Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: Audicus

Location: New York, NY (Hybrid - Midtown)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: 2026-05-04

Experience Level: 6-8 years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end product design process, from initial research and discovery to delivering high-fidelity mockups and prototypes for shipped products, embodying a maker-first mentality.

• Establish and champion the design process within a product-led development model, directly influencing the UX roadmap and ensuring cross-functional stakeholder buy-in.

• Architect and build a comprehensive design system from the ground up, ensuring consistency and accelerating execution speed across all platforms and user journeys.

• Drive data-informed design decisions by leveraging usage metrics, A/B testing, user feedback, and usability testing to identify and champion improvements that directly impact revenue.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as the first senior design hire, signifying a foundational impact on design strategy and process. The emphasis on "maker first" and building a design system from scratch indicates a hands-on, strategic leadership opportunity within a growing product team.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• End-to-End Design Ownership: Execute the complete design lifecycle, including user research, discovery, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, and visual design for iOS/iPadOS, web (eCommerce), and Salesforce interfaces.

• Design System Development: Lead the creation and implementation of a new, scalable design system across all product surfaces, defining components, guidelines, and best practices for consistency and efficiency.

• UX Roadmap Collaboration: Partner closely with the Head of Product and CTO to shape the UX roadmap, advocating for user needs and design best practices, and securing alignment with key stakeholders.

• Data-Informed Decision Making: Utilize analytics tools (e.g., Heap) and user feedback mechanisms (e.g., A/B testing, usability studies) to measure product performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and quantify the impact on revenue.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate effectively with Product Management, Engineering (React, React-Native), Marketing, and other stakeholders to understand technical constraints, user needs, and business objectives, ensuring seamless product development and delivery.

• Technical & Accessibility Considerations: Apply practical understanding of front-end technologies (React, semantic HTML, CSS) and mobile patterns, while championing accessibility standards and information design principles.

• Process Establishment: Define and document the product design process, establishing standards for research, design execution, and handoff that will serve as the foundation for future design team growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of hands-on execution ("maker first") and strategic leadership, particularly in building foundational design infrastructure (design system, process). The need to work across multiple platforms (iOS, web, Salesforce) and with various stakeholders underscores the breadth of this role.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, is typically expected for a Senior Product Designer role.

Experience: 6-8 years of dedicated UX/Product Design experience, with a strong preference for candidates with a background in eCommerce or health-tech industries. Demonstrated end-to-end product design experience across both web and mobile applications is essential.

Required Skills:

• UX/Product Design Expertise: Proven ability to manage the entire design process from concept to launch, including user research, wireframing, prototyping, and high-fidelity visual design.

• Design System Creation: Experience in building and scaling design systems from scratch, defining component libraries, style guides, and best practices.

• Prototyping & Wireframing: Advanced proficiency in creating interactive prototypes and detailed wireframes to effectively communicate design concepts and user flows.

• User Research & Testing: Experience conducting usability testing, user interviews, and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to inform design decisions.

• Cross-Platform Design: Ability to design for diverse platforms including iOS/iPadOS, web (eCommerce), and potentially CRM interfaces like Salesforce.

• Technical Understanding: Practical knowledge of front-end development concepts such as React, React-Native, semantic HTML, and CSS, enabling effective collaboration with engineering teams.

• Data Literacy: Comfort and ability to use data analytics tools (e.g., Heap, SQL) and user feedback to validate design hypotheses and measure product impact.

• Collaboration & Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills to effectively present design concepts, influence stakeholders, and collaborate with cross-functional teams.

• Problem-Solving: Ability to identify user needs and technical constraints, translating them into elegant and effective design solutions.

Preferred Skills:

• Accessibility Design: Deep understanding and practical application of accessibility standards (WCAG) in design.

• Information Architecture: Experience in structuring complex information and user journeys for optimal usability.

• CRM System Familiarity: Exposure to back-end systems or CRM platforms like Salesforce.

• A/B Testing Experience: Proven track record of designing and interpreting A/B tests to optimize product performance.

• Agile/Scrum Methodologies: Familiarity with agile development processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for 6-8 years of experience, coupled with the "first senior hire" context, suggests this role is critical for establishing design standards and processes. Technical fluency in React and mobile patterns is a key differentiator, indicating a need for a designer who can deeply understand and collaborate with engineering.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 comprehensive case studies demonstrating your full design process for complex web and/or mobile products, ideally from eCommerce or health-tech.

• Design System Examples: Include examples of design system components, guidelines, or any contributions to design system development, highlighting your approach to consistency and scalability.

• Prototyping & Interaction: Provide interactive prototypes or detailed walkthroughs of complex user flows, demonstrating your ability to create engaging and intuitive user experiences.

• Data-Driven Impact: Clearly articulate how data (usage metrics, A/B tests, user feedback) informed your design decisions and led to measurable improvements, preferably with a focus on revenue impact.

• Cross-Platform Work: Exhibit examples of designing for different platforms (web, mobile, or other digital interfaces) and how you adapted designs to their specific constraints and best practices.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design: Demonstrate experience in defining and documenting design workflows, from initial research and user story mapping to final asset delivery and QA.

• Tool Proficiency Evidence: Showcase your mastery of design tools, particularly Figma, through examples of complex component creation, advanced prototyping, and efficient handoff processes.

• Usability Testing & Research: Present how you integrate user research and usability testing into your design process, including examples of methodologies used and insights gained.

• Collaboration & Handoff: Illustrate your process for collaborating with engineering and product teams, including clear documentation and handoff procedures to ensure accurate implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "maker first" and building processes from scratch means the portfolio should not only showcase finished products but also the how – the design process, the rationale, and the foundational work like design systems. Quantifiable impact and data-informed decision-making are critical.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $130,000 - $170,000 per year. This range is commensurate with experience and location.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance through Aetna.

• Retirement Savings: 401K plan to support long-term financial goals.

• Work-Life Balance: Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, allowing employees to manage their time effectively.

• Commuter Support: Commuter Benefits to assist with transportation costs in the New York area.

• Wellness Focus: Additional Wellness Perks designed to support employee well-being.

• Family Support: Parental Leave Policy to provide support during significant life events.

Working Hours: The role is full-time, implying a standard 40-hour work week. Given the hybrid nature and the emphasis on product-led development, there may be flexibility in daily scheduling, but core hours for collaboration are expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is competitive for a Senior Product Designer in New York City. The benefits package is robust, with a strong emphasis on health and work-life balance, which are attractive to experienced professionals. The commuter benefits are particularly relevant for a hybrid role in NYC.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Audicus operates within the health-tech and direct-to-consumer (DTC) hearing care space. They are disrupting traditional hearing aid models by offering more affordable, direct-to-consumer solutions, often leveraging technology and online platforms. This industry demands a focus on user trust, accessibility, and clear communication of complex information.

Company Size: Audicus is likely a growing mid-sized company. As the "first senior design hire," the design function is nascent, suggesting an environment where the design team can significantly shape its processes, tools, and impact. This often means a dynamic, fast-paced environment with opportunities for broad influence.

Founded: While not specified, Audicus has been operating for several years, indicating a degree of market validation and a stable foundation from which to grow and innovate. Their focus on a "product-led development model" suggests a strategic shift or maturation in how they build and deliver products.

Team Structure:

• Reporting: The Senior Product Designer will report directly to the Head of Product, indicating a close working relationship with product leadership.

• Collaboration: Close collaboration is expected with the CTO, Engineering teams (especially those familiar with React/React-Native), Marketing, and stakeholders across B2C, Retail, and B2B verticals. This implies a highly cross-functional environment.

• Design Function: As the first senior hire, this role will likely operate somewhat independently initially, with the expectation of building out the design function and processes over time.

Methodology:

• Product-Led Development: The company emphasizes a product-led approach, meaning the product itself drives customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. Design plays a crucial role in ensuring the product is intuitive, valuable, and self-serve.

• Data-Informed Design: Decisions are driven by data, including usage metrics, A/B testing results, and user feedback, requiring designers to be analytically minded and comfortable with quantitative insights.

• Agile Development: While not explicitly stated, a product-led model often aligns with agile development methodologies, requiring iterative design and close collaboration with engineering sprints.

Company Website: audicus.com (Based on domain_derived)

📝 Enhancement Note: The health-tech and DTC nature of Audicus means that user experience, trust, and clear communication are paramount. The "first senior design hire" status is a significant indicator of the role's potential to shape the company's design culture and strategy.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior Product Designer role, signifying a level of expertise and autonomy. It's a position for an individual contributor who can not only execute high-quality design work but also define processes, mentor others (potentially future hires), and significantly influence product strategy. This role is key in bridging the gap between raw product ideas and polished, user-centric experiences.

Reporting Structure: Reporting directly to the Head of Product places this role at a crucial intersection of product strategy and execution. This close proximity allows for direct input into the product roadmap and strategic direction, moving beyond typical design tasks to influence broader product decisions.

Operations Impact: The Senior Product Designer's impact will be measured by their ability to:

• Improve User Acquisition & Conversion: By designing intuitive and engaging experiences across B2C, Retail, and B2B touchpoints, directly contributing to Audicus's product-led growth model.

• Drive Revenue: Through data-informed design decisions, A/B testing, and identifying user pain points that, when solved, lead to increased sales and customer lifetime value.

• Enhance User Satisfaction & Retention: By building a cohesive design system and ensuring high-quality, accessible user experiences across all platforms.

• Establish Design Excellence: Setting the standard for design processes, quality, and best practices within the company.

Growth Opportunities:

• Lead Design Function: As the first senior hire, there's a strong potential to grow into a Design Lead or Head of Design role as the company scales and builds out a design team.

• Strategic Influence: Deepen involvement in product strategy, roadmap planning, and cross-functional leadership.

• Build a Design System: Gain significant experience and recognition for architecting and scaling a comprehensive design system from its inception.

• Industry Expertise: Further develop specialized knowledge in health-tech UX and DTC product design.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior designers as the team expands.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a significant opportunity for an experienced designer to make a foundational impact and grow into a leadership position within a mission-driven health-tech company. The "first senior hire" aspect is a clear indicator of potential for rapid career progression and influence.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is designated as Hybrid, with the office located in Midtown, New York. This suggests a structured work environment that balances in-office collaboration with remote flexibility. The office setting likely facilitates brainstorming, team meetings, and in-depth design critiques.

Office Location(s): Midtown, New York. This central location offers excellent accessibility via public transportation for employees commuting within the NYC metropolitan area.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The office environment is likely designed to foster collaboration among product, engineering, and design teams, enabling quick feedback loops and shared problem-solving.

• Tooling & Technology: Expect access to standard design and productivity software. The role specifically calls for expert Figma proficiency, along with JIRA and Confluence for project management and documentation.

• Cross-Functional Interaction: The hybrid model and reporting structure encourage regular interaction with various teams, including Product, Engineering, Marketing, and key stakeholders, fostering a dynamic and interconnected work atmosphere.

Work Schedule: While the core expectation is a full-time commitment (approx. 40 hours/week), the hybrid model and product-led development approach may allow for some flexibility in daily work hours, enabling designers to structure their time effectively for focused work and collaborative sessions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model in a prime New York City location suggests a professional work environment that values both focused individual work and in-person collaboration. Employees will likely benefit from the accessibility of Midtown.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A brief call with a recruiter or hiring manager to assess basic qualifications, cultural fit, and interest in the role.

• Portfolio Review & Design Exercise: A deeper dive into your portfolio, discussing your process, decision-making, and impact. This may be followed by a design challenge or take-home exercise, often focused on a specific problem relevant to Audicus's products.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with the Head of Product, CTO, and potentially other key team members to evaluate your technical skills, strategic thinking, collaboration style, and ability to integrate into the existing team.

• Final Interview: Potentially a discussion with senior leadership to confirm fit and discuss the role's strategic importance.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Process, Not Just Polish: Clearly articulate your thought process, the problems you were solving, the constraints you faced, and how you arrived at your solutions. Emphasize the "why" behind your design decisions.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data (metrics, A/B test results, user feedback analysis) to demonstrate the success and impact of your designs, especially concerning revenue or key business objectives.

• Highlight Design System Work: If you have experience building or contributing to design systems, showcase this prominently, detailing your approach to scalability, consistency, and developer handoff.

• Tailor to Audicus: Research Audicus's products and target audience. Be prepared to discuss how your skills and experience align with their specific challenges in health-tech and DTC.

• Figma Proficiency: Be ready to discuss your advanced Figma skills, including complex prototyping, component creation, and collaboration features.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Business: Familiarize yourself with Audicus's business model, target audience, and competitive landscape.

• Focus on Problem-Solving: Design challenges often assess your ability to break down a problem, explore solutions, and justify your choices, rather than just creating a visually perfect UI.

• Consider Constraints: Be mindful of technical constraints (React, mobile patterns) and business goals (driving revenue) when developing your solutions.

• Present Your Thinking: Practice articulating your design process and rationale clearly and concisely, as if presenting to product and engineering stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given this is the first senior design hire, expect the interview process to heavily scrutinize not just design skills but also the ability to define processes, build foundational elements like a design system, and influence product strategy. The portfolio review will be critical.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: This is explicitly called out as a requirement for expert proficiency, including advanced prototyping and component creation for handoff. It will be the primary tool for UI design, wireframing, and prototyping.

• JIRA: Essential for project management, tracking tasks, bugs, and user stories within an agile development workflow.

• Confluence: Used for documentation, knowledge sharing, design specifications, research findings, and team process documentation.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Heap: Mentioned as a tool for data-informed decisions, Heap is an event-based product analytics platform that helps understand user behavior and product performance.

• SQL: Proficiency in SQL is listed, indicating that direct querying of databases may be required for deeper data analysis and insight generation.

• A/B Testing Platforms: While not explicitly named, the mention of A/B testing implies the use of tools like Optimizely, VWO, or internal experimentation platforms.

CRM & Automation:

• Salesforce: Mentioned as a surface the designer will work across, implying familiarity with its UX or design considerations for CRM integrations.

• Other CRM/Back-end Systems: General familiarity with back-end systems and CRM is listed as a plus, suggesting potential for integration work or understanding data flows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma, JIRA, Confluence, Heap, and SQL highlights the tools and data-centric approach Audicus employs. Designers are expected to be proficient with these tools and comfortable leveraging data for design decisions.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Product-Led Growth: A core value likely emphasizing the product’s role in driving business success, requiring designers to focus on user experience that facilitates acquisition, conversion, and retention.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: A strong emphasis on using quantitative and qualitative data to inform design choices, validate hypotheses, and measure impact, fostering a culture of evidence-based design.

• User-Centricity: A fundamental commitment to understanding and advocating for the user, ensuring that designs are intuitive, accessible, and solve real user problems.

• Iteration & Agility: A culture that embraces continuous improvement, encouraging rapid iteration, testing, and learning from user feedback and performance data.

• Collaboration & Ownership: A value placed on teamwork, clear communication, and individual accountability, where team members take ownership of their work and contribute to shared goals.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect a highly collaborative environment where designers work closely with Product Managers, Engineers, and Marketing to achieve shared product goals.

• Open Communication & Feedback: A culture that encourages open dialogue, constructive feedback, and shared problem-solving, especially during design critiques and sprint reviews.

• Process Ownership: As the first senior designer, there will be an opportunity to shape the collaborative processes and best practices for how design interacts with other functions.

• Maker-to-Maker Handoff: A focus on seamless handoffs to engineering, facilitated by clear documentation, component libraries, and direct communication channels.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values point towards a forward-thinking, data-oriented, and user-focused company culture. The emphasis on collaboration and ownership is particularly relevant for a foundational role like this.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Establishing Design Foundation: As the first senior hire, a primary challenge will be defining and implementing the design process, tools, and a comprehensive design system from scratch. This requires strategic thinking and the ability to build consensus.

• Balancing Design Vision with Technical Constraints: Effectively translating user needs and design vision into feasible solutions within the technical realities of React, React-Native, and existing platforms.

• Driving Data-Informed Decisions: Ensuring that data is consistently leveraged and interpreted correctly to guide design decisions, especially when dealing with potentially complex health-tech data.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Securing buy-in and maintaining alignment across diverse stakeholders (Product, Engineering, Marketing, B2B/B2C/Retail verticals) on design strategy and execution.

• Scalability of Design System: Building a design system that is robust enough to support current needs while being flexible and scalable for future product expansion.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Significant opportunity to grow into a design leadership role by building and mentoring a future design team.

• Strategic Impact: Directly influence product strategy and the company's product-led development model.

• Design System Architecture: Gain in-depth experience in architecting, building, and evolving a design system from its inception.

• Health-Tech & DTC Expertise: Deepen specialized knowledge in the unique UX challenges and opportunities within the health-tech and direct-to-consumer sectors.

• Cross-Functional Acumen: Develop stronger skills in stakeholder management, technical collaboration, and business strategy through close work with product and engineering leadership.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are significant but present substantial growth opportunities. This role is ideal for an ambitious designer looking to build something foundational and accelerate their career trajectory.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your process for building a design system from scratch. What are the key considerations, and how would you ensure its adoption and scalability across multiple platforms?"

  • Preparation: Be ready to detail your methodology, including research, component definition, documentation, governance, and rollout strategy. Highlight how you'd ensure consistency across web and mobile.

• "How do you balance user needs with business objectives and technical constraints? Can you provide an example where you had to make trade-offs?"

  • Preparation: Prepare a specific example from your portfolio that illustrates your problem-solving approach, decision-making process, and how you navigated competing priorities. Emphasize data-driven justification.

• "Given our product-led development model, how would you approach designing features that drive user acquisition and retention?"

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Audicus and our mission in health-tech?"

  • Preparation: Research Audicus's mission, values, and recent news. Connect your personal motivations and career goals to their work.

• "How would you contribute to building a design culture as the first senior designer?"

  • Preparation: Discuss your vision for design processes, collaboration, and how you would advocate for design thinking within the company.

• "How do you leverage data (e.g., Heap, SQL, A/B testing) in your design process?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your role, the process, key decisions, solutions, and the quantifiable outcomes.

• Showcase Your Figma Skills: Be prepared to walk through a complex prototype, component library, or design system example within Figma, highlighting advanced features and your workflow.

• Focus on Impact: Emphasize the "so what?" of your designs – how did they benefit users and the business? Use metrics and data wherever possible.

• Be Ready for Design Challenges: Practice thinking aloud and sketching solutions to hypothetical problems related to Audicus's products or the health-tech/DTC space.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will likely focus heavily on strategic thinking, process definition, and the ability to operate autonomously as the foundational design hire. Be prepared to demonstrate not just design skill but also leadership potential and a strong understanding of business objectives.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on jobs.gem.com.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight your most relevant experience in eCommerce or health-tech, showcasing end-to-end product design case studies, design system work, and data-informed decision-making. Ensure your Figma proficiency is evident.

• Resume Optimization: Update your resume to clearly articulate your 6-8 years of experience, emphasizing your contributions to product strategy, process definition, and measurable business impact. Integrate keywords like "Product Design," "UX," "Design Systems," "Figma," "React," and "data-informed."

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, problem-solving approach, and how you leverage data. Prepare to discuss your experience building foundational design elements and influencing product roadmaps. Rehearse presenting your portfolio case studies with a focus on impact and rationale.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Audicus, their mission, products, and target market. Understand their product-led development model and how design contributes to it. Be ready to discuss why you are a good cultural and strategic fit for their growing team.

⚠️ 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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