Staff Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Staff Product Designer (P5)

Company: HighLevel

Location: United States

Job Type: EE Full-Time

Category: Product Design / GTM Operations

Date Posted: 2026-09-05

Experience Level: 8+ Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead high-impact product design initiatives across multiple teams, ensuring cohesive and impactful user experiences within a complex SaaS and AI-enabled platform.

• Drive design strategy and execution for ambiguous, cross-functional projects, translating complex problem spaces into coherent, shipped outcomes.

• Partner deeply with Product, Engineering, Data, Research, and Design leadership to define product experience direction and ensure high-quality execution from concept to implementation.

• Shape AI-powered workflows, intelligent interfaces, and automation-heavy experiences that enhance customer clarity, control, and confidence within HighLevel's expansive platform.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Staff Product Designer (P5), indicating a senior individual contributor role with significant strategic influence and hands-on design responsibility. The emphasis on leading "high-impact product design work across multiple teams" and connecting "adjacent product experiences" suggests a focus on GTM-adjacent operations and platform-level design thinking, rather than solely feature-specific design. The mention of AI-powered tools and automation-heavy experiences is critical for understanding the technical scope and future direction of HighLevel's product.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead design strategy and execution for complex initiatives that span multiple teams, product surfaces, or customer workflows, ensuring seamless integration and user satisfaction.

• Translate intricate customer needs, business goals, technical constraints, data signals, and overarching product strategy into clear, actionable experience direction.

• Partner proactively with product management and engineering leaders to clarify problem spaces, sequence design work effectively, and align diverse teams around high-quality, impactful outcomes.

• Create detailed prototypes, comprehensive workflows, innovative interaction models, and high-fidelity designs that make complex product ideas tangible, testable, and understandable for stakeholders.

• Identify and address product experience gaps, design debt, and cross-team inconsistencies, transforming them into practical, prioritized improvements that enhance platform usability and efficiency.

• Shape AI-enabled workflows, intelligent interfaces, and automation-heavy experiences, focusing on delivering clarity, control, and confidence to users navigating HighLevel's sophisticated platform.

• Strengthen shared patterns, promote design-system adoption, uphold accessibility standards, and provide clear implementation guidance across adjacent product areas to ensure consistency and scalability.

• Mentor and coach senior and lead designers through constructive critique, product judgment, compelling storytelling, and robust design rationale, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Collaborate effectively across US and India time zones in a 100% remote environment, ensuring clear communication and alignment across distributed teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership and hands-on execution, typical for a Staff Designer. The focus on "AI-enabled workflows," "automation-heavy experiences," and "connecting adjacent workflows" directly relates to GTM operations, as these areas often involve complex processes that can be streamlined through design and technology. The responsibility to "shape AI-enabled workflows" is particularly relevant for operations professionals looking to leverage AI for efficiency.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

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

Experience: 8+ years of relevant product design experience, with a proven track record of leading complex, ambiguous, and high-impact initiatives across multiple teams or product areas.

Required Skills:

• Exceptional visual and interaction design craft, with a deep understanding of hierarchy, layout, typography, grids, spacing, motion, usability, accessibility, content quality, and implementation details.

• Proven experience across the full design lifecycle, including user research, information architecture, interaction design, visual design, prototyping, content strategy, and usability testing.

• Strong prototyping fluency, utilizing tools like Figma, Framer, AI coding tools, or lightweight front-end code to make complex ideas tangible and testable quickly.

• Experience designing AI-powered, automation-heavy, or intelligent product experiences where customers require transparency, control, trust, and useful guidance.

• Deep fluency in design systems, accessibility standards (WCAG AA or higher), reusable patterns, and scalable product experience decisions.

• Strong cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to work fluently with product managers, engineers, data partners, customer-facing teams, senior stakeholders, and fellow designers.

• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, adept at aligning teams through customer insights, business rationale, data, prototypes, and strong design craft.

• A collaborative, low-ego leadership style with a track record of mentoring designers, improving critique processes, and raising overall design standards.

• Experience shaping product direction beyond a single feature or team, with the ability to connect adjacent workflows into coherent customer experiences. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with SaaS, B2B, platform, or workflow-heavy product experiences.

• Familiarity with AI-powered tools for design exploration, prototyping, critique, synthesis, or workflow acceleration.

• Experience in data-driven design, leveraging analytics and user data to inform design decisions.

• Understanding of microservices architecture and API integrations in the context of user experience.

• Experience with front-end development principles or working closely with engineering teams on implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "AI-powered tools for exploration, prototyping, critique, synthesis or workflow acceleration" is a mandatory requirement, underscoring the importance of integrating AI into the design process. This is highly relevant for operations roles that are increasingly leveraging AI for automation and efficiency. The experience with "SaaS, B2B, platform, workflow-heavy" products directly aligns with the operational nature of HighLevel's offerings.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• An exceptional portfolio that demonstrably showcases staff-level craft, strong product judgment, deep customer empathy, robust systems thinking, measurable impact, and high-quality shipped product outcomes.

• Case studies that detail the user problem, design process, strategic thinking, and quantifiable results achieved, particularly for complex, ambiguous, or cross-functional initiatives.

• Examples of connecting adjacent workflows into coherent customer experiences, illustrating an understanding of end-to-end user journeys and platform integration.

• Demonstrations of applying design systems, reusable patterns, and accessibility standards to ensure consistency, scalability, and inclusivity across product areas.

• Evidence of using AI-powered tools or AI-enabled design methodologies within the design process, highlighting efficiency gains or innovative solutions. Process Documentation:

• Detailed process documentation within case studies, outlining the approach to research, information architecture, interaction design, visual design, and prototyping for complex projects.

• Clear articulation of how design decisions were informed by customer insights, business goals, technical constraints, and data signals.

• Documentation of iterative design processes, including feedback loops, usability testing, and refinement based on implementation realities.

• Examples of how design debt and inconsistencies were identified and addressed through systematic improvements and pattern development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit requirement for an "exceptional portfolio that demonstrates staff-level craft, product judgment, customer empathy, systems thinking, measurable impact and shipped product quality" is paramount. For a role focused on complex initiatives and connecting product experiences, the portfolio must showcase the ability to handle ambiguity, drive strategic design direction, and deliver tangible results, particularly in areas like workflow automation and AI integration relevant to GTM operations.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $190,000 - $240,000 per year

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.

• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) and company holidays.

• 401(k) plan with company match.

• Professional development opportunities, including training, conferences, and access to learning resources.

• Remote work stipend for home office setup and ongoing expenses.

• Opportunities for equity or stock options, reflecting contribution to company growth.

• Access to cutting-edge AI-powered design and productivity tools.

Working Hours: Standard full-time, 40 hours per week, with flexibility to accommodate collaboration across US and India time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range of $190,000 - $240,000 per year for a Staff Product Designer in the United States aligns with industry benchmarks for senior-level design talent, especially in a fully remote, high-growth tech environment like HighLevel. The benefits are standard for a tech company of this caliber, with a specific mention of remote work stipends and access to AI tools, which are key considerations for operations professionals.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (AI-powered Sales & Marketing Platform, SaaS)

Company Size: 1,500+ team members across 15+ countries. This large, global, remote-first structure implies a need for strong asynchronous communication, robust design systems, and a culture that values autonomy and collaboration across diverse teams and time zones.

Founded: HighLevel was founded with a mission to empower agencies and businesses with an all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Its rapid growth and significant transaction volume (billions of API hits, terabytes of data, hundreds of microservices) suggest a dynamic, fast-paced environment focused on scalability and innovation.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is likely structured to support multiple product areas and roadmaps, with senior designers like the Staff Product Designer operating across these boundaries.

• Expect close collaboration with Product Management, Engineering, Data Science, UX Research, and customer-facing teams.

• The reporting structure for this Staff Designer role is likely to a Design Lead or Director, with significant autonomy in project execution and strategic input. Methodology:

• Data-driven Design: HighLevel processes vast amounts of data, indicating a strong emphasis on using analytics, user behavior, and A/B testing to inform design decisions and measure impact.

• Agile & Iterative Development: Given the scale of microservices and rapid product evolution, an agile methodology with iterative design and development cycles is expected.

• Design Systems & Pattern Libraries: To maintain consistency and efficiency across a large platform and distributed teams, a robust and well-adopted design system is crucial.

• AI Integration: The company's focus on AI means that design processes will increasingly incorporate AI-powered tools and methodologies for efficiency, exploration, and feature development.

Company Website: https://www.gohighlevel.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: HighLevel's rapid growth and scale (over 1.5 billion messages, 200 million leads generated monthly) indicate a company heavily reliant on operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making. This context is crucial for a Staff Product Designer, as their work will directly impact the core operations of millions of businesses. The "remote-first" culture and global team structure emphasize the need for strong communication and collaboration skills, vital for distributed operations teams.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Staff Product Designer (P5) represents a senior individual contributor role with significant scope and influence. This level is expected to lead complex, ambiguous initiatives, provide strategic direction, and mentor other designers. The role is pivotal in connecting disparate product experiences and ensuring cohesive platform design, directly impacting the operational efficiency and growth of HighLevel's clients.

Reporting Structure: This role typically reports to a Design Manager, Director of Design, or Head of Product Design. While an individual contributor, the Staff Designer will work closely with and influence Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and other senior cross-functional stakeholders.

Operations Impact: The Staff Product Designer's work directly influences the usability, efficiency, and adoption of HighLevel's platform, which in turn drives the operational success and revenue growth of over 2 million businesses. By designing AI-powered workflows and automation-heavy experiences, this role contributes significantly to streamlining client operations, improving lead generation, and enhancing customer communication—core GTM and operational functions.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-driven design, complex workflow optimization, and platform architecture.

• Strategic Leadership: Transition into a Design Lead or Managerial role, taking on more direct team leadership and strategic planning responsibilities.

• Cross-Functional Influence: Expand influence across broader product strategy, contributing to HighLevel's overall business objectives and technological innovation.

• Mentorship & Advocacy: Become a key voice in advancing design quality, fostering design talent, and championing user-centered principles across the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The Staff level designation signifies a critical role in shaping not just individual features but the overarching user experience and operational flow of the platform. The emphasis on connecting "adjacent product experiences" and leading "complex initiatives" suggests that career growth could involve taking on larger product domains or even influencing the strategic roadmap for GTM operations and platform capabilities.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: HighLevel operates on a 100% remote-first model. This means the "office" is wherever the employee chooses to work, emphasizing autonomy and flexibility.

Office Location(s): While the company has a global presence with teams in 15+ countries, the role is remote within the United States. This implies adherence to US time zones for core collaboration hours.

Workspace Context:

• Asynchronous Collaboration: A remote-first environment necessitates strong asynchronous communication skills and tools (e.g., Slack, Notion, email) to facilitate collaboration across time zones and work schedules.

• Digital Tooling: Expect a robust suite of digital tools for design, communication, project management, and documentation, including Figma, AI-powered design tools, and potentially internal knowledge bases.

• Team Interaction: While remote, opportunities for virtual team building, design critiques, and cross-functional syncs will be structured to foster connection and alignment. The role requires active participation in these virtual interactions.

Work Schedule: The role is full-time, 40 hours per week. While remote, there's an expectation to be available and collaborate during core US business hours, particularly with teams in the US and India. Flexibility is a key aspect of remote work, but consistent availability for crucial meetings and design reviews is essential.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote-first nature of HighLevel is a significant aspect of its work environment. For operations professionals, this means a need for self-discipline, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with remote collaboration tools. The emphasis on bridging US and India time zones highlights the global operational footprint and the importance of clear, concise communication strategies.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio by a recruiter or design lead to assess qualifications and alignment with the Staff Designer role.

• Portfolio Presentation & Design Challenge: A session where you present your portfolio, focusing on 2-3 key case studies that demonstrate your experience with complex problems, strategic thinking, AI integration, and measurable impact. This may be followed by a design exercise or problem-solving session related to HighLevel's product.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and potentially other senior designers or stakeholders to evaluate your collaboration skills, product judgment, and ability to work effectively in a distributed team.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A final discussion with the hiring manager to assess overall fit, leadership potential, and strategic vision for the role.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Showcase projects with clear business outcomes and quantifiable results. For HighLevel, this means demonstrating how your design work drove user adoption, efficiency, lead generation, or revenue.

• Highlight Complexity & Ambiguity: Select case studies that illustrate your ability to navigate complex problem spaces, connect disparate product areas, and drive coherent solutions.

• Showcase AI & Automation: Include examples where you've leveraged AI-powered tools or designed AI-enabled/automation-heavy experiences. Detail your process, the challenges, and the outcomes.

• Demonstrate Systems Thinking: Illustrate your understanding and application of design systems, reusable patterns, and how you've ensured consistency across multiple product surfaces.

• Tell a Story: Structure your case studies as narratives, clearly outlining the problem, your role and process, the solutions, and the measurable impact. Be prepared to discuss your rationale and design decisions in detail.

• Craftsmanship & Detail: Ensure your portfolio is polished, reflecting exceptional visual and interaction design skills, attention to detail, and an understanding of implementation.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand HighLevel's Ecosystem: Familiarize yourself with HighLevel's platform, its target audience (agencies, entrepreneurs, businesses), and its core functionalities. Consider how GTM operations are facilitated by the platform.

• Problem Framing: Practice framing ambiguous problems, identifying key stakeholders, and defining success metrics for design initiatives.

• AI & Automation Scenarios: Be prepared to discuss how you would approach designing for AI-driven features or automating complex workflows within a SaaS context.

• Design System Application: Think about how you would leverage or contribute to a design system in a large, distributed organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will heavily scrutinize the candidate's ability to handle ambiguity, drive strategic design for complex systems, and integrate AI/automation. The portfolio review is critical and must explicitly showcase experience with these areas, along with measurable impact relevant to operational efficiency and business growth.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (primary tool expected), Framer (potential for advanced prototyping).

• AI-Powered Design Tools: Mandatory requirement. This could include AI tools for ideation, content generation, design system analysis, accessibility checks, or rapid prototyping. Specific tools will depend on HighLevel's internal stack, but proficiency in leveraging AI for design acceleration is key.

• Collaboration & Documentation: Slack, Notion, Google Workspace, or similar platforms for communication, project management, and knowledge sharing.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Tools for understanding user behavior, A/B testing results, and platform performance metrics. This could involve platforms like Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, or internal BI tools. CRM & Automation:

• While not a direct design tool, understanding the principles of CRM systems (like HighLevel's own platform which functions as one) and automation workflows is crucial for designing effective user experiences within the HighLevel ecosystem. Other Potential Tools:

• Design system management tools.

• User research platforms (e.g., UserTesting, Maze).

• Project management tools (e.g., Jira, Asana).

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency with Figma is standard for product designers. The explicit mention of "AI-powered tools for exploration, prototyping, critique, synthesis or workflow acceleration" is a critical requirement and suggests HighLevel is at the forefront of integrating AI into its design workflows. This is highly relevant for operations roles that are increasingly focused on leveraging AI for efficiency.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and solving customer problems, driving value for the millions of businesses HighLevel serves.

• Innovation & AI Forward: Embracing new technologies, particularly AI, to create cutting-edge solutions and enhance platform capabilities.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Fostering an open, communicative environment where ideas are shared freely, and teams work together effectively across distances.

• Impact & Ownership: Taking initiative, driving projects to completion, and being accountable for the measurable impact of design work on users and the business.

• Efficiency & Scalability: Designing solutions that are not only user-friendly but also scalable and efficient, supporting the massive operational demands of the platform.

Collaboration Style:

• Remote-First & Asynchronous: Emphasis on clear, asynchronous communication and documentation to ensure alignment across global, distributed teams.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Strong collaboration with Product, Engineering, Data, and Research, treating these teams as integral partners in the design process.

• Constructive Critique: A culture of providing and receiving constructive feedback to elevate design quality and foster continuous improvement.

• Low-Ego Mentality: Encouraging a collaborative environment where the best ideas prevail, regardless of origin, and designers work together to achieve common goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company values likely reflect a fast-paced, innovative, and collaborative tech environment. For a Staff Designer, demonstrating alignment with "Innovation & AI Forward" and "Efficiency & Scalability" will be key, as these directly relate to HighLevel's core business and the operational demands of its platform.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Leading design for complex, cross-team initiatives with undefined problem spaces requires strong strategic thinking and problem-framing skills.

• Balancing Strategy & Execution: Effectively shifting between high-level strategic influence and hands-on, detailed design work.

• AI Integration Complexity: Designing for AI-powered features requires understanding user trust, transparency, and the ethical implications of AI in product experiences.

• Cross-Time Zone Collaboration: Effectively managing communication and collaboration with teams spread across US and India time zones.

• Maintaining Design Quality at Scale: Ensuring consistent quality, adherence to design systems, and accessibility standards across a rapidly evolving, large-scale platform.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced AI in Design: Opportunities to explore and implement cutting-edge AI tools and methodologies for design exploration, prototyping, and workflow acceleration.

• Platform-Level Strategy: Deepen expertise in designing for complex platforms, connecting workflows, and influencing product roadmaps at a strategic level.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Formal and informal opportunities to mentor junior and senior designers, contributing to the growth of the design team and developing leadership skills.

• Industry Trends: Exposure to evolving trends in SaaS, B2B design, AI, and automation, with potential for attending relevant conferences or pursuing certifications.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for a senior role at a high-growth tech company, particularly one focused on AI and complex platforms. The growth opportunities highlight the potential for significant professional development in areas highly relevant to the future of operations and product design.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you led a complex design initiative that spanned multiple teams. How did you align stakeholders, define the problem space, and ensure a cohesive outcome?" (Focus on strategic influence, cross-functional leadership, and process for ambiguity).

• "How do you approach designing for AI-powered features or automation-heavy workflows? What are the key considerations for user trust, transparency, and control?" (Highlight experience with AI/automation, user empathy, and ethical design).

• "Tell us about a significant piece of design debt you identified and addressed. What was your approach, and what was the measurable impact?" (Demonstrate proactive problem-solving, systems thinking, and focus on tangible improvements). Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you most about HighLevel's mission and its position in the market, particularly concerning its AI and automation capabilities?" (Research HighLevel's recent news, product updates, and market impact).

• "How would you contribute to a 100% remote-first design culture, especially when collaborating across US and India time zones?" (Emphasize communication strategies, asynchronous work best practices, and team building).

• "How do you ensure your design work has a measurable impact on business goals and user success?" (Prepare to discuss metrics, ROI, and data-driven decision-making in your portfolio examples). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: Structure each case study with a clear beginning (problem/opportunity), middle (your process, solutions, and challenges), and end (impact and learnings).

• Visual Storytelling: Use strong visuals, flowcharts, prototypes, and mockups to illustrate your design process and final solutions effectively.

• Quantify Impact: For each project, clearly state the goals and the measurable results achieved. Use numbers, percentages, or specific user feedback where possible.

• Highlight AI/Automation: Dedicate specific slides or sections to showcase your experience with AI-powered tools or designing AI-enabled/automation-heavy experiences.

• Systems Thinking: Explicitly explain how your work integrated with or contributed to design systems and established patterns.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your specific contributions, design rationale, trade-offs made, and how you handled feedback.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, hands-on craft, and a deep understanding of HighLevel's focus on AI, automation, and complex SaaS platforms. The ability to articulate impact and navigate ambiguity are paramount for a Staff-level role.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Staff Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided application link on Lever.co.

• Tailor your resume: Highlight your 8+ years of experience, specific achievements in complex product design, and any experience with SaaS, B2B, AI, or automation-heavy products. Ensure keywords from the job description are naturally integrated.

• Curate your portfolio: Select 2-3 of your most impactful projects that showcase staff-level craft, systems thinking, and experience with complex, ambiguous initiatives. Crucially, ensure at least one project clearly demonstrates your use of AI-powered tools or design for AI-enabled/automation-heavy experiences.

• Prepare your portfolio presentation: Practice walking through your selected case studies, focusing on the problem, your process, your specific contributions, the solutions, and the measurable impact. Be ready to discuss your design rationale and how you navigated challenges.

• Research HighLevel: Understand their product, target market, recent news, and company values. Consider how your design philosophy aligns with their "remote-first" culture and focus on AI and automation.

⚠️ 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.