Lead Product Designer

### About Us Circle is building the world’s leading all-in-one platform for online communities. We make it possible for creators, coaches, educators, and businesses to bring together their audience with engaging discussions, live streams, events, chat, courses, and payments — all in one place, all under their own brand. We’re proud to be a fully remote company of around 200 (and growing!) team members from 30+ countries around the world. We seek exceptional individuals around the world, set them up to do the best work of their lives, and in turn, create a meaningful impact in their own lives. We don't track hours, but we do manage for high expectations very closely. We collaborate across time zones, are highly async, and like to document a lot. Twice a year, we bring the whole company together in beautiful places around the world for our company offsites. So far, we’ve hosted offsites in Turkey, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, Italy, Ireland, and more, with still more to come! Check out our [Careers](https://careers.circle.so/) page for more about working at Circle. ### About the role 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. 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. ### What you'll be doing - 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 ### What you'll need to be successful - Strong alignment with our values, [find our values on our career page](https://circle.so/careers) if you haven’t read up on them yet - You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a [CEFR Level C2](https://magoosh.com/english-speaking/english-proficiency-levels-a-guide-to-determining-your-level/) / [ILR Level 5](https://www.govtilr.org/). - 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 pr