Lead Product Designer

<div class="content-intro"><h2>About Us</h2> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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!</p> <p>Check out our&nbsp;<a class="c-link" href="https://careers.circle.so/" target="_blank" data-stringify-link="https://careers.circle.so/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Careers</a> page for more about working at Circle.</p></div><h2>About the role</h2> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p></p> <h2>What you'll be doing</h2> <ul> <li>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</li> <li>Design complex, multi-step product flows that serve multiple user types—balancing creator needs against member experience, and making sophisticated behavior feel simple</li> <li>Prototype and test at speed—using AI-assisted tools, code-generation workflows, and whatever gets you to a testable concept fastest</li> <li>Influence product strategy beyond your own surface: contribute to roadmap conversations, flag opportunities other teams miss, and connect dots across the product</li> <li>Drive the craft standard on your area—interaction design, visual quality, and the small details that separate polished product from “good enough”</li> <li>Collaborate closely with engineers and design engineers to turn concepts into working, shippable experiences—not hand off specs and hope</li> <li>Raise the bar for the broader design team through feedback, shared frameworks, and the quality of your own output</li> </ul> <h2>What you'll need to be successful</h2> <ul> <li>Strong alignment with our values, <a href="https://circle.so/careers">find our values on our career page</a> if you haven’t read up on them yet</li> <li>You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a <a href="https://magoosh.com/english-speaking/english-proficiency-levels-a-guide-to-determining-your-level/">CEFR Level C2</a> / <a href="https://www.govtilr.org/">ILR Level 5</a>.</li> <li>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</li> <li>Experience operating as the most senior designer on a product area—setting direction, making tradeoffs, and owning outcomes without constant guidance</li> <li>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</li> <li>Proficiency in Figma for high-fidelity design and collaboration</li> <li>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</li> <li>Comfortable designing in ambiguity and building conviction through iteration, not waiting for perfect requirements</li> <li>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</li> </ul> <h2>$140,000 - $170,000 USD per year</h2> <p><em>The cash compensation range shown is a starting point. In addition to equity, benefits and perks, your cash compensation is subject to an annual review and increase on a once per year basis.</em></p> <p><em>We are hiring at a Lead level for this role; however, we may consider offering this position at the Senior level depending on a candidate’s experience level alignment with the role. In either case, the offer would fall within the published compensation range.</em></p><div class="content-conclusion"><h2>The fun stuff</h2> <ul> <li>Fully remote:&nbsp;work from anywhere in the world!</li> <li>Autonomy and trust to do your job:&nbsp;we care about outcomes over everything else.</li> <li>Paid time away:&nbsp;all employees are given 35 days of PTO annually. We also offer a paid sabbatical after 5 years.</li> <li>Generous U.S. benchmarked compensation&nbsp;and startup equity no matter where you are in the world.*</li> <li>Awesome medical coverage&nbsp;with 100% coverage for you and your family, or medical reimbursement options where applicable!*</li> <li>Parental leave&nbsp;for parents expanding their family, or just starting one.</li> <li>Home office stipend&nbsp;to help you get up and running.</li> <li>Learning &amp; development stipend&nbsp;to help you level up your professional skills.</li> <li>Annual bonus potential&nbsp;for roles that don't already receive variable income or commission.</li> <li>Company retreats:&nbsp;Twice a year, the Circle team gets together for a fully paid company retreat in incredible places around the world! We’ve had past retreats in Colombia, Portugal, and Mexico, with more planned on the horizon.</li> <li>Check out our&nbsp;<a href="https://careers.circle.so/">Careers</a>&nbsp;page for more.</li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">*<em>Your role, location and unique circumstance may affect this.</em></span></p> <h3><strong>Candidate Safety &amp; Interview Process Notice</strong></h3> <div>At Circle, the safety and trust of our candidates is extremely important to us. Unfortunately, recruiting fraud is increasingly common in the job market, and bad actors sometimes impersonate companies or employees.</div> <div><br>To help protect you, here’s what you can expect from our hiring process:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>How Our Process Works</strong></div> <ul data-list-tree="true" data-indent="0" data-border="0"> <li>All applications are submitted through our official applicant tracking system (Greenhouse).</li> <li>If selected to move forward, you may be invited to record a short introductory video, or directly into a live interview.</li> <li>All live interviews are conducted face-to-face over video (Zoom or Google Meet) with a member of the Circle team.</li> <li>We do <strong>not</strong> conduct text-only interviews.</li> <li>We do <strong>not</strong> conduct interviews via chat apps or messaging platforms.</li> <li>We do <strong>not</strong> use AI bots to interview candidates.</li> </ul> <div><strong>Official Communication Channels</strong></div> <ul data-list-tree="true" data-indent="0" data-border="0"> <li>All official communication from Circle will come from <a href="mailto:no-reply@us.greenhouse-mail.io" target="_blank" data-sk="tooltip_parent">no-reply@circle.co</a>, or an email address ending in @circle.co or @circle.so.</li> <li>We will never contact you from unofficial domains (such as “.team”, “.careers”, or similar variations).</li> <li>We will never request sensitive personal information early in the process, or ask for payment of any kind.</li> </ul> <div>If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Circle, please do not respond.</div> <div><br>We appreciate your vigilance, and look forward to connecting with you through our official channels.</div> <h3>Diversity, Equity &amp; Inclusion</h3> <p>As a fully-remote international company, diversity is baked into our DNA. Here’s how our CEO, Sid Yadav, frames our hiring mission: “let’s find talent in underserved and under-represented corners of the world, set them up to do the best work of their lives, and in turn, change their life.” To achieve this hiring mission, we offer competitive&nbsp;U.S. benchmarked&nbsp;compensation no matter where someone’s located in the world, and we proactively seek candidates who expand representation of backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences in our teams.</p> <h3>Equal Employment Opportunity</h3> <p>Circle is an equal opportunity employer and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.&nbsp;If you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.</p> <div class=""> <h3 class="">How We Use Candidate Data</h3> <p>At Circle, we are committed to protecting your personal information. As a job applicant, the personal data you provide to us is collected and processed in accordance with the&nbsp;<strong>General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)</strong> in the EU and the <strong>California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)</strong>. This notice outlines the types of personal information we collect, the purpose for collecting it, and your rights.</p> <p><strong>Information We Collect:</strong> We collect the following categories of personal information from job applicants:</p> <ul> <li>Contact information (such as name, email address, phone number)</li> <li>Employment history and qualifications</li> <li>Education history</li> <li>References and any other information you choose to share with us during the application process</li> </ul> <p><strong>Purpose of Collection:</strong> We collect this information for the following purposes:</p> <ul> <li>To assess your qualifications and suitability for the position</li> <li>To communicate with you during the recruitment process</li> <li>To comply with legal and regulatory obligations</li> </ul> <p><strong>Your Rights Under GDPR and CCPA:</strong> You have the following rights regarding your personal information:</p> <ul> <li>The right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.</li> <li>The right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.</li> <li>The right to opt out of the sale of your personal information (Note: We do not sell personal information).</li> </ul> <p>For more information about how we handle your personal data or to exercise your rights, please refer to our full <a href="https://circle.so/privacy" target="_blank">Privacy Policy</a>.</p> <p>By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this privacy notice.</p> </div></div>