meet project deadlines and collaborate effectively across time zones or with different team members is valuable.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid nature of the role offers flexibility while maintaining the benefits of in-office collaboration. Candidates should be comfortable with a blend of remote and on-site work and possess strong self-management skills.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess foundational skills, experience, and alignment with the role's requirements. Be prepared to articulate your design philosophy and key accomplishments.

• Design Challenge/Portfolio Review: This stage likely involves a deep dive into your portfolio. You may be asked to present specific case studies, detailing your process, decision-making, and the impact of your work. A practical design exercise or a take-home challenge focusing on problem-solving and UI/UX skills might also be included.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Discussions with Product Managers and Engineers to evaluate your collaboration style, communication skills, and ability to integrate design within development workflows.

• Cultural Fit/Hiring Manager Interview: An assessment of your alignment with the company's growth-stage startup culture, including autonomy, adaptability, and problem-solving capabilities.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Selectively: Choose 2-3 of your strongest end-to-end product design case studies that best represent your skills relevant to SaaS or marketplace products.

• Tell a Story: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (research, ideation, prototyping, testing), your design decisions, and the quantifiable outcomes or learnings.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Include high-quality visuals of wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes (links are great), and final UI designs. Explain your rationale behind key design choices.

• Highlight Impact: Quantify the impact of your designs whenever possible using metrics such as conversion rates, engagement increases, task completion times, or user satisfaction scores.

• Demonstrate Process: Clearly outline your design process, emphasizing how you approach user research, problem-solving, and iteration.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If a design challenge is given, ensure you fully understand the problem statement, target users, and business goals.

• Prioritize and Scope: In a timed challenge, focus on demonstrating your core design skills. It's better to deliver a well-reasoned partial solution than a rushed, incomplete one.

• Communicate Assumptions: Clearly state any assumptions you make and explain the reasoning behind them.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will heavily rely on evaluating your portfolio and practical design skills. Demonstrating a structured yet adaptable design process, strong collaboration abilities, and a data-informed approach to iteration will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for wireframing, prototyping, UI design, and design system management. Proficiency in Figma is explicitly required.

• Other Design Tools: Familiarity with equivalent modern design tools (e.g., Sketch, Adobe XD) may be beneficial but Figma is the stated preference.

• Prototyping Tools: Experience with tools for creating interactive prototypes (often integrated within Figma or dedicated tools like InVision, Principle) for user testing and stakeholder communication.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Analytics Platforms: Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or similar platforms to understand user behavior, track product KPIs, and inform design decisions.

• A/B Testing Tools: Experience with platforms that facilitate A/B testing to measure the impact of design variations on key metrics.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a designer's tool, understanding how CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and automation platforms integrate with user data and product experiences can enhance collaboration with Product Managers and Marketing. Collaboration & Project Management:

• Tools like Jira, Asana, Trello, or Monday.com for tracking design tasks and collaborating with engineering and product teams.

• Communication platforms such as Slack or Microsoft Teams for daily interaction.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Figma is a baseline requirement. The ability to leverage user data and analytics to drive design decisions is also critical, indicating a need for designers who are comfortable with data-informed product development.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A core value focused on deeply understanding user needs and ensuring the product experience is intuitive, elegant, and solves real problems.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Emphasizing the use of data, user feedback, and KPIs to inform design choices and measure impact, driving continuous improvement.

• Agility & Speed: A culture that values rapid iteration, quick shipping cycles, and adaptability to changing priorities and market conditions, common in growth-stage companies.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Fostering open communication and strong partnerships across product, engineering, and other departments to ensure alignment and shared success.

• Ownership & Accountability: Expecting team members to take initiative, be self-sufficient, and own their work from conception to delivery.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: The role requires close collaboration with Product Managers and Engineers, suggesting a cooperative approach where design is integrated early and often into the development process.

• Feedback-Driven: An environment where constructive feedback is encouraged and utilized to refine designs and processes, promoting continuous learning and improvement.

• Knowledge Sharing: Opportunities to share insights, best practices, and learnings within the design team and across other departments to elevate the overall quality of product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture emphasizes speed, data, and collaboration. Candidates who thrive in autonomous environments and are comfortable with rapid iteration and direct feedback will be a good fit.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Speed and Quality: The need to "ship fast" while maintaining high design quality and user experience standards. This requires efficient workflows and strong prioritization skills.

• Evolving Design System: Contributing to and maintaining a design system in a rapidly growing product environment can be challenging, requiring foresight and adaptability.

• Resource Constraints: Working in a growth-stage startup often means operating with limited resources, necessitating creative problem-solving and resourceful design solutions.

• Navigating Ambiguity: In a fast-paced environment, design requirements may evolve, requiring designers to be comfortable with ambiguity and adapt quickly to new information.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deepening Design Expertise: Opportunities to hone skills in specific areas of UX/UI, interaction design, and design systems through hands-on project work.

• Industry Exposure: Potential exposure to specific industry challenges within marketplaces or creator economy platforms, broadening your domain knowledge.

• Mentorship: Learning from a senior product designer and product managers can accelerate professional growth and provide valuable insights into product strategy and execution.

• Impactful Projects: The chance to work on features that directly impact a large user base and contribute significantly to the company's growth trajectory.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role presents opportunities for significant professional development through challenging projects and close collaboration. Candidates who are proactive in seeking out learning opportunities and comfortable tackling complex problems will find this environment rewarding.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to balance aggressive shipping timelines with maintaining design quality. How did you approach it?" (Focus on your prioritization, iteration, and communication strategies.)

• "How do you approach translating complex user needs into simple, intuitive interfaces for a marketplace or subscription product?" (Highlight your user research, problem-solving, and user-centric design process.)

• "Walk us through your process for contributing to or evolving a design system. What are the key considerations for scalability and consistency?" (Emphasize your understanding of design principles and systematic thinking.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about working at a growth-stage company like Savvy Talent, and how do you thrive in a fast-paced startup environment?" (Showcase your adaptability, autonomy, and enthusiasm for impact.)

• "How do you collaborate with product managers and engineers to ensure successful product launches?" (Discuss your communication style, feedback integration, and cross-functional partnership approach.)

• "Describe a time you used data or user feedback to significantly change a design direction. What was the outcome?" (Demonstrate your data-informed approach and ability to iterate based on insights.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your specific role and contributions, the design process, key decisions, and the measurable impact.

• Highlight Your Process: Be prepared to discuss your methodologies for user research, ideation, prototyping, and testing. Show the evolution of your designs.

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

• Articulate Rationale: Be ready to explain why you made specific design choices, linking them back to user needs, business goals, and design principles.

• Showcase Figma Skills: Be prepared to navigate your Figma files or share specific interactive prototypes to illustrate your technical proficiency and design thinking.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating your ability to operate autonomously, leverage data, and collaborate effectively within a fast-paced product development cycle. Your portfolio is your primary tool for showcasing these capabilities.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided Workable link.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your most relevant and impactful product design case studies, focusing on end-to-end projects within SaaS, marketplace, or PLG environments. Ensure each case study clearly outlines the problem, your process, your solutions, and quantifiable results.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your 3+ years of experience in Product or UI/UX design, explicitly mentioning proficiency with Figma and experience in fast-paced startup settings. Use keywords from the job description such as "wireframing," "prototyping," "design systems," and "user research."

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice walking through your portfolio case studies, focusing on clear storytelling, articulating your design rationale, and demonstrating your ability to collaborate and iterate based on data. Be ready to discuss your approach to user experience and visual design.

• Research Savvy Talent: Understand their business model (marketplace/subscription products) and the potential challenges of a growth-stage company. This will help you 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.