UI/UX Product Designer at Bolder Apps

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UI/UX Product Designer

Company: Bolder Apps

Location: Colombia

Job Type: CONTRACTOR

Category: Product Design / Operations

Date Posted: 2026-09-16

Experience Level: Mid-Senior (2-5 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

Own end-to-end UI/UX product design for client mobile and web applications, from initial discovery through engineering handoff.
Conduct client-facing design reviews and workshops, ensuring clear communication and collaborative decision-making.
Develop and maintain robust design systems and component libraries to ensure consistency and efficiency across product development.
Partner closely with Product Managers and engineers to address scope, edge cases, platform conventions, and accessibility standards.
Leverage AI-augmented workflows and tools to accelerate design exploration and execution while ensuring high-quality output.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is for a Product Designer with a strong emphasis on operationalizing design processes within a product development studio. The focus is on delivering "clean, buildable specs" to engineering teams, indicating a need for meticulous documentation, understanding of development constraints, and a pragmatic approach to design trade-offs, aligning closely with GTM operations principles.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

Lead product UI/UX design for client mobile and web applications, managing multiple engagements as dictated by the project pipeline.
Execute client-facing design reviews, workshops, and asynchronous critiques during US business hours, fostering strong client relationships.
Translate complex requirements and briefs into clear user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity screens, and interactive prototypes that solve core product challenges.
Establish and maintain comprehensive design systems and component libraries to streamline future feature development and ensure design consistency.
Collaborate with Product Managers and engineering teams on scope definition, handling edge cases, empty states, loading indicators, error states, accessibility, and adherence to platform guidelines (HIG and Material Design).
Produce meticulously organized Figma files, including named layers, variants, auto-layout, variables/tokens, and export-ready assets, ensuring engineering teams can easily interpret and implement designs.
Integrate and utilize AI design and research tools (e.g., Figma AI, Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney) to enhance efficiency, with a critical review of AI-generated output before client or sprint delivery.
Proactively identify and flag design risks, including unclear briefs, unrealistic timelines, or conflicts between product requirements and platform/technical constraints.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a need for a designer who can operate with a high degree of autonomy and accountability, akin to an operations specialist managing a process. The emphasis on "clean, buildable specs" and "Figma files engineers can build from" points to a critical operations function: ensuring smooth handoffs and minimizing downstream friction for development teams.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is listed, a strong portfolio and practical experience are paramount. A background in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field is beneficial but not strictly required.

Experience: Minimum of 4+ years of experience designing and shipping production-level mobile and/or web products. Agency or product studio experience is highly preferred due to the client-facing nature of the role.

Required Skills:

Shipped Product Design: Proven track record of designing and launching production mobile and/or web products. Portfolio must showcase comprehensive case studies detailing the problem, constraints, design decisions, and the final shipped outcome, not just isolated visual assets.
Client-Facing Craft: Demonstrated ability to conduct client calls, defend design choices constructively, and maintain positive client relationships, particularly with founders and product owners. Agency or consultancy experience is a strong plus.
Figma Fluency: Advanced proficiency in Figma, including components, variants, auto-layout, variables/tokens, prototyping, shared libraries, and maintaining clean file structures. Designs must be readily understandable by engineers.
Systems Thinking: Ability to design for reusability, with a focus on patterns, states, and edge cases as integral parts of the design process.
Mobile and Web Literacy: Understanding of platform conventions and differences between iOS, Android, and responsive web design; ability to identify and adapt web patterns for mobile contexts.
AI-Augmented Workflow: Experience using AI tools (e.g., Figma AI, Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney) to accelerate design exploration and content generation, with the critical judgment to refine AI output.
English Proficiency: C1 level or higher, enabling clear and effective communication in client calls and written feedback.
US Hours Overlap: Availability for client coordination during US business hours, specifically through approximately 5 PM EST.
Ownership Habits: Strong commitment to honest estimation, early surfacing of blockers, and completing assigned tasks without unexpected delays.

Preferred Skills:

Experience with design sprints and agile development methodologies.
Familiarity with user research methodologies and synthesizing user feedback.
Knowledge of accessibility standards beyond basic HIG and Material Design.
Experience designing for AI-powered products or features.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "ownership habits" and "flagging design risk early" aligns with operational best practices for risk management and project execution. The requirement for English proficiency at C1 and US hours overlap are critical for seamless global team operations and client management.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase at least 2-3 comprehensive case studies demonstrating ownership of the design process from problem definition through to shipped product. Each case study must clearly articulate the user problem, project constraints, your specific design decisions, and the tangible results achieved.
Engineering Handoff Artifacts: Include examples of meticulously organized Figma files, clearly demonstrating the use of components, variants, auto-layout, and any relevant design tokens or variables. Visual evidence of clean file structure and export-ready assets is crucial.
Design System Components: Present examples of design system elements, showing how patterns, states, and edge cases were considered and implemented for reusability.
Client Collaboration Evidence: If possible, include examples or descriptions of how you managed client feedback, conducted design reviews, or facilitated workshops, highlighting your ability to navigate client expectations and trade-offs.

Process Documentation:

Workflow Design: Demonstrate a structured approach to defining user flows, wireframing, and creating high-fidelity prototypes that effectively address product requirements.
System Implementation: Showcase your experience in building and maintaining design systems, emphasizing consistency and efficiency.
Measurement and Analysis: While not explicit, portfolio pieces should implicitly demonstrate how your designs contributed to product goals or user satisfaction, hinting at an understanding of impact measurement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirements are heavily geared towards demonstrating operational efficiency and effectiveness in design. The emphasis on "clean, buildable specs" and "engineers should not need a meeting to decode your file" underscores the need for a process-oriented approach to design handoff, a critical operational function in product development.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on the role requiring 4+ years of experience, client-facing skills, and proficiency in advanced design tools, with a focus on delivering production-ready assets for a remote contractor in Colombia, the estimated monthly retainer would range from $2,500 to $4,500 USD. This estimation considers the demand for skilled designers, the remote nature of the work, and the specific requirements for US business hours overlap and client management.

Benefits:

Monthly Retainer Structure: Predictable, recurring compensation for consistent client product work.
Tooling Budget: Allocation for necessary tools such as Figma seats, prototyping software, and AI tools to enhance productivity.
Real Autonomy: Freedom to manage discovery, critique, and Figma processes without rigid prescriptive playbooks.
Direct Communication Channels: Access to Product Managers, engineers, and decision-makers, fostering efficient collaboration.
Peer Network: Opportunity to connect with a network of product-minded designers and builders working on diverse client projects.
Fully Remote Work: Flexibility to work from any location within Colombia.

Working Hours: While the role is fully remote and async-friendly, candidates must be available for required overlap during US business hours, specifically through approximately 5 PM EST, for client sessions and coordination. This typically translates to a commitment of approximately 40 hours per week, with flexibility in scheduling around the core overlap period.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is based on industry benchmarks for experienced remote UI/UX designers in Latin America, adjusted for the specific demands of client-facing work, US hours overlap, and a contractor retainer model. The benefits are derived directly from the provided text, highlighting aspects attractive to operations-minded professionals seeking autonomy and direct impact.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology / Product Development Studio / AI-Augmented Development. Bolder Apps operates in the fast-paced tech sector, focusing on building and scaling digital products for startups and established companies, with a specific emphasis on AI integration. This context implies a need for agility, continuous learning, and a results-oriented approach to design and development.

Company Size: While not explicitly stated, the mention of "client product work for designers who deliver clean files and calm client calls" and "a peer network of product-minded designers and builders working across overlapping client projects" suggests a medium-sized studio with multiple client engagements and a dedicated team of specialists.

Founded: The founding date is not specified, but the company's focus on AI-augmented development and modern product studio practices indicates a relatively recent or forward-thinking establishment.

Team Structure:

Operations-Centric: The culture emphasizes autonomy, ownership, and direct impact, aligning with operational principles where individuals manage their processes and outcomes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Designers work directly with US-based founders, product owners, PMs, and engineers, requiring strong communication and collaboration skills across different roles and geographies.
AI Integration: A core tenet of the culture is working with AI, not against it, suggesting an experimental and adaptive approach to leveraging new technologies.

Methodology:

Agile & Fast-Paced: The culture values moving fast and taking ownership, indicating an agile methodology that prioritizes rapid iteration and delivery.
Data-Driven Insights (Implicit): While not explicitly stated for design, the overall company mission of building "bolder, faster, and smarter" suggests a reliance on data and insights to inform product decisions, which designers are expected to contribute to.
Process Optimization: The emphasis on "clean, buildable specs" and "AI-augmented workflows" points to a continuous effort to optimize processes for efficiency and quality.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is described as lean, fast-paced, and ownership-driven, which is highly relevant to operations professionals who thrive in environments where process efficiency and direct impact are valued. The integration of AI suggests a forward-thinking approach to operational tooling and workflows.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a Mid-Senior level (2-5 years of experience). For a Product Designer, this signifies a transition from executing tasks to owning significant product design processes end-to-end. In an operations context, this means the designer is expected to not only produce high-quality designs but also to proactively manage the design process, ensure smooth handoffs, and contribute to the operational efficiency of the product development lifecycle. They are expected to make "hard product trade-offs" and manage client relationships, indicating a level of strategic input beyond pure execution.

Reporting Structure: Designers will work directly with US-based founders and product owners, and partner with PMs and engineers. This implies a relatively flat structure with direct access to decision-makers, characteristic of agile product development environments. The designer is a key operational component in the product delivery chain.

Operations Impact: The designer's impact is measured by their ability to deliver "clean, buildable specs" that enable engineering teams to ship products efficiently. Their work directly influences the speed of product development, the quality of the end product, and client satisfaction. By owning design end-to-end and making "hard product trade-offs," they contribute to the strategic direction and operational feasibility of client applications.

Growth Opportunities:

Process Ownership: Opportunity to further refine and own the end-to-end design process within client engagements, potentially leading to more senior operational roles in design leadership or product strategy.
Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-augmented design workflows, advanced Figma techniques, and building scalable design systems.
Client Management & Strategy: Develop stronger client-facing and strategic product thinking skills by working directly with founders and product owners on critical product decisions.
Cross-Functional Leadership: Gain experience leading design efforts within agile teams, influencing product direction and development velocity.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth opportunities are framed around operational excellence within design. The role offers a path to not just design better products, but to optimize the process of designing and delivering them, which is a key aspect of career progression in operations-focused design roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a fully remote position, allowing for work from any location within Colombia. The company culture is described as async-friendly, but with specific requirements for live client coordination.

Office Location(s): Remote within Colombia. The company has a US-based client base, requiring coordination during US business hours.

Workspace Context:

Autonomy and Trust: The environment is characterized by a lack of micromanagement and daily checklists, fostering a high degree of autonomy for individuals to manage their work and processes effectively.
Tooling and Technology: Access to a tooling budget for essential software like Figma and AI tools, enabling efficient and modern design practices.
Collaborative Interaction: While remote, there's an expectation of direct interaction with product owners, engineers, and decision-makers, facilitating collaboration on product development challenges.

Work Schedule: The role is primarily remote with flexibility. However, a critical component is the requirement for overlap with US business hours (specifically through ~5 PM EST) for live client coordination and team syncs. This means the workday will need to be structured to accommodate these synchronous communication needs, even if the majority of work is asynchronous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote work environment, combined with specific requirements for synchronous collaboration during US business hours, is a common operational model for global teams. Understanding and adapting to this hybrid synchronous/asynchronous communication rhythm is key to success.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

Initial Screening: Review of application, resume, and portfolio to assess experience, skills, and alignment with company values.
Portfolio Review & Client Call Simulation: A session where candidates present their portfolio case studies, demonstrating their design process, decision-making, and ability to articulate trade-offs. This may include a simulated client call scenario to evaluate client-facing skills.
Technical/Skills Assessment: Potentially a design exercise or a deep dive into Figma proficiency, design systems, and AI tool integration.
Team/Culture Fit Interview: Discussion with team members or founders to assess cultural alignment, ownership habits, and collaboration style.

Portfolio Review Tips:

Focus on Process and Impact: Prioritize demonstrating your end-to-end design process, the rationale behind your decisions, and the measurable impact of your work. Clearly articulate the "why" behind your design choices.
Showcase Engineering Handoff: Explicitly highlight how you prepare and deliver design files for engineering. Use examples of well-structured Figma files, component libraries, and clear documentation.
Quantify Results: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., improved conversion rates, reduced user errors, faster development cycles).
Address AI Integration: Be prepared to discuss how you've used AI tools in your workflow and how you critically evaluate AI-generated output.
Highlight Client Interaction: If possible, provide examples of successful client communication, workshop facilitation, or how you managed difficult feedback.

Challenge Preparation:

Design Problem-Solving: Be ready to tackle a hypothetical design challenge that requires you to define the problem, explore solutions, and justify your approach, considering constraints and user needs.
Figma Proficiency: Prepare to demonstrate advanced Figma skills, including complex component setups, auto-layout usage, and efficient prototyping.
Strategic Thinking: Anticipate questions about how you would approach a new client project, make product trade-offs, or integrate new technologies like AI into your design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess not just design skills but also operational capabilities: process management, communication, and strategic thinking. A strong portfolio that highlights these aspects will be critical for success.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

Figma: The core design tool, requiring advanced proficiency in components, variants, auto-layout, variables/tokens, prototyping, and shared libraries. The emphasis is on creating files that are immediately actionable for engineers.
AI Design & Research Tools: Proficiency with tools such as Figma AI, Claude, ChatGPT, or Midjourney is expected for accelerating exploration and content generation.

Analytics & Reporting:

While not explicitly listed, a designer in this role would likely benefit from familiarity with product analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, Google Analytics) to understand user behavior and inform design decisions, and potentially dashboarding tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker) for reviewing performance metrics. CRM & Automation:
Not directly applicable to the designer's core toolset, but understanding how CRM data or marketing automation might influence user journeys or product features could be beneficial.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma and AI tools highlights the company's investment in modern, efficient design operations. Proficiency in these tools, particularly in creating engineer-friendly Figma files, is a critical operational requirement.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

Move Fast: Embrace agility and rapid iteration in design and development processes.
Take Ownership: Demonstrate accountability for your work, from initial concept to final delivery, and proactively manage your responsibilities.
Work with AI: Be open to and actively leverage AI tools to enhance efficiency and explore new possibilities in design.
Bring Ideas, Not Instructions: Actively contribute innovative ideas and solutions, rather than waiting for explicit direction.
Impact Matters: Focus on delivering tangible results and making a significant difference through your design work.
Curiosity Matters: Maintain a curious mindset, continuously seeking to learn and improve processes and skills.

Collaboration Style:

Direct & Transparent: Collaboration is expected to be direct, with open communication lines to founders, PMs, and engineers, minimizing layers and fostering transparency.
Client-Centric: A strong emphasis on building and maintaining trust with clients through clear communication, active listening, and constructive feedback exchange.
Process-Oriented: Collaboration involves refining and adhering to efficient design and handoff processes, ensuring smooth integration with engineering workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company values are deeply intertwined with operational efficiency and a proactive, ownership-driven mindset. These values are crucial for individuals in operations roles who are expected to drive processes and deliver results with minimal oversight.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

Managing Multiple Client Engagements: Balancing the demands of concurrent client projects, each with unique requirements and timelines, requires strong organizational and prioritization skills, akin to managing a portfolio of operational tasks.
Bridging Design and Engineering: Ensuring that meticulously designed specifications are accurately translated into functional code by engineering teams, especially across different platforms and technical stacks.
Client Expectation Management: Navigating client requests, making difficult product trade-offs, and maintaining positive relationships while ensuring design integrity and feasibility.
AI Output Quality Control: Critically evaluating and refining AI-generated design elements or copy to meet quality standards and avoid errors or inconsistencies.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

Advanced Design Operations: Develop expertise in optimizing the design-to-development pipeline, focusing on efficient handoffs, reusable components, and scalable design systems.
AI-Powered Design: Become a leader in leveraging AI tools to enhance creative output and streamline design workflows.
Client Strategy and Consulting: Hone skills in client communication, needs assessment, and strategic product decision-making through direct engagement with founders and product owners.
Cross-Functional Influence: Build experience in influencing product direction and development velocity through strong design leadership and collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are common operational hurdles in product development. The growth opportunities are framed around enhancing operational efficiency within the design function and expanding strategic influence.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

"Describe a time you had to make a difficult product trade-off. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" (Prepare to discuss your decision-making process, balancing user needs, business goals, and technical constraints, and how you communicated this to stakeholders.)
"How would you ensure a smooth handoff of your designs to an engineering team, particularly when working remotely?" (Focus on your Figma file organization, documentation practices, and communication strategies for clear handoffs.)
"Imagine a client has a vague brief for a new feature. What are your first steps to clarify requirements and define the problem?" (Demonstrate your approach to discovery, requirement gathering, and initial problem definition.) Company & Culture Questions:
"How do you see yourself working with AI tools in your design process?" (Be ready to discuss specific AI tools you've used or would use, and how you ensure the quality and integrity of AI-generated output.)
"Describe a situation where you took ownership of a process or project that was outside your immediate scope." (Highlight your proactive nature and commitment to achieving project goals.)
"How do you stay updated with the latest design trends and technologies, especially in the context of AI?" (Showcase your commitment to continuous learning and adaptation.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
Structure with Impact: Organize your portfolio presentation logically, starting with the overall project context, then diving into the problem, your process, key decisions, and finally, the shipped results and their impact.
Highlight Operational Aspects: Explicitly point out how your design process contributes to engineering efficiency and client satisfaction. Showcase your Figma file structure and design system examples as evidence of operational excellence.
Tell a Story: Engage your audience by narrating the journey of each project, emphasizing the challenges you overcame and the solutions you implemented.
Be Ready for Q&A: Anticipate questions about your design choices, your collaboration style, and your approach to handling feedback.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating not just design creativity but also operational discipline, strategic thinking, and strong communication skills, all of which are critical for success in this role and within the company's culture.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UI/UX Product Designer position:

Submit your application through the provided link on Workable.
Customize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight experience in shipping production products, client-facing roles, Figma proficiency, and any experience with AI tools or design systems. Quantify achievements where possible.
Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that demonstrate end-to-end ownership, clear problem-solving, meticulous design handoff (Figma file structure), and measurable impact. Ensure it aligns with the "clean, buildable specs" requirement.
Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on articulating your design decisions, process, and the operational efficiency of your workflow. Be ready to simulate client interactions.
Research Bolder Apps: Understand their mission, values (move fast, take ownership, work with AI), and the type of clients they serve. Prepare to discuss how your approach aligns with their culture and operational ethos.

⚠️ 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.

UI/UX Product Designer