Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: UpHill Health

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: August 17, 2026

Experience Level: 6+ Years (Senior)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Own the end-to-end product design lifecycle for innovative healthcare AI solutions, from initial ideation and user research to final production deployment.

• Leverage AI-assisted design and prototyping tools to rapidly iterate on concepts, de-risk product decisions, and accelerate the design process.

• Single-handedly build, maintain, and evolve a comprehensive design system to ensure consistency, scalability, and a cohesive user experience across all UpHill products.

• Directly contribute to production code for quick UI/UX adjustments, fostering a seamless collaboration with engineering and minimizing time-to-market for critical updates.

• Act as the sole design authority, driving proactive design strategy and decision-making in a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment within the regulated healthcare sector.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as the sole designer at UpHill Health, requiring a high degree of autonomy, proactivity, and end-to-end ownership. The emphasis on AI-assisted tools and direct production code contributions indicates a modern, agile design workflow deeply integrated with engineering. The "Senior" title aligns with the expected 6+ years of experience and the responsibility of owning design strategy and execution.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the complete product design process, encompassing discovery, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, user testing, and final design handoff for UpHill's conversational AI agents, clinical pathways, and care orchestration platforms.

• Develop and execute rapid prototyping strategies, utilizing cutting-edge AI design tools (e.g., Figma AI, v0, Lovable, Cursor, Framer) to quickly explore design variations and validate user flows.

• Establish and champion a robust, scalable design system, ensuring its adherence to brand guidelines, accessibility standards, and product requirements.

• Implement UI/UX changes directly within the production codebase or collaborate closely with engineers for immediate production fixes and enhancements, prioritizing speed and efficiency.

• Partner strategically with the Head of Product, founders, product managers, engineers, and clinical stakeholders to translate complex clinical problems into intuitive and effective user experiences.

• Conduct user research and validation activities with clinicians, hospital staff, and patients to gather insights, identify pain points, and ensure designs meet real-world needs.

• Define and maintain high standards for design quality, usability, and accessibility across all product interfaces, ensuring compliance with industry regulations.

• Ensure all design decisions are made with a thorough understanding of the regulatory landscape for Class IIa medical devices, integrating compliance requirements into the design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a hands-on, full-stack design role. The emphasis on "single-handedly" and "production UI/UX changes" suggests a need for a designer comfortable with both strategic design thinking and tactical execution, including direct code contributions. The focus on AI tools and the regulated healthcare environment are key differentiators for this role.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

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

Experience: Minimum of 6 years of professional product design experience, with a proven track record of end-to-end product ownership from concept to successful, live product deployment.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated experience in owning and evolving a comprehensive design system, ensuring its scalability and consistency.

• Proven proficiency in rapid prototyping techniques, with hands-on experience utilizing AI-assisted design and coding tools (e.g., Figma AI, v0, Lovable, Cursor, Framer, or similar) for fast iteration.

• Comfort and capability in making direct UI/UX production changes, either through direct coding or very close collaboration with engineering teams.

• High degree of proactivity and self-direction; ability to drive design decisions independently without constant oversight.

• Strong foundational knowledge of visual design, interaction design principles, and user-centered design methodologies.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design rationale clearly to diverse stakeholders, including technical and non-technical audiences.

• Fluency in English, both written and spoken. Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience designing products within the healthcare industry, focusing on clinical workflows or other complex, regulated domains.

• Experience designing interfaces for AI-driven applications and understanding the nuances of human-AI interaction.

• Front-end coding proficiency (HTML/CSS/React) enabling direct implementation of UI/UX changes without formal handoff.

• Previous experience as the sole or founding designer in an early-stage startup or scale-up environment.

• Background in designing complex B2B or enterprise software solutions.

• Familiarity with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) and medical device design/regulatory considerations (e.g., IEC 62366).

📝 Enhancement Note: The required experience level and specific skill set, particularly around AI tools and direct production work, point to a need for a senior, versatile designer. The preferred skills indicate a strong preference for candidates with direct experience in regulated industries and AI interfaces, which are core to UpHill's mission.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase end-to-end product design ownership, detailing your contributions from initial problem definition through to shipped product.

• Include case studies demonstrating your experience building or independently managing a design system, highlighting its structure, evolution, and impact.

• Present examples of rapid prototyping and user validation, specifically noting how AI tools were leveraged to accelerate discovery and de-risk decisions.

• Provide evidence of your ability to make direct UI/UX changes in production, ideally with examples of quick iterations or fixes you implemented.

• Illustrate your approach to collaborating with cross-functional teams (product, engineering, clinical) and handling ambiguous problem statements. Process Documentation:

• Detail your process for user research and validation, emphasizing how you gather insights from clinical users and patients.

• Explain your methodology for creating and maintaining design systems, including version control, documentation, and governance.

• Describe your workflow for rapid prototyping and how you integrate AI tools into this process to achieve faster outcomes.

• Outline your approach to ensuring design quality, usability, and accessibility, particularly within a regulated medical device context.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a role emphasizing full-ownership and direct production impact, the portfolio must clearly demonstrate practical application of design skills, rapid iteration capabilities, and an understanding of the full product lifecycle. The inclusion of AI tools and regulated environments in case studies will be highly beneficial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Based on market research for Senior Product Designers in Lisbon, Portugal, with 6+ years of experience in a hybrid tech environment, the estimated annual salary range is €50,000 - €70,000. This estimate considers the cost of living in Lisbon, the senior level of the role, the specialized nature of healthcare AI design, and the company's early-stage but impactful mission.

Benefits:

• Competitive Salary: A salary benchmarked against industry standards for senior design roles in the Lisbon tech scene.

• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Full coverage for medical, dental, and vision needs, ensuring well-being.

• Top-Tier Equipment: Provision of a new MacBook and a budget for essential peripherals to ensure a productive and comfortable workspace.

• Flexible Schedule: Ability to manage work hours to accommodate personal needs and optimize productivity.

• Hybrid Work Model: A balanced approach combining in-office collaboration with remote work flexibility, fostering both team cohesion and individual focus.

Working Hours: Approximately 40 hours per week, with flexibility offered through the hybrid work model and flexible scheduling.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on typical market rates for a Senior Product Designer in Lisbon, Portugal. It accounts for the experience level, the specialized domain (healthcare AI), and the hybrid work model. Benefits are listed as provided in the input data, with added context for operations professionals.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Healthcare Technology / Artificial Intelligence. UpHill Health operates at the intersection of AI and healthcare, a rapidly growing and highly impactful sector. Their focus on clinical capacity enhancement and patient care automation positions them within a critical area of digital health innovation.

Company Size: Early-stage startup (implied by "one person short" and "sole designer" role). This size typically means a flat hierarchy, rapid decision-making, and high individual impact.

Founded: The founding date is not specified, but the context suggests a company that has achieved product-market fit and is scaling, with products already deployed in hospitals and impacting over 100,000 lives.

Team Structure:

• Design Team: Currently, this role is the sole designer, indicating a need for an individual comfortable with complete autonomy and ownership.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: The designer will work closely with founders, Head of Product, product managers, engineers, and clinical stakeholders, emphasizing a highly collaborative environment.

• Reporting Structure: The designer will likely report directly to a Head of Product or a Founder, given the small team size and senior nature of the role.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Product Development: The company leverages hospital data and patient conversations to build its AI platform, suggesting a strong emphasis on data analysis and evidence-based decision-making.

• Agile & Iterative Design: The reliance on rapid prototyping and AI tools points to an agile approach to product development, prioritizing speed and continuous improvement.

• User-Centric Approach: Direct engagement with clinicians and patients for validation underscores a commitment to understanding and addressing real-world user needs.

Company Website: https://www.uphillhealth.com/ (Derived from domain_derived)

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is characterized by innovation, a mission-driven purpose in healthcare, and an agile, autonomous work environment suitable for a senior individual contributor. The regulated nature of their medical device product (Class IIa) also implies a strong focus on quality, safety, and compliance.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is firmly at the Senior Individual Contributor level. It demands a high degree of autonomy, strategic thinking, and the ability to execute independently across the entire design spectrum. The "sole designer" aspect means this individual will set the design direction and standards for the company.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Product Designer will likely report to a Head of Product or a Co-Founder. This provides direct access to leadership and strategic decision-making processes.

Operations Impact: The Senior Product Designer will have a profound impact on UpHill's success by directly shaping the user experience of critical healthcare AI tools. Their work will influence clinician adoption, patient engagement, operational efficiency within hospitals, and the overall effectiveness of the UpHill platform. This role is pivotal in translating complex AI capabilities into usable, impactful solutions that drive the company's mission.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: As the company grows, this role has the potential to evolve into a Design Lead or Head of Design position, building and managing a future design team.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in designing for AI interfaces, regulated medical devices, and complex clinical workflows, becoming a recognized expert in this niche.

• Strategic Influence: Gain significant experience in shaping product strategy and company direction from a design perspective within a fast-growing health-tech startup.

• Technical Skill Development: Opportunity to further hone front-end coding skills and explore advanced AI design tools, integrating deeper technical capabilities into the design practice.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth trajectory for this role is significant, moving from sole contributor to potential team lead, with opportunities for deep specialization in a high-demand field. The direct influence on product and company strategy is a key draw for ambitious senior designers.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid work model. This suggests a combination of in-office collaboration and remote work. The office in Lisbon likely serves as a hub for team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and focused collaborative work.

Office Location(s): Lisbon, Portugal. This location offers a vibrant European tech scene with access to talent and a good quality of life. Specific office details (e.g., amenities, accessibility) are not provided but can be inferred to be modern and conducive to collaboration.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model and emphasis on cross-functional collaboration imply an office designed to facilitate team interaction, brainstorming, and knowledge sharing.

• Technology-Rich: As a tech company leveraging AI, expect access to modern design software, development tools, and potentially advanced hardware for prototyping and development.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for direct interaction with product managers, engineers, founders, and clinical experts, fostering a dynamic and intellectually stimulating work environment.

Work Schedule: The standard working hours are approximately 40 hours per week. The hybrid model and flexible schedule offer autonomy in managing daily work, allowing for deep focus on design tasks while accommodating personal needs. This flexibility is crucial for complex design work that often requires uninterrupted blocks of time.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model in Lisbon provides a balance between in-person collaboration and remote flexibility. The work environment is expected to be modern, tech-forward, and highly collaborative, supporting the company's mission and agile development practices.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A brief call to assess basic qualifications, alignment with the role's core requirements, and interest in UpHill's mission.

• Portfolio Review & Design Challenge: A deep dive into your portfolio, focusing on end-to-end ownership, design system experience, and AI tool utilization. You may be asked to present specific case studies. A practical design challenge, potentially involving rapid prototyping or problem-solving related to clinical workflows, is likely.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with Product Management, Engineering leads, and potentially founders or clinical advisors to assess your collaboration style, strategic thinking, and understanding of the healthcare domain.

• Final Interview: A concluding discussion, possibly with the CEO or Head of Product, to finalize fit, discuss compensation, and answer any remaining questions.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase End-to-End Ownership: Clearly articulate your role and impact on each project, from initial problem definition to shipped product. Highlight decision-making processes.

• Highlight Design System Expertise: Dedicate a section or case study to your experience with design systems, demonstrating your ability to build, maintain, and scale them.

• Emphasize AI Tool Proficiency: Showcase projects where you've used AI-assisted design tools for rapid prototyping or iteration. Explain the benefits and outcomes.

• Demonstrate Production Readiness: Include examples or discuss your comfort level with making direct UI/UX changes in production environments.

• Focus on Impact and Validation: Quantify results where possible (e.g., improved conversion, reduced errors) and explain how you validated your designs with real users (clinicians, patients).

• Contextualize for Healthcare: If possible, highlight any experience or understanding of healthcare workflows, regulatory considerations, or AI in clinical settings.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Problem Space: Research UpHill's mission, products, and the challenges faced by clinicians and patients in healthcare.

• Focus on Speed and Iteration: Be prepared to demonstrate how you can move quickly from problem to solution, leveraging prototyping and AI tools.

• Articulate Your Process: Clearly explain your design thinking, decision-making rationale, and how you incorporate user feedback and constraints (like regulation).

• Prepare for Direct Production Work: If a coding component is involved, brush up on HTML/CSS/React basics. Be ready to discuss how you approach quick fixes and iterative improvements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process emphasizes practical skills, autonomy, and a deep understanding of the design lifecycle, particularly within the context of AI and healthcare. The portfolio and any design challenge will be critical for demonstrating readiness for this hands-on, high-impact role.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (including Figma AI features), potentially Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite.

• AI-Assisted Design Tools: v0, Lovable, Cursor, Framer, or similar platforms for rapid ideation and prototyping.

• Design System Management: Tools for documenting, versioning, and distributing design system components (e.g., Zeroheight, Storybook, or internal documentation).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel, or similar for tracking user behavior and product engagement.

• User Feedback Platforms: Tools for collecting qualitative feedback from users.

• Reporting Dashboards: Potentially Tableau, Looker, or internal dashboards for visualizing product performance metrics.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: While not directly a design tool, understanding how design impacts CRM workflows or customer success interactions is beneficial.

• Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello, or similar for managing design tasks and collaborating with engineering.

• Version Control: Git (for direct code contributions and collaboration with engineers).

Development Stack Context:

• Front-End: React, HTML, CSS are mentioned as skills that would allow direct production changes, indicating these are likely core technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack emphasizes modern design tools, with a strong focus on AI-assisted platforms for rapid prototyping. Proficiency in Figma is expected, along with an openness to exploring new AI design tools. Direct experience with front-end technologies like React, HTML, and CSS is a significant advantage due to the role's requirement for direct production code contributions.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Impact-Driven: A strong focus on making a real difference in healthcare, improving patient outcomes and clinician capacity. This translates to a mission-oriented work ethic.

• Innovation & Curiosity: Embracing new technologies like AI to solve complex problems and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare tech.

• Autonomy & Ownership: Valuing individuals who can take initiative, make decisions independently, and own their work from start to finish.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Fostering an environment where ideas are shared openly, feedback is constructive, and teams work together towards common goals.

• Quality & Compliance: Upholding high standards for product quality, usability, and regulatory adherence, especially critical for a medical device company.

Collaboration Style:

• Direct & Proactive: Expect a style where team members are encouraged to communicate directly and proactively, sharing insights and raising issues early.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Close working relationships between design, product, and engineering are essential, breaking down traditional silos to ensure alignment and speed.

• Feedback-Oriented: A culture where constructive feedback is regularly exchanged to drive continuous improvement in both products and processes.

• Agile & Iterative: Embracing a workflow that allows for quick iterations, learning from each cycle, and adapting to new information or user needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture values proactive individuals who are passionate about healthcare impact and comfortable working autonomously within an agile, collaborative team. The emphasis on quality and compliance is paramount given the regulated nature of their product.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Sole Designer Responsibility: Managing the entire design workload and strategic direction for a growing product suite without direct design peers can be demanding.

• Balancing Speed and Quality: The need for rapid iteration and direct production changes must be balanced with maintaining high design quality and adhering to strict medical device regulations.

• Navigating a Regulated Environment: Designing for a Class IIa medical device requires a deep understanding of regulatory constraints (e.g., IEC 62366) and integrating them seamlessly into the design process.

• AI Interface Design: Designing effective and trustworthy AI-driven interfaces for complex clinical workflows presents unique challenges in user trust, explainability, and error handling.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deepening Healthcare AI Expertise: Become a specialist in designing for one of the most transformative areas of technology and healthcare.

• Leadership Potential: Opportunity to build and lead a design team as UpHill scales, developing management and strategic leadership skills.

• Technical Skill Advancement: Further refine front-end coding skills and explore advanced AI/ML design tools and methodologies.

• Industry Exposure: Gain invaluable experience in the fast-paced health-tech startup ecosystem, with potential for future growth and impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant challenges that are also ripe with learning opportunities. Overcoming these challenges will provide a strong foundation for future career growth in specialized design fields.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you owned a product design from start to finish. What were the biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Focus on end-to-end ownership, problem-solving, and impact.)

• "Walk us through your experience building and maintaining a design system. What were the key principles, and how did you ensure adoption?" (Highlight system thinking, scalability, and collaboration.)

• "How do you leverage AI tools in your design process? Give an example of how AI helped you iterate faster or de-risk a decision." (Demonstrate practical application of AI design tools.)

• "Describe a situation where you had to make UI/UX changes directly in production. What was your process, and what were the outcomes?" (Showcase comfort with direct coding and production impact.)

• "How do you approach designing for regulated industries like healthcare? What are the key considerations for a Class IIa medical device?" (Assess understanding of compliance and user safety.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about UpHill's mission to increase clinical capacity?" (Show genuine interest in the healthcare impact.)

• "How do you see yourself contributing as the sole designer at UpHill? What are your expectations regarding autonomy and collaboration?" (Assess self-direction and team fit.)

• "How do you stay updated on the latest design trends, AI tools, and healthcare technology?" (Gauge your commitment to continuous learning.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your role and responsibilities, the process you followed (including AI tool usage), the solution, and the impact.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., user satisfaction scores, efficiency gains, adoption rates).

• Showcase Your Process: Highlight your research methods, prototyping techniques, and how you validated your designs with users.

• Explain AI Tool Integration: Clearly articulate how and why you used specific AI tools and the benefits they brought to the process.

• Be Prepared for Technical Questions: If you highlight coding skills, be ready to discuss specific technologies and code examples.

• Practice Your Pitch: Rehearse your presentation to ensure it flows smoothly, stays within the allotted time, and clearly communicates your expertise and value proposition.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating end-to-end ownership, practical application of AI tools, comfort with direct production work, and an understanding of the healthcare regulatory landscape. The portfolio is your primary tool for showcasing these capabilities.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the UpHill Health careers page.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight your end-to-end design ownership, design system experience, and proficiency with AI-assisted design tools. Select case studies that best demonstrate these capabilities.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 6+ years of experience, specific achievements in product design, and any relevant skills in AI, healthcare, or front-end development. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on your role, process, decision-making, and the impact of your work. Be ready to discuss your approach to rapid prototyping and direct production changes.

• Research UpHill Health: Thoroughly understand their mission, products, and the challenges within the healthcare AI space. Prepare thoughtful questions about the role, team, and company direction.

⚠️ 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.