Product Designer - Editor

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer - Editor

Company: Pencil

Location: EMEA (European Union)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / SaaS Operations

Date Posted: 2026-06-19

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead end-to-end design responsibilities for the core Editor experience within Pencil's Generative AI-powered SaaS platform, focusing on driving content generations and exports.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management and Engineering teams to define, design, and rapidly ship features that enhance user speed and usability in creating advertising content.

• Develop high-quality, production-ready interfaces for a suite of creation tools across various formats, ensuring seamless AI integration into editing workflows.

• Conduct user research to identify pain points, validate design solutions, and continuously improve the user-centricity and clarity of the editing platform.

• Contribute to and evolve the company's design system, ensuring consistency and scalability across the product as it grows.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is titled "Product Designer," its focus on "Editor experience," "content creation," "generations and exports," and "marketing OS" strongly suggests a deep intersection with Go-To-Market (GTM) operations and the operational efficiency of marketing teams. The emphasis on speed, usability, and AI augmentation in content production aligns with RevOps and MarOps goals of streamlining marketing workflows and maximizing output. The "Builder mindset" and "high iteration tolerance" point towards an operations-minded individual who can adapt quickly to evolving needs within a fast-paced SaaS environment.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the complete design lifecycle for the Pencil editing platform's core functionalities, from initial problem definition and concept exploration to final UI design and successful product launch.

• Partner strategically with Product Managers and Engineering teams to translate business objectives into user-centric features that directly impact key performance indicators like content generation and export volume.

• Design intuitive, efficient, and visually appealing user interfaces for a diverse range of creation tools, prioritizing speed and ease of use for users generating marketing assets.

• Expand the product's capabilities by designing new creation tools and formats, catering to evolving marketing needs across ads, images, video, email, and display advertising.

• Architect and refine AI-powered editing workflows, ensuring they are clear, trustworthy, and effectively augment user creativity to enhance their output.

• Collaborate intensely with engineers throughout the development process, meticulously reviewing builds and iterating on designs to ensure the final product meets high-quality standards and design intent.

• Proactively conduct user research, employing qualitative and quantitative methods to uncover user needs, validate design hypotheses, and drive continuous improvement in product usability and clarity.

• Actively utilize and contribute to the company's established design system, proposing and implementing updates to patterns, components, and foundational elements to support product scalability.

📝 Enhancement Note: The description emphasizes "increasing content generations and exports" and "improving speed and usability so users can create assets faster." This directly translates to operational efficiency metrics and revenue enablement. The responsibility to "Expand the suite of creation tools across multiple formats" suggests a need for strategic thinking about the operational workflow of content creation for diverse marketing channels. The focus on "AI-powered editing workflows that feel clear, usable, and trustworthy" highlights the operational challenge of integrating new technologies seamlessly into existing user processes.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 5+ years of progressive experience in digital product design, with a strong preference for backgrounds in SaaS environments or complex, workflow-driven editing and creation tools.

Required Skills:

• Proven expertise in end-to-end product thinking, demonstrated through a strong portfolio showcasing impact on output metrics like speed and creation volume.

• A "builder" mentality with a deep-seated passion for developing tools that accelerate content production for users.

• Exceptional craft sensibility, with robust interaction and visual design skills to create powerful yet simple creation tools.

• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, exhibiting strong product intuition and the capacity to identify features that drive key output metrics (generations/exports) without excessive research.

• High tolerance for iteration and comfort with a rapid "build and see what sticks" approach, embracing testing, tweaking, and evolving features based on user feedback and usage data.

• Extensive experience collaborating closely with engineering teams, with a proven track record of keeping pace with fast-moving development cycles.

• Mastery of Figma for exploring ideas, communicating design intent, and evolving design systems.

• Curiosity about AI and demonstrated comfort in designing for AI-powered systems, with an interest in how AI augments creation and integrates into editing workflows. Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing for advertising technology platforms or marketing content creation tools.

• Familiarity with user research methodologies and translating insights into actionable design improvements.

• Experience contributing to or leading the development of design systems.

• Understanding of A/B testing principles and how to apply them to design iterations for optimization.

• Exposure to generative AI technologies and their application in creative workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for "5+ years of experience designing digital products, ideally within SaaS or complex, workflow-driven editing and creation tools" combined with a "builder mindset" and "obsession for creating tools that help users produce content faster" strongly suggests that candidates with experience in Sales Operations, Marketing Operations, or Revenue Operations tooling, even if not explicitly branded as "design," could be a strong fit if they possess the design craft and user empathy. The emphasis on "impact on output" and "driving generations and exports" points to a need for operations-minded individuals who understand efficiency and productivity metrics.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing end-to-end product thinking, with a clear focus on how your designs have demonstrably increased content generation speed, output volume, or overall user efficiency.

• Case studies that detail your process from problem framing and concept exploration through to final UI and shipped product, highlighting your ability to drive tangible outcomes.

• Examples of designing for complex, workflow-driven tools, particularly those involving content creation, editing, or asset generation.

• Demonstrations of your ability to design AI-powered workflows, showing how you've integrated AI features to augment user capabilities and improve their output.

• Evidence of your collaboration with engineering teams, illustrating how you ensure design intent is accurately translated into production-ready code. Process Documentation:

• Detailed case studies illustrating your approach to user research, problem identification, and solution validation for complex design challenges.

• Examples of your contributions to or management of design systems, showcasing your understanding of scalable design patterns and component libraries.

• Documentation of your iterative design process, highlighting how you use feedback, user data, and rapid prototyping to evolve features and optimize user workflows.

• Examples of how you have worked with product managers and engineers to define product strategy and feature roadmaps, with a focus on driving specific business outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals applying, the portfolio should emphasize process optimization, efficiency gains, and measurable improvements in user output or workflow speed. Case studies should detail the "before" and "after" states of a process or workflow, quantifying the impact of the design solutions. Highlighting experience with "workflow-driven" tools or systems that streamline complex tasks will be crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: While no specific salary range is provided, for a Senior Product Designer role with 5-10 years of experience in a fully remote, EMEA-based SaaS company, typical compensation can range from €70,000 to €110,000 annually, depending on specific location within EMEA, candidate experience, and the company's compensation philosophy.

Benefits:

• Flexible Time Off (PTO): 25 days of paid time off plus public holidays, with a flexible scheme allowing for greater autonomy.

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive health insurance and private medical cover.

• Wellness & Development Stipend: A monthly stipend to support wellness, fitness, and continuous learning and professional development.

• Remote Work: Opportunity to work from anywhere within your home country in the EMEA region.

• Enhanced Parental Leave: Generous parental leave policies for new parents via birth, adoption, or surrogacy.

• London Office Access: For UK-based employees, 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.

Working Hours: The role implies full-time employment, typically around 40 hours per week, with flexible working hours to accommodate different time zones and personal schedules within the EMEA region.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is based on industry benchmarks for experienced Product Designers in remote SaaS roles across EMEA, considering variations in cost of living and market rates. The benefits package is comprehensive, with a strong emphasis on work-life balance and employee well-being, which are increasingly important considerations for operations professionals seeking roles that offer flexibility and support. The mention of "Flexible Time Off" and "Flexible working hours" aligns with operational needs for adaptability.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Advertising Technology, Software as a Service (SaaS). Pencil is at the forefront of using Generative AI to transform content creation in advertising, aiming to make AI the default tool for marketers without replacing human creativity. The company focuses on empowering both large brands and small businesses.

Company Size: While not explicitly stated, the presence of a dedicated "Editor" role and a focus on rapid iteration suggests a growing, dynamic startup or scale-up environment, likely in the range of 50-200 employees. This size typically allows for significant individual impact while maintaining a structured approach to product development.

Founded: Pencil was founded with the mission to innovate in advertising technology. The founding principles likely revolve around leveraging cutting-edge AI to solve real-world marketing challenges, prioritizing speed, execution, and user empowerment.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is likely small but impactful, with each designer owning a significant area of the product. This fosters a sense of ownership and direct responsibility.

• Designers work in close partnership with dedicated Product Managers and Engineering teams, forming cross-functional pods or squads focused on specific product areas or features.

• Collaboration extends beyond immediate teams, involving stakeholders from marketing, sales, and customer success to ensure product-market fit and user adoption. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Iteration: The company emphasizes a "build and see what sticks" approach, implying a strong reliance on usage data and rapid iteration cycles to validate design decisions and optimize features.

• User-Centric Problem Solving: Despite the speed, user research is a stated goal, indicating a commitment to understanding user needs and pain points to inform design strategy.

• AI Integration: A core methodology involves designing for and with AI, exploring new interaction paradigms that augment creative processes and improve efficiency.

• Agile Development: The fast-moving engineering team and focus on rapid shipping suggest an agile or lean development methodology.

Company Website: https://trypencil.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's focus on "Generative AI" and "advertising technology" positions it in a high-growth, innovative sector. A "scale-up" environment means opportunities for significant impact and growth, but also requires adaptability and a results-oriented mindset, which are key traits for operations professionals. The emphasis on making AI accessible to "small businesses and creative individuals" highlights a potential for broad user impact.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Senior Product Designer, indicating a mid-to-senior level position with significant autonomy and ownership. It's not an entry-level role but one where individuals are expected to drive product strategy and execution within their domain. The emphasis on "taking full ownership" and "driving their own part of the product" suggests a high level of responsibility, comparable to a lead role within a specialized product area.

Reporting Structure: The designer will likely report to a Head of Design, Design Lead, or potentially a Director of Product, depending on the company's organizational structure. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads within their assigned product area.

Operations Impact: The role has a direct impact on the operational efficiency of marketing teams and creative professionals. By improving the speed and usability of content creation tools, this designer will directly contribute to increased marketing output, faster campaign deployment, and potentially higher conversion rates for users. Success in this role means enhancing the productivity of Pencil's user base, which is a core GTM and RevOps objective.

Growth Opportunities:

• Product Leadership: As a senior individual contributor, there's a clear path to becoming a lead designer for a larger product area, mentoring junior designers, or contributing more significantly to product strategy.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-driven design, content creation workflows, or SaaS product optimization.

• Cross-Functional Influence: Develop stronger collaboration skills and influence across Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Sales by driving product initiatives that have broad business impact.

• Entrepreneurial Experience: Gain experience in a high-growth SaaS startup, contributing to scaling a product and company, which is invaluable for future career moves.

📝 Enhancement Note: For candidates coming from an operations background, this role offers a chance to leverage their understanding of workflow optimization and efficiency in a design context. The "operations impact" is significant, as improving a marketing OS directly supports GTM objectives. The growth opportunities lean towards product leadership and specialized design expertise, but the underlying skills in process improvement and efficiency are highly transferable.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. Employees have the flexibility to work from anywhere within their designated home country in the EMEA region. For UK-based employees, there is an option to access the Pencil office in The Shard, London.

Office Location(s):

• Remote: Primarily work from home or a chosen remote workspace within an employee's home country (EMEA).

• London, UK: Access to a physical office space at The Shard for UK employees, offering a collaborative environment and amenities. Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: The primary workspace will be remote, requiring strong self-discipline, effective digital communication tools, and a commitment to asynchronous collaboration.

• Technology & Tools: Employees will be expected to have a reliable internet connection and a suitable home office setup. Access to company-provided software, including Figma and communication platforms, will be standard.

• Team Interaction: While remote, the culture encourages interaction through virtual meetings, team syncs, and potentially optional in-person meetups or access to the London office for UK staff. The focus is on maintaining connection and facilitating collaborative design processes digitally.

Work Schedule: Flexible working hours are a key benefit, allowing employees to structure their workday around personal needs and optimal productivity times, while still ensuring alignment with team collaboration needs and project deadlines. This flexibility is crucial for managing complex design projects and cross-functional dependencies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote and flexible working hours are significant advantages for operations professionals who often manage complex schedules and require autonomy. The option to access the London office provides a physical touchpoint for those who prefer or benefit from in-person interaction, without mandating it. This blend supports a results-oriented work environment.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your application, focusing on your resume and portfolio to assess alignment with the role's requirements, particularly your experience in SaaS, complex workflows, and impact-driven design.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A session where you present your portfolio, discussing 1-2 key case studies that highlight your end-to-end product thinking, focus on speed/output, and experience with AI-driven or complex creation tools. Expect questions about your process, decision-making, and collaboration.

• Design Challenge (Potentially): You may be asked to complete a small design exercise or critique a feature, focusing on problem-solving, iteration, and your approach to improving a workflow or user experience.

• Hiring Manager/Team Interview: Deeper dive into your experience, working style, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit with Pencil's fast-paced, execution-heavy environment. Discussion on your understanding of AI in design and content creation.

• Final Round: Potentially meeting with leadership to discuss strategic alignment and long-term vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Quantify Impact: Clearly articulate the business or user impact of your designs, using metrics related to speed, output, efficiency, or user satisfaction. Focus on how you drove "generations and exports."

• Showcase Process: Detail your thought process, from problem framing and user research to iteration and collaboration with engineering. Emphasize how you handled ambiguity and made decisions.

• Highlight AI/Workflow Expertise: Include examples of designing for complex workflows or integrating AI features. Explain your approach to making these powerful but user-friendly.

• Figma Proficiency: Be ready to discuss your Figma workflow, how you manage design systems, and how you collaborate with others using the tool.

• Conciseness is Key: Select 2-3 strong case studies that best represent your capabilities and align with the role's core requirements. Be prepared to walk through them efficiently and answer detailed questions.

Challenge Preparation:

• Workflow Analysis: Be prepared to analyze a given workflow and identify opportunities for improvement, particularly in terms of speed, efficiency, and user output.

• AI Integration Strategy: Think about how AI can be seamlessly integrated into existing user workflows to augment capabilities without creating complexity.

• Rapid Iteration: Demonstrate an understanding of iterative design and how to quickly test and refine solutions based on feedback.

• Focus on Output: Frame your solutions around how they will directly increase content generations and exports for Pencil's users.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations candidates, the portfolio should clearly demonstrate how they have optimized processes, improved efficiency, or driven measurable output in previous roles, even if not explicitly in a design capacity. Highlighting experience with tools that streamline complex workflows or enhance productivity will be crucial. The interview process will likely assess their ability to "think like a designer" while retaining their operations-focused problem-solving mindset.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for UI design, prototyping, collaboration, and design system management. Fluency is a must.

• Prototyping Tools: Implicitly part of Figma, but may also involve other tools for advanced interactivity.

• User Research Tools: Tools for conducting user interviews, surveys, and usability testing (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback, Maze).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics Platforms: Tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Heap to track user behavior, feature adoption, and identify areas for design improvement based on usage data.

• Data Visualization Tools: Potentially used to present research findings or product performance metrics to stakeholders.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM Systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot): While not a direct design tool, understanding how users interact with marketing and sales workflows managed by CRMs can provide context.

• Project Management Tools (e.g., Jira, Asana, Trello): Used for tracking design tasks, sprints, and collaboration with engineering.

📝 Enhancement Note: While Figma is explicitly mentioned, a strong candidate will also be familiar with tools for user research and product analytics. For operations professionals, familiarity with how design impacts user journeys within CRM and marketing automation platforms could be a valuable differentiator. The ability to interpret data from analytics platforms to inform design decisions is a key operational skill.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Execution-Focused: A strong emphasis on speed, iteration, and shipping features rapidly to learn and adapt. The culture values "doing" and "seeing what sticks" over lengthy, theoretical planning.

• User-Centric Problem Solving: While fast-paced, there's a commitment to understanding and solving real user problems, with a stated goal of improving user-centricity.

• AI as a Tool for Augmentation: Embracing AI not as a replacement, but as a powerful tool to enhance human creativity and productivity.

• Ownership and Autonomy: Designers are expected to own their areas end-to-end, driving strategy and execution with minimal oversight.

• Collaboration and Iteration: A culture of working closely with Product and Engineering, and being comfortable with continuous feedback and design evolution.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Pods: Designers work tightly integrated within product teams (Product, Engineering) to ensure alignment and efficient development cycles.

• Direct Communication: Emphasis on clear, direct communication, likely leveraging tools like Slack and virtual meetings.

• Feedback Loops: An environment that encourages constructive feedback on designs and early-stage concepts to refine solutions quickly.

• Design System Contribution: Collaborative effort in building and maintaining the design system, ensuring shared understanding and consistency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's values align well with a proactive, results-oriented operations mindset. The emphasis on "execution," "ownership," and "collaboration" are hallmarks of effective operations teams. The "AI as a tool for augmentation" philosophy speaks to a pragmatic approach to technology adoption, valuing practical application and efficiency gains.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Speed and Quality: The "build and see what sticks" mentality can be challenging when also aiming for high-quality, user-friendly interfaces. Designers must learn to navigate this tension effectively.

• Designing for AI Ambiguity: Working with generative AI presents unique design challenges, requiring designers to create intuitive interfaces for rapidly evolving and sometimes unpredictable technology.

• Expanding Product Scope: Taking on the responsibility to "expand the suite of creation tools across multiple formats" means tackling new design problems and user needs across diverse media.

• Maintaining User Focus in a Fast Environment: Ensuring that user needs and usability remain paramount amidst rapid development cycles and a focus on output metrics.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI Design Expertise: Develop deep expertise in designing for and with generative AI, a rapidly growing and in-demand skill set.

• SaaS Product Optimization: Gain extensive experience in optimizing complex SaaS products, particularly in the content creation and marketing technology space.

• Product Strategy Influence: Contribute to product strategy and roadmap definition, honing skills in aligning design initiatives with business goals.

• Leadership and Mentorship: As a senior designer, opportunities may arise to mentor junior team members or lead design initiatives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are directly related to operating in an innovative, fast-paced tech environment. For operations professionals, these challenges translate into opportunities to apply their problem-solving skills to design-related issues, particularly concerning process efficiency and user adoption of new technologies like AI. The growth opportunities are significant for those looking to deepen their product understanding and strategic influence.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you owned a core area of a product end-to-end. What was your process, and what was the impact on user output or business metrics?" (Focus on ownership, process, and quantifiable results).

• "How do you approach designing for AI-powered features to ensure they are usable, trustworthy, and augment user capabilities without adding complexity?" (Highlight your understanding of AI design principles and user workflows).

• "Imagine you need to significantly increase content generations and exports for a user segment. What design strategies would you explore, and how would you validate them quickly?" (Demonstrate your ability to connect design decisions to key operational outcomes). Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Pencil's mission to make AI the default in advertising without replacing creative people?" (Show your alignment with the company's vision).

• "How do you thrive in an execution-heavy environment with short cycles, prioritizing speed and iteration?" (Explain your comfort with rapid development and learning from data).

• "Describe your experience contributing to or evolving a design system. How do you balance consistency with the need for rapid feature development?" (Assess your understanding of scalable design practices). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: For each case study, present a clear narrative: the problem, your approach, the solutions, the collaboration, and the quantifiable impact on user output (generations, exports, speed).

• Visual Storytelling: Use visuals (mockups, prototypes, user flows) effectively to illustrate your design decisions and the user experience.

• Focus on "Why": Be prepared to articulate the rationale behind your design choices, linking them back to user needs and business objectives.

• Quantify Everything Possible: Wherever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs. If exact metrics aren't available, discuss projected impact or qualitative feedback.

• Address AI/Workflow: Specifically highlight any work that involved AI-driven features or complex workflow optimization.

📝 Enhancement Note: For candidates with an operations background, be prepared to translate your experience into design-centric language. Frame your achievements in terms of process improvement, efficiency gains, and user enablement. Highlight any experience in implementing or optimizing tools that directly support marketing or sales workflows. The emphasis on "generations and exports" is a direct link to operational output.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer - Editor position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Tailor your resume: Highlight your experience in SaaS product design, complex workflow tools, and any direct contributions to improving user output, speed, or efficiency. Emphasize your "builder mindset" and experience with Figma.

• Curate your portfolio: Select 2-3 case studies that best showcase your end-to-end product thinking, with a strong focus on how your designs impacted user output (e.g., increased content generations, faster creation times). Include examples of AI integration or complex workflow design if possible.

• Prepare your portfolio walkthrough: Practice presenting your chosen case studies, focusing on the problem, your process, the solution, the collaboration, and the quantifiable impact. Be ready to discuss your rationale and user research methodology.

• Research Pencil: Understand their mission, product, and target audience. Think about how your design philosophy aligns with their emphasis on AI, speed, and empowering creators.

⚠️ 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.