Product Designer (H/F)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer (H/F)

Company: iara.

Location: Paris, France

Job Type: CONTRACTOR

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: July 29, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the global product design strategy and vision for a rapidly growing mobile-first SaaS, marketplace, and social network application.

• Drive innovation in user experience, particularly for the reservation flow, and integrate social features to enhance user engagement and support international expansion.

• Structure and scale a robust design system using Figma, ensuring consistency and efficiency across the product.

• Mentor and manage a small team of junior designers, elevating the overall design quality and capabilities within the company.

• Collaborate directly with the CPO to align design execution with product vision and long-term strategy.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Senior Product Designer, indicated by the requirement for 5+ years of experience, leadership responsibilities, and direct collaboration with a co-founder (CPO). The hybrid work arrangement is specified by the mention of "Paris, quartier du Marais" alongside "télétravail possible." The "CONTRACTOR" employment type suggests flexibility, potentially aligning with freelance, CDI, or CDD based on the candidate's profile.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Orchestrate the overarching design strategy for the mobile-first and responsive product, ensuring a cohesive and scalable user experience.

• Define core design principles and establish a long-term design vision that supports the company's ambitious growth and internationalization goals.

• Champion the creation of a superior UX for the reservation process, aiming to surpass competitor offerings in fluidity and engagement.

• Seamlessly integrate social networking functionalities into the core product experience to foster community and user interaction.

• Proactively challenge existing design paradigms by testing new formats, user flows, and interaction models to drive innovation.

• Identify and prioritize strategic "design bets" that deliver tangible value and competitive advantage.

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive and scalable design system within Figma, including components, auto-layout, and prototyping standards.

• Implement efficient processes and select appropriate tools to enable the design team to scale effectively.

• Collaborate closely with engineering teams to ensure accurate specification and implementation of design elements.

• Manage, mentor, and inspire a team of 1-2 junior designers, fostering their professional growth and elevating their output.

• Provide clear, concise briefs that stimulate creativity and guide the design team's efforts.

• Organize design production workflows and establish clear priorities to meet project timelines.

• Elevate the overall standard of design excellence across the entire organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities clearly delineate a senior-level role focused on strategic design leadership, team management, and product innovation, going beyond typical execution tasks. The emphasis on scaling, internationalization, and challenging the existing product highlights the growth phase of the company.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a background in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field is implied by the nature of the role.

Experience: Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in Product Design (UX/UI), with a demonstrated track record of working on complex digital products.

Required Skills:

• Product Design (UX/UI): Deep expertise in user experience research, interaction design, and visual design principles for digital products.

• Figma Proficiency: Advanced mastery of Figma, including design system creation, component management, auto-layout, and interactive prototyping.

• Complex Product Experience: Proven experience designing for intricate product ecosystems such as marketplaces, reservation platforms, SaaS applications, or social networks.

• Mobile-First Mindset: A strong bias for designing primarily for mobile interfaces, with a clear understanding of responsive design principles for other platforms.

• Data-Driven Design: Comfort and experience leveraging data, including metrics-driven design approaches, A/B testing methodologies, and basic analytics interpretation.

• Leadership & Mentoring: Demonstrated ability to inspire, guide, and develop junior designers, fostering a collaborative and high-performing team environment.

• Product Thinking: Capacity to think strategically about product impact, business goals, and user needs beyond purely aesthetic considerations.

• Collaboration: Excellent interpersonal skills for effective collaboration with Product Managers, Engineers, Founders, and other stakeholders.

• Adaptability: Comfort navigating ambiguity and adapting to evolving priorities in a fast-paced startup environment.

• Curiosity & Fast Learning: A strong desire to learn about mobile app ecosystems, international markets, and user behaviors.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in scaling design systems for rapid growth and international markets.

• Familiarity with front-end development principles to facilitate smoother collaboration with engineering.

• Experience working in a high-growth startup environment.

• Fluency in English, in addition to French, for potential international collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize a blend of deep technical design skills (Figma, UX/UI), strategic product thinking, and strong leadership capabilities, positioning this as a pivotal role for shaping the product's future. The "5+ years" suggests a mid-to-senior level designer ready for leadership.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 distinct product design case studies, each detailing a significant project from conception to completion.

• For each case study, clearly articulate the problem statement, your role and responsibilities, the design process followed, key challenges, and the impact of your solutions.

• Demonstrate expertise in mobile-first design principles and responsive design implementation