Head of Design
Faros
Location
San Mateo
Employment Type
Full time
Location Type
Hybrid
Department
Product
Compensation
- $230K – $250K
Mission 🚀
AI is fundamentally changing how software gets built and shipped. The tools, workflows, and mental models that engineering organizations have relied on for decades are being reimagined, and the pace of that change is only accelerating. Faros AI has been partnering with large enterprise organizations as their trusted partner in that journey. Our existing platform gives engineering leaders the visibility and context they need to run top-performing teams. Our next chapter is about going further: building agentic products that don't just surface insights, but actively help engineers and teams do their best work in an AI-native world. We want to be at the forefront of that shift, and we're looking for people who want to help define it.
About the Role
We are looking for a strategic and visionary Head of Design to lead design across both of our major product bets. On one hand, you will own the end-to-end experience of our core engineering intelligence platform, upgrading its polish, coherence, and data storytelling to the high standard that enterprise buyers expect. On the other hand, you will be the founding designer of our new agentic AI platform - greenfield work that requires rethinking how engineers and leaders engage with data, guidance, and action across multiple mediums, from web and mobile to conversational AI, Slack messages, and Jira flags.
Few design roles ask you to mature an existing product and invent a new interaction paradigm at the same time. This one does.
Crucially, you will be the architect of a modern, AI-augmented design organization. This is a high-impact, true "player-coach" role. You will operate as a hands-on Individual Contributor for at least the next 12–18 months, utilizing the latest AI tools to optimize your own output and ship polished UI. Simultaneously, you will manage our existing UX designer, lead by example, and build the strategic foundation required to scale the design team as Faros grows.
What You’ll Do
Design for Dynamic, Adaptive UI: Define how users collaborate with our AI agents. You will design for the user's context, understanding that a conversational AI interaction requires a fundamentally different approach than a web or mobile interface.
Own the End-to-End Experience & Elevate Polish: Be the ultimate owner and definitive voice for usability across the Faros suite. We expect you to lead a "systemic facelift" of our UI, moving us to a refined, high-maturity visual language that resonates with enterprise buyers.
Master Data Storytelling: Act as the dedicated owner for data visualization standards. You will transform complex engineering analytics and operational data into clear, actionable, and beautiful insights, recommendations, alerts, dashboards, and shareable information.
Leverage an AI-First Workflow & Lead the Team: Move at startup speed. We expect you to jump into the codebase using AI coding agents to fix UI/UX issues and raise PRs directly. Beyond your own output, you will be responsible for AI literacy within the design organization, ensuring your team uses the latest technology to optimize their workflows.
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Partner with Engineering, Product, and Go-To-Market: Act as the bridge between Product and Engineering/Sales/Marketing. You must be able to confidently explain your design choices to GTM teams, debate what great UX means, and tie design back to business outcomes, while balancing “moving fast" with the craftsmanship required for a category-defining product.
What We Value
Living by our values over avoiding conflict. We favor transparency and honest debate because strong decisions depend on saying the hard things out loud.
Transformation over predictability. We dedicate our efforts to work that produces monumental outcomes for our customers, even if it means trading short-term predictability for long-term impact.
Intensity over comfort. We move with urgency and focus, especially when the work is messy or unstructured.
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Craftsmanship over throughput. We take pride in how things are built. Quality, coherence, and care matter: we would rather ship fewer things done right than many things done carelessly.
Required Qualifications
Experience & DNA: 8+ years of experience in Product Design, with at least 3 years in a leadership or "founding designer" role within a fast-moving startup. We are open to deep B2B SaaS experience or candidates with a Consumer background who want to bring consumer-grade, emotionally resonant UX to the enterprise space.
The Player-Coach Mentality (Hands-on Craft): You possess the strategic vision of a Head of Design but still love being in the trenches. You are an expert in modern design tools and are excited to execute high-fidelity work yourself while the team is small.
Deep AI Tooling Fluency: You understand the constraints and possibilities of LLMs, agentic workflows, and generative UI. You have deep, hands-on experience using modern AI tools to optimize the design lifecycle and accelerate your own day-to-day workflow.
UX Systems & Data Visualization Expertise: Proven ability to unify complex product surfaces into a single, cohesive experience. You bring a deep portfolio showcasing your ability to translate complex analytics into intuitive, insight-driven UI.
Outcome-Driven Mindset: You understand that great design drives business. You will be measured not just on aesthetics, but on customer satisfaction (CSAT) and our ability to convert Proof of Concepts (POCs) into successful, closed deals.
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Leadership Capacity: Experience managing or mentoring designers and a clear vision for how to grow a design organization from the ground up.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience designing for AI-powered products or natural language interfaces.
Familiarity with the engineering/DevOps landscape (DORA metrics, GitHub workflows, etc.).
Strong understanding of front-end constraints, the ability to partner effectively with Lead Engineers, and an eagerness to leverage AI coding agents to close the gap between design and implementation.
Passionate about tinkering with the latest AI design tools and engineering frameworks (e.g., Google Stitch, Moonchild AI, Flowstep, Figma Make, UX Pilot, etc.) to constantly broaden the boundaries of what your team can build.
Compensation Range: $230K - $250K
