Fractional Founding Designer
About the Role
This is a fractional founding design role (10-20 hours per week) at an early-stage AI recruitment startup, where you will be the first and sole designer shaping the entire look, feel, and quality bar of the product. You will not be executing tickets; you will be setting the standards that the rest of the team builds against.
What You'll Do
Define and own the product's visual and interaction design direction end-to-end.
Build and maintain a design system, design standards, and documentation for engineers and stakeholders to work from.
Create high-fidelity mockups and prototypes using tools such as Figma.
Make product strategy and design decisions under ambiguity, then iterate based on user feedback.
Collaborate directly with engineering and product to implement designs and navigate technical constraints.
Conduct user research, usability testing, and qualitative feedback sessions to inform design decisions.
Support design-to-code handoff with frontend awareness (HTML/CSS familiarity a plus).
What We're Looking For
3 or more years of product design experience shipping consumer or B2B products end-to-end.
Proven experience establishing design systems, standards, and documentation for a team to build against.
An accessible portfolio that demonstrates strong product design craft and a clear problem-solving approach.
Proficiency in Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD for prototyping and high-fidelity design work.
Comfort making design and product strategy decisions with limited information in a fast-moving environment.
Experience working directly with engineering teams and solving real technical constraints through design.
Prior experience in early-stage startups or fractional/part-time design roles is a strong plus.
Familiarity with frontend implementation (HTML/CSS) and design-to-code handoff workflows is a plus.
Location
Fully remote, open to candidates based in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).