Head of Product Design
About Us
Close is a bootstrapped, profitable, 100% remote, ~100-person team of thoughtful individuals who value autonomy and impact. We are out to supercharge sales productivity for small scaling businesses with the most modern, thoughtfully all-in-one, communication-focused CRM.
Our Product team obsesses over delivering great SaaS to serve the 6,000+ businesses that choose Close to help them grow. We are data-driven, learn the why behind problems, focus on use cases, and talk to our customers on every occasion. We share on The Making of Close, our behind-the-scenes Product & Engineering blog.
About the Role
We are looking for a seasoned Head of Product Design to guide and shape our growing team. In this role, you will oversee the design of our web, desktop, and mobile apps, and play a key role in the design and development of new features. This role reports to our Senior Director of Product.
This role is ideal for someone who likes taking a hands-on approach to leadership, enjoys the challenge of managing a dynamic team, and is passionate about solving complex problems with simple and elegant solutions.
Leadership with Purpose: You will have the opportunity to lead and nurture a team of talented designers, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence. Your leadership will directly influence our design direction and the evolution of our product.
Impact at Scale: You will get to oversee design work that has a direct and significant impact on the daily experiences of our customers and their teams. Your work will be an integral part of their success as we build a world-class CRM.
Deep Work: Our product development process is inspired by Shape Up. We work in six-week cycles, thinking deeply about the right problems and shipping impactful product on time. Product, Design, and Engineering work collaboratively on the best solution. We believe in sustainable progress and success over the long run.
Design-Driven Work: You’ll take charge of initiatives where design leads the way, setting the standard for how innovative solutions can emerge from a design-centric approach.
Team Management
Lead a distributed team of 5+ designers (mostly Senior-level)
Host 1:1s and team meetings, and provide ongoing performance feedback
Set and execute quarterly team goals
Build strong team culture and continue to raise the bar for design quality
Identify professional development opportunities for the team
Grow the team, as needed
Build and improve team processes
Research
Drive user research efforts to uncover pain points, opportunities, and insights
Foster a culture within the design team of regularly doing qualitative and quantitative research (e.g., user interviews, surveys, usability testing, etc.)
Ensure the design team integrates user research findings into design decisions
Design & Build
Provide design review/critique on a regular basis (written feedback, video calls)
Oversee design planning and assignments for each Cycle
Help shape projects and ideas, especially early in the process
Work closely with Product Management and Engineering teams at every stage
Collaborate with Engineering on building out and organizing our design system
Ensure consistency with Close’s overall brand
Take on limited individual contributor work
Vision
Define and communicate a compelling design vision that aligns with the product strategy and Close brand
Contribute to longer-term roadmap planning
Identify, plan, champion, and execute “Design-driven” projects (e.g., redesigns, etc.)
About You
Experience & Location
Have 8+ years experience in product design (4+ years in management)
Experience in all aspects of design: User research, interaction design, visual design, etc.
Experience in establishing and improving processes for how a design team works
Track record of working closely with Product and Engineering teams on successful projects
Have helped build and maintain design systems
Physically based in the US and able to work roughly US East Coast time zone hours (with a few exceptions, most of the product, engineering, and design teams are on the US east coast or in Europe)
Design & UX Sense
Strong portfolio of elegant and simple solutions for complex desktop/mobile SaaS products
Strong understanding of information hierarchy, progressive disclosure, typography, spacing, color theory, etc.
Very knowledgeable about modern UX/UI patterns on desktop and mobile
Exceptional taste in software design
Skills & Knowledge
Enjoy helping product designers thrive and grow in their roles
Comfortable working remotely with a high level of autonomy
Customer and problem-focused
Strong soft skills, especially around communication and collaboration
Champion for design, but also know how to work within constraints and make trade-offs (we are big believers in having a fixed timeline, with flexible scope)
Very knowledgeable about CSS, accessibility, etc.
Proficient with Figma (you know how to work with components, variants, variables, etc.)
Bonus Points
Experience or familiarity with Shape Up
Experience in sales or with sales tools
Experience in the B2B space
Familiarity with GitHub Issues & Projects
Benefits
Competitive compensation including an organization-wide goal-based bonus
Paid Time Off: 5 Weeks PTO upon joining + Winter Holiday Break and Summer Holiday Break. Each year with the company, you’ll receive 2 extra PTO days.
80% Work Option: Work with your manager to choose between working 5 day weeks (standard full-time) or 4 day weeks @ 80% pay
Paid Parental Leave for primary and secondary caregivers
Sabbatical: After 5 years with the team, you’re eligible for a 1 month paid sabbatical
Healthcare (US residents): Medical, Dental, Vision with HSA option (US residents), Dependent care FSA (US residents)
401k (US residents): We match 6% contributions with immediate vesting
Our Values
Build a house you want to live in - Examine long-term thinking and action
No BS - Practice transparency and honesty, especially when it’s hard
Invest in each other - Build successful relationships with your coworkers and customers
Discipline equals freedom - Keep your word to yourself and others
Strive for greatness - Constantly challenge yourself and others
Learn More
Listen to our CEO and Founder, Steli Efti, tell the story of Close’s journey in the $0-30m Blueprint.
Watch our culture video from our 2023 team retreat in Milan. Every year our entire team gathers in person to build connection, foster cross-functional collaboration, and have fun. In 2025, we’re headed to Paris, France.
Explore our product. You can watch a ten-minute video demo on our home page.
Our Hiring Process
We ask a few role-specific questions as part of our application process. These questions are designed to help us learn more about you from the start so please answer each question thoughtfully. We see this as an opportunity to get to know you beyond your resume.
While we are excited by all the opportunities that generative AI has unlocked, we request that you refrain from relying on AI tools when completing an application. Every application is read closely by humans and any obviously AI generated applications will be disregarded.
Regardless of fit, you can expect to hear back from our team with an update on the status of your candidacy.
If you progress to the interview process, you’ll receive a full outline of the role-specific interview process in your first touchpoint with us. We do our best to make the hiring process clear and human.