🛑 This is not an application for a specific job. Instead, this is a way to get on the radar of VC-backed startups that are actively hiring Design talent. If you have any questions, please direct inquiries to [email protected].
At SignalFire, we partner with top early-stage startups that are shaping the future of technology. Our portfolio spans 200+ innovative companies across AI, cybersecurity, healthtech, fintech, developer tools, and enterprise SaaS.
We’re looking to connect with exceptional Founding Product Designers who are excited about building intuitive, visually compelling, and user-friendly digital experiences from the ground up. By joining SignalFire’s Talent Network, your profile will be shared with our portfolio companies, giving you visibility into exclusive early-stage opportunities that may not be publicly listed.
Who Should Join?We’re looking for designers who are:
✔ Passionate about shaping the design vision and user experience for new products
✔ Excited about building and scaling design systems in an early-stage startup environment
✔ Skilled at collaborating with engineers and product teams to translate ideas into compelling interfaces
Define and own the end-to-end user experience and design language for early-stage products
Create wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity UI designs for web and mobile applications
Develop user research strategies to understand customer pain points and optimize design decisions
Collaborate with founders, engineers, and product teams to align design with business objectives
Build and maintain design systems and reusable UI components for scalability
Conduct usability testing, A/B testing, and iterative improvements based on data and user feedback
Advocate for design best practices, accessibility, and human-centered design principles
While each startup has its own hiring criteria, many founding product design roles in our network look for:
3+ years of experience in product design, UI/UX, or visual design for web and mobile applications
Strong proficiency with Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, and prototyping tools (Framer, InVision)
Experience in building and scaling design systems from scratch
Knowledge of user research methodologies, usability testing, and data-driven design decision-making
Understanding of interaction design, motion design, and responsive UI principles
Familiarity with front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, basic JavaScript) to collaborate effectively with engineers
Experience working with early-stage startups or lean product teams is a plus
Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Framer, InVision, Principle
User Research & Testing: Maze, Lookback, UserTesting, Hotjar, Google Analytics
Design Systems & UI Libraries: Material Design, Tailwind UI, Carbon Design System
Collaboration & Handoff: Notion, Miro, Zeplin, Abstract, Storybook
Front-End Basics (for Collaboration): HTML, CSS, JavaScript basics
Submit your application to join SignalFire’s Talent Ecosystem.
We review applications on an ongoing basis to identify strong candidates.
If there’s a match, a SignalFire talent partner or a leader from one of our startups may reach out directly.
No match yet? We’ll keep your profile on file for future product design roles in our portfolio.
