Founding Product Designer - Travel Tech Startup

Location: New York, NY

Type: Full-time

About the Company

Our client is a new travel technology company founded by a senior executive from one of the most prominent Big Tech firms. Backed by strong capital and a world-class team spanning product, operations, and partnerships, the client is reimagining how travelers discover, share, and connect through experiences.

Think Xiaohongshu meets Instagram meets Lemon8, where this will be a visual, social, and discovery-led travel product designed for modern explorers.

The Role

We’re seeking a Founding Product Designer to build the product experience from the ground up. You’ll be the first design hire, shaping the look, feel, and flow of a product that blends community, storytelling, and travel inspiration.

This is a rare opportunity to define the product, brand, and user experience philosophy for a global audience.

What You’ll Do

• Own the end-to-end design process: user research, journey mapping, wireframes, prototypes, usability testing, and final UI delivery.
• Translate insights from Native American and North American user behavior into elegant, intuitive, mobile-first experiences.
• Develop and maintain a scalable design system, ensuring consistency across product touchpoints.
• Partner with product managers and engineers to bring features to life balancing aesthetics, usability, and performance.
• Conduct user interviews and A/B testing to validate design decisions.
• Define and uphold our visual identity and interaction principles across the product and brand.
• Act as a cultural and creative co-founder while influencing product strategy, storytelling, and team culture.

What We’re Looking For

• 3–8 years of experience in UI/UX or product design, ideally in consumer-facing mobile or social apps.
• Portfolio demonstrating a strong grasp of interaction design, visual design, and user experience strategy.
• Skilled in Figma, Sketch, or similar tools; able to move quickly from concept to high-fidelity prototypes.
• Deep empathy for users, especially U.S. audiences, and a keen eye for digital culture and social trends.
• Experience in startups or fast-moving product teams, with an iterative, experimental mindset.
• A personal love for travel, exploration, and design that inspires human connection.
• Bonus: experience designing for social, creator, or lifestyle discovery products.

Why Join

• Join at Day 0 as a founding designer where your work will shape how millions experience travel.
• Partner directly with a Big Tech founder and an ambitious global team.
• Build a product with emotional resonance, not just utility.
• Competitive base, equity, and opportunities for global travel and creative collaboration.

Interested applicants, please also send over your portfolio. We're looking forward to being in touch with you!