Product Designer - Editor

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer - Editor

Company: Pencil

Location: EMEA (European Union)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: 2026-09-04

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the end-to-end product design strategy and execution for Pencil's core Editor experience, acting as the central marketing Operating System (OS) for content creation.

• Focus on enhancing AI-powered content generation and export workflows, directly impacting user output and efficiency.

• Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering teams to rapidly design, develop, and ship impactful features that accelerate content creation speed and usability.

• Expand the suite of creation tools across various formats including ads, images, video, and email.

• Leverage user research and a strong design system to ensure high-quality, production-ready interfaces that are both powerful and simple.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Product Designer with a strong emphasis on the "Editor" experience, suggesting a deep focus on workflow optimization and user output. The "Editor" aspect implies a need for intricate interaction design and a solid understanding of how users move through complex creation processes. The mention of "Marketing OS" further emphasizes the strategic importance of this role in streamlining content operations.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the complete product design lifecycle for a core area of the Pencil editing platform, from initial problem definition and concept exploration through to final UI design and shipped product.

• Foster close partnerships with Product Managers and Engineering teams to define and swiftly deliver features specifically designed to increase content generations and exports.

• Design high-quality, production-ready interfaces for editing tools, with a relentless focus on improving speed and usability to enable users to create assets more rapidly.

• Expand the existing suite of creation tools to encompass multiple formats, including but not limited to ads, images, video, and email.

• Design and refine AI-powered editing workflows that are intuitive, usable, and trustworthy, effectively augmenting the user's creative output.

• Ensure that design intent is accurately translated into development by collaborating closely with engineers during the implementation phase, reviewing builds, and iterating until the desired quality standards are achieved.

• Conduct user research to identify meaningful user problems, validate proposed solutions, and continuously elevate the usability and clarity across the entire product, aligning with annual user-centricity goals.

• Utilize and actively contribute to the company's design system, evolving patterns, components, and foundational elements as the product scales.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a "builder mindset" and "high iteration tolerance," indicating a need for designers comfortable with rapid prototyping, testing, and pivoting based on user feedback and usage data. The focus on "generations and exports" as key metrics suggests that designers will be evaluated on their ability to directly influence these business outcomes.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

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

Experience: 5+ years of experience designing digital products, with a significant portion focused on SaaS platforms or complex, workflow-driven editing and creation tools.

Required Skills:

• Proven end-to-end product design experience, demonstrating a strong ability to translate user needs and business goals into effective design solutions.

• A strong portfolio showcasing impactful work on digital products, with a clear focus on improving speed, enhancing creation processes, and driving tangible output metrics.

• Deep understanding of workflow design principles and a passion for optimizing user journeys from ideation to final asset delivery.

• Excellent interaction and visual design skills, capable of creating interfaces that are both powerful and intuitive.

• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, possessing strong product intuition to identify features that will drive key metrics like generations and exports.

• High tolerance for iteration and a comfort level with a rapid "build and see what sticks" approach, embracing testing and evolving features quickly.

• Proven track record of effective collaboration with engineering teams, with the ability to keep pace with a fast-moving development environment.

• High proficiency in Figma, utilizing it fluently for idea exploration, intent communication, and design system evolution.

• Curiosity and comfort in designing for AI-powered systems, with an interest in how AI can augment creative processes and integrate seamlessly into editing workflows. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with generative AI tools and understanding of their application in content creation.

• Familiarity with user research methodologies and a proactive approach to conducting studies.

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

• Knowledge of advertising technology (AdTech) or MarTech landscapes.

• Experience designing for multiple content formats (images, video, display, email).

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a "builder mindset" and "high iteration tolerance" suggests that candidates with a proactive, hands-on approach and a willingness to experiment will be highly valued. The emphasis on Figma indicates that proficiency in this specific tool is non-negotiable.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase end-to-end product design thinking, illustrating the entire design process from problem identification to shipped solution.

• Demonstrate a clear focus on driving key output metrics such as content generations and exports, with quantifiable results where possible.

• Include case studies that highlight the design of complex editing tools or workflow-driven applications.

• Present examples of how you have improved speed and usability within creation tools.

• Illustrate your ability to design AI-powered workflows that are clear, usable, and trustworthy. Process Documentation:

• Provide examples of how you have framed problems, explored concepts, and iterated on solutions in past projects.

• Detail your approach to collaborating with product and engineering teams throughout the design and development lifecycle.

• Showcase your experience in conducting user research to identify problems and validate solutions.

• Illustrate your contributions to or utilization of design systems for maintaining consistency and scalability.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio should explicitly highlight projects where the candidate demonstrated a "builder mindset" and a focus on "speed and execution." Case studies that show a direct correlation between design decisions and increased content generations or exports will be highly advantageous.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: While a specific range is not provided, for a Product Designer with 5-10 years of experience in a fully remote EMEA role within the SaaS/AdTech industry, a competitive salary would typically range from €70,000 to €110,000 annually, depending on specific location within the EU, individual 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 development.

• Remote Work: Full remote work flexibility, allowing you to work from anywhere within your home country in the EU.

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

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

• Flexible Working Hours: Adaptable working hours to accommodate personal schedules and work-life balance.

Working Hours: 40 hours per week, with flexible working hours to promote work-life balance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is based on industry benchmarks for experienced Product Designers in remote European roles, considering the SaaS and AdTech sectors. The benefits package is comprehensive, emphasizing flexibility, well-being, and support for employees and their families.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Advertising Technology (AdTech) and Software as a Service (SaaS), with a focus on Generative AI for content creation.

Company Size: Pencil is a growing startup, likely in the Seed to Series A/B funding stage, indicating a dynamic and fast-paced environment where individual contributions have a significant impact.

Founded: Founded with a mission to make AI the default in advertising, Pencil is focused on leveraging cutting-edge technology to redefine content creation for businesses of all sizes.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team likely operates with a lean, autonomous model, where each designer owns a significant product area end-to-end.

• Designers will collaborate closely with dedicated Product Managers and Engineering teams, fostering agile and iterative development cycles.

• Cross-functional collaboration is expected to be high, involving close interaction with engineering for implementation, product for strategy, and potentially marketing/sales for market insights. Methodology:

• Pencil emphasizes speed and execution, with a "build and see what sticks" mentality, suggesting an agile and iterative approach to product development.

• Data-driven decision-making is implied through the focus on metrics like generations and exports, and the need for user research to validate solutions.

• AI integration is a core methodology, with a focus on how AI can augment human creativity and streamline workflows.

Company Website: https://trypencil.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is described as "execution-heavy" with "short cycles," suggesting a startup environment that values rapid iteration and tangible results over lengthy, polished processes. The focus on AI as a core technology implies a forward-thinking and innovative culture.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is for an experienced Product Designer, likely mid-level to senior, with the expectation of taking full ownership of a core product area. It offers the opportunity to define strategy and drive execution, moving beyond purely pixel-pushing to significant product influence.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, a Product Designer in this type of organization typically reports to a Head of Product, Design Lead, or a Senior Product Manager, with direct collaboration across Product and Engineering.

Operations Impact: The role has a direct impact on the company's core value proposition by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of content creation. Success in this role will directly translate to increased user engagement, higher content generation rates, and ultimately, revenue growth for Pencil.

Growth Opportunities:

• Product Ownership: Deepen expertise and ownership within a critical product area, becoming the go-to expert for the Editor experience.

• Skill Specialization: Develop advanced skills in designing for AI-powered products, workflow optimization, and complex SaaS applications.

• Leadership Potential: As the company scales, opportunities may arise to mentor junior designers, lead specific design initiatives, or transition into a more senior or specialized design leadership role.

• Industry Exposure: Gain significant experience in the fast-growing AdTech and Generative AI space, building a strong professional network and portfolio.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "owning a core area end-to-end" and not just "designing screens" points to a significant growth opportunity for designers looking to have a strategic impact and take on greater responsibility within a product.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Primarily a remote-first organization. While there's an office available in London for UK employees, the role is fully remote for those within the European Union.

Office Location(s): The primary physical hub mentioned is in The Shard, London, UK. However, the role is remote across the EU.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: Expect a highly collaborative remote environment, relying on digital tools for communication, design, and project management.