Lead Product Designer

Instawork’s vision is to create economic opportunities for local businesses and skilled hourly workers in communities around the world. With an AI-first approach, we’re supercharging the leading online labor marketplace and looking for exceptional talent to help us build the future of hourly work. Backed by world-class investors like Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator, and more, we want you to help us continue to scale quickly and make an even greater impact. We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Lead Product Designer to join us. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in leading UX projects from concept to execution, as well as utilizing and contributing to comprehensive design systems. This role requires a deep understanding of user-centered design principles and exceptional problem-solving skills. Who You Are You strike a balance between idealism and pragmatism. You are excited about setting a big vision for the future, while also enthusiastically rolling up your sleeves to ship the smaller improvements it takes to get there. You’ve been part of a high-functioning product and design team and have led user research efforts to answer product questions and validate your work. You’re ready to take ownership of the end-to-end design process of the most critical areas of our product. You’re confident in your craft and able to give useful feedback to others, but keep a beginners mindset. You’re always open to new ideas and learning new ways of doing things. You always get it done, whatever it is. You’re proactive and comfortable taking action even when it’s met with skepticism and doubt. You don’t wait for others to unblock you when you can unblock yourself. You understand that everything we ship becomes a part of our design system, intentional or not. You’re adept at knowing when to leverage existing components and when to make a case for a new one. Experience At least 3+ years experience as a product designer, with a strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in design systems and user-centered design. Ability to think strategically and execute methodically in a fast-paced environment. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a keen attention to detail. Excellent communication, presentation, and collaboration skills. Mastery in design tools like Figma. Understanding of front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and their impact on design. Bonus You explore and play with AI. Entrepreneurship or small startup experience. Experience working in an Agile development environment. Knowledge of accessibility standards and best practices. Experience with motion design and micro-interactions. Familiarity with design thinking methodologies. What You’ll Do Strategy and Leadership: Partner with your product manager to define and drive the overall strategy for your product area, ensuring alignment with business goals and user needs.Facilitate design reviews and present design solutions to leadership and stakeholders at various stages of the project lifecycle. Design Execution and Collaboration: Develop and deliver high-quality design solutions efficiently and autonomously.Work closely with developers to ensure accurate implementation of design specifications and provide ongoing support during the development process.Mentor your fellow UX designers, providing guidance, feedback, and growth opportunities. Continuous Improvement and Innovation: Stay current with industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in UX design and design systems.Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the design team.Identify opportunities to enhance the user experience and propose creative solutions to complex design challenges. Contribute to our design system: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop reusable components, patterns, and guidelines that enhance user experience and accelerate the whole team.Conduct regular audits and make updates to components to incorporate feedback and emerging best practices.Become an advocate for design system use at Instawork, helping others leverage and evolve components effectively. User Research and Testing: Conduct and oversee user research activities, including interviews, surveys, usability testing, and competitive analysis.Analyze and synthesize research findings to inform design decisions and validate concepts.Advocate for user-centered design methodologies and ensure that user feedback is integrated into the design process. Our Values Empathy, Trust & Candor We put ourselves in the shoes of our colleagues and customers and don’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations, instead building trust through honest and direct feedback. Bias for Action We practice high-velocity decision-making, clear-eyed that we often operate with incomplete information. Growing quickly means it’s OK to be wrong, so long as we learn from our mistakes and course correct Always Be Learning We’re a curious bunch, and with AI transforming our workplace we encourage everyone to learn from each other, compounding our knowledge and experience to help us change an entire industry. Act Like an Owner We work long, hard, and smart, building products that delight our users and drive growth. Your ability to impact Instawork is limited only by your courage and conviction, not your job description. About Instawork Founded in 2015, Instawork is the nation’s leading online labor marketplace for food services, hospitality, light industry, and logistics, connecting more than 7M skilled workers with local restaurants, hotels, warehouses, stadiums, and more. Our AI-powered platform serves thousands of businesses across more than 50 major markets in the United States and Canada. We’re not just helping fill shifts, we’re supporting local economies—and we’re just getting started Instawork has been featured by CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press. Forbes included us on their Next Billion Dollar Startups list; RetailTech Breakthrough named us Workforce Hiring Solution of the Year for 2025; and Inc. 5000 recognized us as one of the country’s top 10% fastest-growing companies two years in a row. But what matters most is our impact. We’re solving real problems for real people, and we’re doing it at scale. Join our team to help us build something that matters We’re looking for superstars who want to help us shape the future of work. With hubs in San Francisco, Bangalore, and Chicago, city offices in New York, Phoenix, and Singapore, we’re back to working together in-person five days a week because we believe the best ideas happen when great people collaborate face-to-face. We also value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. Ready to make an impact? Learn more at #J-18808-Ljbffr