Director of Design

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Tennessee.

📋 Description

• In the role of Director of Design, you will serve as the principal design authority at Soundstripe.

• This position combines leadership and hands-on involvement: you will define the design vision and execute the work.

• Work closely with the Directors of Product and Engineering to transform product ideas into reality, from initial concepts to execution and launch.

• Contribute to strategic initiatives aimed at meeting and growing the needs of our customer base as Soundstripe expands.

• Lead efforts to address customer challenges and develop solutions as we transition from B2C to B2B and B2E.

• Take ownership of product design across our web platform and new product interfaces, overseeing the process from concept to final delivery.

• Champion UX quality in discussions related to products and leadership, representing the customer's voice effectively.

• Maintain the aesthetic and emotional identity of the Soundstripe brand in collaboration with Marketing, ensuring that all output aligns with our style and feel.

• Provide creative direction across product and brand/marketing design. While you may not handle every aspect of brand work, you will establish the standards.

• Lead and uphold our design system, including token-based components and workflows that facilitate Figma-to-code and vice versa.

• Approach design with a systems mindset, focusing on design tokens, component architecture, and scalable patterns that empower a small team to achieve significant impact, especially when utilizing AI tools.

• Innovate design workflows with AI at the forefront, including Figma-to-code pipelines, automated asset generation, and employing LLMs for UX research synthesis, specification writing, and prototyping.

⛳️ Requirements

• A robust product design portfolio demonstrating your experience in shipping consumer or SaaS products, including the rationale behind your designs.

• Proven experience in design leadership, having worked in a small company or startup where you fulfilled both strategic and execution roles.

• Familiarity with brand and marketing design, even if your primary focus has been on product design; the lines often blur at our scale.

• Experience with design systems, having built or maintained component libraries and effectively bridged the gap between design and engineering.

• Practical knowledge of Figma variables, design tokens, and workflows powered by LLMs for code generation.

• Strong communication skills and reliability; you identify problems early, uphold commitments, and do not isolate yourself during the design process.

• Ability to advocate for the user experience: you hold strong opinions about what serves the user well and will respectfully defend them in discussions.

• An AI-native mindset, having already incorporated AI into your design processes (such as prototyping, research, asset generation, and specification writing), along with insights into its effectiveness.

• Bonus points if you have experience in music, media, or creative tools, or if you have worked closely with a technical founder or CTO.

🏝️ Benefits

• Autonomy and ownership: your contributions will be recognized and valued.

• A collaborative and flexible work environment.

• Remote work option (US-based), with occasional in-person meetings in Nashville or other US locations for on-site and off-site gatherings a few times each year.

• A small, high-trust team characterized by low process and high ownership.