Brand Design Lead

Valarian: A New Era of Sovereign Intelligence

Valarian is a dual use technology company building critical tools to safeguard the future in an era of evolving global security challenges. Backed by a Series A funding round of $50m led by NEA, we are rethinking security beyond traditional military domains to address asymmetric threats that impact our technological advantage, economic strength, and democratic institutions. We provide the control infrastructure that allows government and regulated enterprise to put frontier-class AI to work safely.

Through our recent landmark partnership with Perplexity, we are bringing world class AI tool suites inside these secure boundaries for the first time. Our technology supports mission critical workflows across government, healthcare, and enterprise, including:

• Scaling frontier AI and open-weight models without external inference endpoints.

• Increasing operational resiliency for air gapped, on prem, and cloud based systems.

• Securing intellectual property and maintaining auditability for high stakes enterprise environments.

• Facilitating secure information flow during disaster response, M&A due diligence, and privileged legal communications.

We’ve only scratched the surface. Built in Britain by veterans of the Ministry of Defence, British Forces, Darktrace, and elite engineering backgrounds, we are driven by a shared mission to safeguard western democracy . Whether you join our London HQ or our wider global organisation, you’ll be part of a collaborative, high performing team creating the cutting edge software and infrastructure that defines the frontier of enterprise AI.

The Role

As Brand Design Lead at Valarian, you will define and execute our visual and product design strategy, elevating how our complex technology is experienced by government agencies, enterprise partners, and end users alike. You’ll be responsible for making security feel intuitive, modern, and powerful-from shaping the UI/UX of the Acra platform to crafting a distinct visual identity across our digital presence, collateral, and marketing touchpoints.

This is a hands-on role combining high-level design strategy, systems thinking, and meticulous execution. You’ll work closely with Product, Engineering, BD, and Leadership to translate complex cryptographic and security infrastructure concepts into elegant, intuitive digital products and a cohesive, world-class brand identity.

What you’ll do:

• Define & Evolve Brand Identity: Craft and safeguard Valarian’s brand language across all mediums, including visual assets, digital design, event collateral, pitch decks, and brand guidelines.

• Build Design Systems: Design, implement, and maintain scalable UI component libraries and design tokens that bridge product design and web/marketing presence.

• User Research & Validation: Work closely with Product Managers, Engineers, and stakeholders to understand complex user workflows (government, defence, enterprise) and iterate based on user testing and feedback.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with BD, Strategy, and Marketing teams to design compelling interactive assets, proposal/pitch materials, and client-facing product demonstrations.

• Complex Data Visualisation: Simplify highly technical workflows-such as zero-trust access, secure enclave monitoring, and data flows-into crisp, actionable dashboards and intuitive user interfaces.

• Maintain Accessibility & Standards: Ensure product accessibility, consistency, and clarity across all platforms while keeping usability front-and-center in high-stakes operational environments.

• Scale the Design Capability: Help establish design frameworks, standards, and playbooks as the business grows, with the opportunity to hire and mentor junior design talent over time.

What you’ll bring:

• Proven Product & Brand Experience: Demonstrated experience designing complex digital products (SaaS, cybersecurity, enterprise platforms, or deep tech) along with strong brand/visual design capabilities.

• Mastery of Design Tools: Expertise in modern design and prototyping tools (Figma, Framer, Adobe Creative Cloud, etc.) and experience managing design systems.

• Translating Complexity: A track record of turning highly abstract, complex concepts (like encryption, zero-trust, or secure enclaves) into clean, elegant, and usable visual solutions.

• End-to-End Design Ownership: Ability to take a feature or brand asset from napkin sketch to user research, prototyping, and developer hand-off.

• Strong Visual Aesthetics: Sharp eye for typography, layout, iconography, color theory, and visual story-telling.

• Collaboration with Engineering: Experience working closely with front-end engineers, understanding technical constraints, CSS/HTML frameworks, and design system handoff processes.

• Adaptability in High-Growth Environments: Proven ability to move fast, balance perfection with speed-to-market, and prioritize high-impact initiatives.

• Excellent Communication: Strong presentation and storytelling skills-ability to articulate design choices clearly to technical, commercial, and executive stakeholders.

Benefits

Our benefits are designed to ensure our employees feel taken care of and are proud to be a part of the Valarian team. We are committed to consistently enhancing our benefit package, taking into account the overall well-being and needs of our teammates. Here are the key benefits accessible to all employees at Valarian Technologies:

• Equity - because you have the right to own what you’re building

• A competitive salary - because we value your unique skills

• Employer pension contributions - because you deserve a secure future

• Private health insurance - because your health is important to us

• Hybrid work setup - because everyone has different needs

• Gym memberships - because staying active fuels productivity

• Rewarding company retreats and meetups that respect your work/life balance - because we love getting to know each other

Life at Valarian

Our culture is built on inclusivity, compassion and flexibility - we want everyone to be empowered to achieve their goals at Valarian.

The work we do is vital, but so are the connections that make it happen. We thrive on the shared energy, spontaneous conversations, and mutual trust built when we spend time together. We operate on an office first hybrid model, regularly gathering in our London office to support one another and collaborate.