Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: Cinder

Location: New York, New York, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / GTM Operations

Date Posted: 2026-08-24

Experience Level: Senior to Staff Level (6+ years)

Remote Status: On-site (Hybrid flexibility may be considered for exceptional candidates)

🚀 Role Summary

• End-to-End Product Ownership: Drive the complete design lifecycle for assigned product surfaces, from initial problem framing and user discovery through to shipped UI and post-launch iteration, acting as a key partner to Product and Engineering.

• Design System & Craft Leadership: Actively contribute to, and help maintain, Cinder's evolving design system, setting high standards for visual and interaction design to ensure consistency and scalability across a growing product suite.

• Cross-Functional GTM & Brand Support: Proactively engage in design projects beyond core product, including brand identity, go-to-market collateral, website design, and sales enablement materials, demonstrating a broad design impact.

• Customer-Centric Discovery & Validation: Lead discovery processes by directly engaging with Trust & Safety customers and end-users, translating insights into actionable design direction and clear technical requirements for engineering teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Senior Product Designer," the emphasis on GTM, brand, website, and decks, coupled with the need for a proactive approach to broader design projects, suggests this role also encompasses elements of GTM Operations and Brand Design, requiring a designer comfortable with both deep product work and wider company initiatives. The "co-lead" aspect with the current designer also implies a strategic leadership component.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Product Surface Ownership: Take full ownership of designing specific product areas, ensuring a cohesive and intuitive user experience from ideation to implementation.

• User Research & Insights Translation: Conduct direct customer and user interviews to gather qualitative feedback, synthesize findings, and translate them into design specifications and actionable tickets for engineering.

• High-Fidelity Prototyping: Create detailed, high-fidelity prototypes to effectively test user flows, validate design decisions, and ensure alignment with engineering teams before development commences.

• Design System Contribution: Actively participate in the development, maintenance, and evolution of the design system, ensuring component libraries and patterns are robust and scalable.

• Broader Design Initiatives: Contribute to brand development, GTM materials, website design, marketing collateral, and sales decks, demonstrating a proactive and holistic approach to design.

• Design Critique & Collaboration: Participate in regular design critiques, providing and receiving constructive feedback to elevate the quality of design work and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

• Ambiguity Navigation: Independently define problems, generate solutions, and make design decisions in environments with evolving requirements or incomplete documentation.

• Design Debt Management: Proactively identify and address design debt within the product and design system, ensuring long-term maintainability and quality.

• Front-End Prototyping: Leverage front-end development skills to create functional prototypes and potentially support interim engineer-designer tasks.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibility to "Contribute to and help maintain our design system" and "Take on design work beyond core product" indicates a need for a designer who can not only execute within established frameworks but also contribute to their expansion and application across diverse areas, requiring strategic thinking beyond typical product design tasks.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent knowledge and practical application of design principles is essential.

Experience: 6+ years of professional software design experience at a senior or staff level, with a proven track record of designing complex, technical products for expert users.

Required Skills:

• Visual & Graphic Design Craft: Exceptional eye for quality, ability to produce clean and effective visual designs, and proficiency in creating visually appealing interfaces.

• Figma Expertise: Mastery of Figma for wireframing, user flow creation, high-fidelity prototyping, and delivering production-ready design assets.

• Systems Thinking: Demonstrated ability to understand and design for complex interconnected systems, anticipating the impact of changes across the entire product.

• Design System Development: Experience building, maintaining, or significantly contributing to design systems, including component libraries and pattern definition.

• Customer-Centric Design: Proven ability to conduct user research, synthesize findings, and translate them into impactful product design solutions.

• High-Fidelity Prototyping: Skill in creating interactive prototypes that effectively communicate user flows and interaction details.

• Ambiguity Tolerance: Comfort and effectiveness in navigating ambiguous situations, making independent decisions, and driving clarity in evolving project scopes.

• Proactive Ownership: A default inclination to identify and solve problems independently, taking initiative without explicit direction.

• Technical Product Design: Experience designing sophisticated software tailored for expert users, understanding their workflows and needs.

• Front-End Fluency: Comfort with front-end technologies for prototyping and potentially supporting engineering tasks.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing for AI or agentic products, understanding the nuances of human-AI interaction.

• Motion design skills or a strong appreciation for subtle UI animations and micro-interactions.

• Familiarity with website Content Management System (CMS) builders for brand and marketing support.

• Experience contributing to or building design team culture, including establishing rituals like critiques and stand-ups.

• A diverse design background that complements the existing team's expertise, contributing to a broader range of perspectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of "AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude, Codex) for designing and prototyping" indicates a specific and advanced technical requirement, suggesting candidates should not only be aware of these tools but actively proficient in their application for design workflows, not just experimental usage. The "Front-end fluency" requirement also points towards an expectation of designers who can bridge the gap with engineering.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 detailed case studies demonstrating ownership of significant product surfaces from problem definition through to shipped solutions, highlighting your design process and impact.

• Systems Design Examples: Include examples that clearly articulate your approach to systems thinking, illustrating how you've managed complexity and ensured consistency across multi-product platforms or information-dense interfaces.

• Design System Contribution: If applicable, present work that demonstrates your experience in building, maintaining, or contributing to design systems, including examples of component libraries or pattern definition.

• Customer Discovery Integration: Highlight projects where you've directly engaged with users or customers, showing how their feedback informed your design decisions and led to product improvements.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Showcase projects where you collaborated closely with product managers and engineers, illustrating your ability to work effectively within a cross-functional team.

Process Documentation:

• Problem Framing & Solutioning: Clearly articulate the problem space, your understanding of user needs, and the rationale behind your proposed design solutions.

• Design Iteration & Validation: Demonstrate how you used prototyping and user feedback to iterate on designs and validate your approach before development.

• Metrics & Impact: Quantify the impact of your design work where possible, using metrics related to user engagement, efficiency, or business outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the early-stage nature of Cinder and the emphasis on a "co-lead" role, the portfolio should not only showcase execution but also strategic thinking, problem-solving in ambiguous environments, and the ability to contribute to the formation of design processes and standards.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $190,000 - $220,000 USD per year.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans.

• 401(k) retirement savings plan with employer matching contributions.

• Fully paid commuter benefits for New York City-based employees.

• Stock options, offering equity in a growing startup.

• Fully stocked office environment with paid lunch and dinner.

• Opportunities for relocation assistance for the right candidate.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours are expected, typically around 40 hours per week, with flexibility for project demands and collaborative needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is competitive for a Senior Product Designer role in New York City, reflecting the seniority, technical demands, and the early-stage, high-growth environment of a startup like Cinder. The benefits package is typical for a tech startup, with the addition of commuter benefits and paid meals reflecting the NYC office location.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: AI Infrastructure / Trust & Safety Technology. Cinder operates at the cutting edge of AI and platform security, providing mission-critical infrastructure to combat online fraud, abuse, and manipulation. This industry demands precision, rapid adaptation, and a deep understanding of evolving threats.

Company Size: Small, fast-moving team. As a startup backed by Accel and Y Combinator, Cinder fosters a lean, agile, and highly collaborative environment where individuals can make a significant impact.

Founded: Cinder is a relatively new company, likely founded within the last few years, given its startup backing and fast-paced growth trajectory. This implies a culture of innovation, rapid iteration, and a strong focus on product-market fit.

Team Structure:

• Design Team: This role is the second senior designer, working closely with the current lead designer. It suggests a small but growing design function that will collaborate heavily with Product Management and Engineering.

• Reporting Structure: The Senior Product Designer will likely report to the Head of Product or a dedicated Design Lead, with close partnership across Product and Engineering.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Expect deep integration with Product Managers for strategy and requirements, and Engineers for implementation, as well as collaboration with GTM teams for brand and marketing initiatives.

Methodology:

• Intentional & Direct Communication: Cinder values clear, honest, and direct communication, fostering an environment where feedback is readily given and received.

• Customer-Centric Problem Solving: A core focus on understanding and solving real customer problems within the Trust & Safety space.

• Agile & Iterative Development: As a startup, the company likely employs agile methodologies, emphasizing rapid iteration, learning, and adaptation.

• Data-Informed Decisions: While not explicitly stated for design, the nature of the product suggests a strong reliance on data to inform strategy and measure impact.

Company Website: https://www.cinder.ai

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission to combat AI-driven abuse on digital platforms is a complex and critical challenge. This implies a workplace that values technical rigor, ethical considerations, and a proactive approach to problem-solving. The emphasis on being "intentional, direct, and deeply focused" suggests a culture that prioritizes clarity, efficiency, and impact.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a Senior to Staff level within the design discipline. It offers the opportunity to be a foundational member of the design team, influencing its growth, processes, and overall direction. The "co-lead" aspect with the existing designer suggests a path towards design leadership.

Reporting Structure: The designer will report to a design lead or Head of Product, with significant direct collaboration with Product Managers and Engineering leads. This structure allows for high visibility and direct influence on product strategy and execution.

Operations Impact: The work directly impacts the core functionality and user experience of a mission-critical platform used by major internet companies. Design decisions will have a tangible effect on how platforms combat abuse, influencing user safety and platform integrity. The role also extends to impacting Cinder's external brand and GTM efforts.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: As the second senior designer, there's a clear opportunity to grow into a design leadership role, shaping the design team's culture, processes, and strategic direction.

• Product & Strategy Influence: Direct involvement in product strategy and discovery provides a platform to influence the company's roadmap and business direction.

• Cross-Disciplinary Skill Development: The requirement to work on brand, GTM, and website design offers a chance to broaden skill sets beyond core product design into areas like marketing and brand strategy.

• Deep Domain Expertise: Developing expertise in the complex and evolving Trust & Safety and AI agent domains.

• Startup Growth Experience: Gaining invaluable experience in a high-growth startup environment, learning about scaling product, teams, and processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "owning significant surfaces end to end" and acting as a "co-lead" indicates a significant growth trajectory. Candidates should view this not just as a design execution role but as an opportunity to shape the design function and influence company strategy from an early stage.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Cinder is based in New York City and believes in working together in person. This suggests a collaborative, office-centric environment designed to foster strong team cohesion and spontaneous interaction.

Office Location(s): New York City, with relocation assistance available for the right candidate. The office is fully stocked and provides paid lunch and dinner, indicating a supportive and amenity-rich workspace.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The NYC office serves as the primary hub for collaboration, team events, and in-person working sessions, crucial for a small, fast-moving startup.

• Tools & Technology: Access to industry-standard design tools (Figma) and potentially cutting-edge AI tools for design and prototyping.

• Team Interaction: Frequent opportunities for direct interaction with design, product, and engineering teams, facilitating rapid feedback loops and shared problem-solving.

Work Schedule: While standard full-time hours are expected, the fast-paced startup environment may require flexibility. The emphasis on in-person collaboration suggests a structured work week, with potential for hybrid arrangements considered for exceptional candidates.

📝 Enhancement Note: The commitment to in-person collaboration and the provision of office amenities like paid meals underscore Cinder's focus on building a strong, unified team culture and optimizing the on-site working experience for productivity and employee well-being.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess qualifications and alignment with the role's requirements.

• Design Exercise/Challenge: Likely a take-home or live design challenge focused on a specific problem relevant to Cinder's product, testing your problem-solving skills, design process, and proficiency with tools like Figma.

• Portfolio Review & Design Critique: A session where you walk through your portfolio, discussing your process, decisions, and impact on selected projects. This is a critical opportunity to showcase your systems thinking and ability to handle ambiguity.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with Product Managers and Engineers to assess collaboration style, technical understanding, and ability to communicate design effectively.

• Team/Culture Fit Interview: A discussion to evaluate alignment with Cinder's values, such as intentionality, directness, and proactive ownership.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Clearly articulate the problems you solved, the design decisions you made, and the measurable impact of your work. Quantify results whenever possible.

• Showcase Process: Detail your design process, from research and ideation to iteration and final delivery. Explain why you made certain choices.

• Highlight Ambiguity Navigation: Include projects where you had to define the problem or navigate unclear requirements, demonstrating your ability to create clarity.

• Systems Thinking Examples: Present case studies that illustrate your ability to design for complex systems and interconnected components.

• Proactive Problem Solving: Showcase instances where you identified and addressed design debt or proactively improved a product beyond initial scope.

• Tailor to Cinder: Emphasize experience with technical products, SaaS, and ideally, AI-adjacent or complex information-dense interfaces.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Cinder's Mission: Thoroughly research Cinder's product, target users (Trust & Safety professionals), and the problem space of online abuse and AI-driven manipulation.

• Figma Proficiency: Be prepared to demonstrate advanced Figma skills, including complex prototyping and component creation.

• AI Agent Familiarity: Be ready to discuss how you might leverage AI coding agents in your design process.

• Communicate Your Thinking: Practice articulating your design rationale clearly and concisely, especially under pressure.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "owning significant surfaces end to end" and the "co-lead" nature of the role suggests the interview process will heavily scrutinize your ability to operate autonomously, drive initiatives, and contribute strategically, not just execute tasks. Be prepared to discuss how you've influenced product direction and design culture.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core design tool for wireframing, UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Mastery is expected.

• AI Coding Agents (Cursor, Claude, Codex): Proficiency in using these tools for designing and prototyping, integrating them into the workflow beyond experimentation.

• Prototyping Tools: While Figma is primary, familiarity with other advanced prototyping tools may be beneficial.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not directly a designer's primary tool, understanding how design impacts key metrics (e.g., user engagement, task completion rates, conversion) and familiarity with analytics platforms (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel) used by product teams is advantageous. CRM & Automation:

• Linear: Mentioned in the description for engineers to pick up tickets, indicating its use for task management and workflow tracking. Designers need to be comfortable creating clear tickets for this system.

• Project Management Tools: Familiarity with tools like Jira, Asana, or similar for tracking design tasks and progress.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of AI coding agents is a significant differentiator. Candidates should be prepared to discuss practical applications of these tools in their design workflow, beyond theoretical knowledge, demonstrating how they can accelerate design and prototyping.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Intentionality: A deliberate and thoughtful approach to problem-solving, design decisions, and team interactions.

• Directness: Open, honest, and clear communication, valuing constructive feedback and transparency.

• Customer Focus: Deeply understanding and prioritizing the needs of Trust & Safety customers to build impactful solutions.

• Proactive Ownership: Taking initiative to identify and solve problems, driving improvements without constant oversight.

• Craftsmanship: A high standard for design quality, visual polish, and attention to detail.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership: Close collaboration with Product and Engineering as co-equal partners in shaping the product.

• Critique-Driven: An environment that values and actively utilizes design critique sessions for mutual learning and quality improvement.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Seamless integration with GTM and other departments for broader company initiatives.

• Direct Feedback Exchange: A culture where team members feel comfortable giving and receiving direct, constructive feedback.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "intentional, direct, and deeply focused" suggests a culture that values efficiency, clarity, and a strong sense of purpose. Designers should be comfortable with direct feedback and taking ownership of their work and contributions to the team's success.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Cinder is an early-stage startup, meaning requirements may evolve rapidly, and significant ambiguity will be inherent in many projects. Developing strategies to create clarity and drive progress in such environments is key.

• Balancing Deep Product Work with Broader Initiatives: Managing time and focus effectively between in-depth product surface ownership and diverse GTM/brand design tasks.

• Defining Design at an Early Stage: Contributing to the establishment of design processes, standards, and culture as a foundational member of the design team.

• Complex Technical Domain: Understanding and designing for the intricate Trust & Safety space, which involves sophisticated AI agents, policy enforcement, and fraud detection.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design Leadership Track: Potential to grow into a lead design role, shaping the future of design at Cinder.

• Cross-Disciplinary Skill Expansion: Opportunities to develop skills in brand design, marketing collateral creation, and website development.

• AI & Trust/Safety Expertise: Deepen knowledge in cutting-edge AI applications and the critical domain of online safety and abuse prevention.

• Startup Operations Mastery: Gain hands-on experience in scaling a product and team within a high-growth startup environment.

• Mentorship: Learning from experienced product and engineering leaders, as well as collaborating closely with the existing design lead.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical of early-stage startups but are framed here with a focus on the learning and growth opportunities they present for a proactive and ambitious designer.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Ambiguity & Problem Framing: "Describe a time you had to design a product or feature with very little initial direction. How did you approach defining the problem and developing a solution?" (Prepare a case study demonstrating your process for creating clarity.)

• Systems Thinking: "How do you approach designing for complex, interconnected systems? Can you give an example of a time you had to consider the impact of your design on other parts of a product or platform?" (Focus on examples with multi-product platforms or information-dense interfaces.)

• Design System Impact: "What is your philosophy on design systems? How have you contributed to or leveraged design systems to ensure consistency and scalability?" (Be ready to discuss your experience building/maintaining component libraries and patterns.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• Proactive Ownership: "Tell me about a time you identified a design debt or an area for improvement that wasn't explicitly assigned to you. What did you do?" (Highlight instances of initiative and self-direction.)

• Collaboration & Feedback: "How do you approach giving and receiving direct feedback in a design critique setting?" (Emphasize your comfort with Cinder's direct communication style.)

• Customer Empathy: "How do you ensure user needs are at the forefront of your design process, especially when dealing with technical products?" (Be ready to discuss your user research methods and how you translate insights.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: Frame each case study as a narrative: the problem, your role, your process, the challenges, your solutions, and the outcomes/impact.

• Visual Clarity: Ensure your presentation slides are clean, well-designed, and easy to follow, mirroring the quality expected in your work.

• Interactive Demo: Be prepared to demo key aspects of your prototypes within Figma or other tools, showcasing interaction design and flow.

• Highlight AI Tool Usage: If relevant to your portfolio pieces, briefly explain how you leveraged AI coding agents to enhance your design or prototyping process.

• Focus on Impact: Clearly articulate the business or user value your designs delivered. Quantify results where possible.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the role's emphasis on "co-lead" status and significant ownership, interviewers will be looking for strategic thinking, leadership potential, and a demonstrated ability to drive outcomes independently. Practice articulating your thought process and decision-making rationale thoroughly.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight projects demonstrating end-to-end ownership, systems thinking, experience with technical products, and proactive problem-solving. Emphasize your Figma skills and any experience with AI design tools.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 6+ years of experience, focusing on achievements in software design, particularly for expert users, and mentioning proficiency in Figma and relevant AI tools.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, decision-making rationale, and how you handle ambiguity. Prepare specific examples for behavioral questions related to proactive ownership and feedback.

• Company Research: Deeply understand Cinder's mission, its product in the Trust & Safety space, and its AI-driven approach. Research their values (intentionality, directness) to align your responses during interviews.

⚠️ 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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