Lead Product Designer

### Who you are
- Strong alignment with our values, find our values on our career page if you haven’t read up on them yet
- You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5
- 5–7+ years of product design experience. Your portfolio should show systems-level thinking: shipped 0→1 work, complex multi-user flows, and evidence that you shaped the product direction—not just the interface
- Experience operating as the most senior designer on a product area—setting direction, making tradeoffs, and owning outcomes without constant guidance
- Strong prototyping skills—you build clickable, realistic prototypes yourself. Bonus if you’re already using AI-assisted prototyping tools like Cursor, Claude Code, v0, or Lovable
- Proficiency in Figma for high-fidelity design and collaboration
- Exceptional written and verbal communication—able to clearly explain complex ideas, influence decisions, and align teams asynchronously. You write well because that’s how decisions get made in a distributed team
- Comfortable designing in ambiguity and building conviction through iteration, not waiting for perfect requirements
- An active, evolving AI workflow—you already use AI tools in your design process and can speak concretely about how. This isn’t a checkbox; it’s a real part of how we evaluate fit

### What the job involves
- You’ll own design for one of Circle’s most important product areas. That means you define the problem, shape the direction, and ship the experience—not wait for a brief. The specific area will be determined based on your strengths and company priorities
- You’ll report into the product design organization and work as the most senior design IC on your product area, partnering directly with product managers, engineers, and design leadership
- You’ll also work alongside other Leads across Circle’s product surface. As the team grows, you’ll be expected to raise the bar for the designers around you
- Own a product area end-to-end: identify opportunities, frame the problem, set design direction, and ship—operating as a peer to Product and Engineering, not a downstream executor
- Design complex, multi-step product flows that serve multiple user types—balancing creator needs against member experience, and making sophisticated behavior feel simple
- Prototype and test at speed—using AI-assisted tools, code-generation workflows, and whatever gets you to a testable concept fastest
- Influence product strategy beyond your own surface: contribute to roadmap conversations, flag opportunities other teams miss, and connect dots across the product
- Drive the craft standard on your area—interaction design, visual quality, and the small details that separate polished product from “good enough”
- Collaborate closely with engineers and design engineers to turn concepts into working, shippable experiences—not hand off specs and hope
- Raise the bar for the broader design team through feedback, shared frameworks, and the quality of your own output
- AI is not a section on this job description—it’s how we work. Circle’s design team builds with AI tools daily: exploring product directions, prototyping with code-generation tools, stress-testing ideas faster than traditional workflows allow. We’re looking for someone who already works this way and wants to push it further

### The application process
- All applications are submitted through our official applicant tracking system (Greenhouse)
- If selected to move forward, you may be invited to record a short introductory video, or directly into a live interview
- All live interviews are conducted face-to-face over video (Zoom or Google Meet) with a member of the Circle team
- We do not conduct text-only interviews
- We do not conduct interviews via chat apps or messaging platforms
- We do not use AI bots to interview candidates

### Benefits
- Medical coverage & reimbursements: Depending on your location, you will either be offered a full medical plan for you & your family, or offered generous monthly reimbursements to help with medical costs
- Equity package: We offer an equity package to every person that works at Circle
- Paid time off: We offer 35-days of PTO per year based on your hire date. Up to 50% can carry over to the next year
- Work from home, or anywhere: All of our employees are 100% remote!
- Learning & development stipend: Take advantage of up to $500 USD per year to help you level up your professional skills
- Home office stipend: New joiners receive $2,150 USD on their first paycheck to help outfit their home office, with a refresh every three years
- Company offsites: Twice a year, the Circle team gets together for a fully paid company retreat in incredible places around the world!
- Annual bonus: Roles that don't already receive variable income or commission are eligible to earn up to an extra 5% of their annual earnings as a yearly bonus based on overall company performance
- 401k with employer match: U.S. employees can partake in a 401k plan that has a 5% match, dollar-for-dollar
- U.S.-benchmarked compensation, no matter where you are in the world
- Paid sabbatical: After 3 years of employment, team members earn a paid 1-month sabbatical to decompress and unwind
- Parental leave for parents expanding their family, or just starting one