Head of Product Design (UI/UX, AI-Forward) - Contractor Role
26 days ago
Southampton
Head of Product Design (UI/UX, AI-Forward) - Contractor Downstream ¡ Open to employees in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom About Downstream Downstream is transforming the construction industry by building a marketplace for equipment rentals, portable toilets, and roll-off dumpsters. We are scaling fast. Our vision: bring price transparency, automation, and intelligence into one of the most manual, underserved verticals in the economy. Weâre inspired by clean design and modern architectureâand weâre pushing forward with AI-native product thinking, not bolting it on later. The Role Weâre hiring a Head of Product Design (UI/UX) who is obsessed with creating intuitive, elegant, and impactful user experiences. Youâve shipped something beforeâwhether at a startup that scaled, a product that users loved, or a platform that redefined a workflow. You know the pain of turning complex problems into simple, usable solutions, and you want another shot at shaping an industry from 0 â 1. At Downstream, youâll work directly with our CEO, CTO, and Product team to: ⢠Define and own the design vision for our marketplace, supplier tools, and customer experience., ⢠Lead end-to-end design for web and mobile, including UX flows, UI systems, and visual identity., ⢠Architect AI-native product experiences that feel intuitive, not artificialâhelping users trust automation and agents in critical workflows., ⢠Collaborate with engineers and product managers to ship fast: prototype, test, iterate, and refine., ⢠Build and scale our design system so we can move quickly without sacrificing quality. Responsibilities ⢠Drive the product design strategy across customer, supplier, and internal platforms., ⢠Build and maintain UI/UX standards that reflect simplicity, trust, and efficiency., ⢠Design AI-native experiencesâwhere agentic systems interact seamlessly with users, data, and decisions., ⢠Conduct user research and usability testing with construction industry stakeholders., ⢠Mentor and grow a design team as we scale. What Weâre Looking For ⢠Battle-tested designer: Youâve shipped real products (startup, marketplace, SaaS, or similar)., ⢠AI-forward mindset: You donât just add AIâyou design around it, making it feel natural and empowering., ⢠Builderâs DNA: Comfortable with ambiguity, speed, and iteration. Youâve felt the pain of building in the real world and still want more., ⢠Technical & design skills:, ⢠UI/UX design (Figma, Sketch, or equivalent), ⢠Strong UX research and prototyping chops, ⢠Design systems and component libraries, ⢠Understanding of modern frontend frameworks (bonus: Flutter, React), ⢠Experience designing for AI interactions (chat, agents, workflows), ⢠Startup mentality: Hands-on, resourceful, willing to go beyond your job title., ⢠Industry experience: Construction tech or marketplaces a huge plusâsomeone who can empathize with our users. Nice-to-Haves ⢠Experience in marketplaces, logistics, SaaS, or fintech., ⢠Familiarity with B2B workflows and procurement tools., ⢠Contributions to open-source design systems or AI products. Why Downstream ⢠Early-stage, high-growth startup with real traction., ⢠Work with a small, sharp, and ambitious product + engineering team., ⢠Opportunity to shape AI-native product experiences in an industry that hasnât seen this level of innovation before., ⢠Competitive salary + equity