Staff Product Designer

About Medium Medium is one of the world's most influential writing platforms, connecting millions of readers with ideas that matter. We're a small, dedicated team that cares deeply and takes real ownership of the problems we tackle, moving fast while building something that lasts. Our actions and decision-making are guided by four principles: Humans First, Deepen Understanding, Orient for Impact, and Ladder Together.

Design is a vital discipline at Medium. We have a long, visible history of raising the design bar for reading and writing on the internet. We continue to believe that by radically redefining the experience of reading and writing online, we foster humans-first spaces that showcase individual voices and stories.

Today, Medium is a profitable and independently-funded company. This has enabled us to embark on a new era that requires us to think big and explore uncharted territory. If you want to join and shape the future of reading and writing with urgency, care, and play, come help us build what’s next!

The Role At Medium, designers and engineers work across the full range of the product development process. We’re looking for someone who lives and breathes reading and writing, not just someone who’s designed a lot of software. As a Staff Product Designer on the team, you’ll report to the Director of Product Design and work on multiple projects from ideation to launch.

As part of a product team, you’ll orient your work towards high-impact opportunities. You’ll execute on product strategy by pitching what gets built, shaping its scope, and planning how it gets done. You will own and create high-quality design work that transforms those priorities into simple, intuitive solutions that you ship alongside your team.

As a member of the design function, you’ll collaborate with engineering to uphold a quality bar with your design instincts, visual design sensibility, attention to detail, and taste. With your design teammates, you are someone who welcomes feedback, isn’t precious about your work, and elevates everyone’s impact through collaboration.

As a Median, you’ll be someone who embodies our operating principles and demonstrates empathy and resilience. You’ll demonstrate empathy for our users, to build a platform and products they’ll love. As a teammate, you’ll demonstrate empathy for your coworkers, to contribute to a workplace we love, and the resilience to be able to take feedback from anywhere, consider it gracefully, and fold it into your thinking and work.

What You’ll Do

• Collaborate closely with other engineers, designers, and leadership to translate product strategy and complex challenges into well-defined product initiatives.

• Own and execute high-quality designs, interactions, and prototypes that distill a product vision into tangible experiences for our users.

• Leverage AI design tools and workflows effectively to create artifacts that explore and validate new ideas, features, and interactions.

• Contribute to our design system to ensure a cohesive and scalable visual language across the product.

• Conduct user research to uncover pain points and opportunities, using insights to inform design decisions.

• Represent the design team by upholding a high design bar, working with your teammates to make thoughtful, intentional decisions at every step.

What You Have

• 7+ years of experience designing products in a fast-paced environment working closely with engineering, design, and product teammates to develop the strategy and rationale for features.

• An outstanding portfolio with presentable case studies of your best work, showcasing a foundation in typography, interaction and visual design, and idea generation for work you’ve shipped.

• The ability to tackle complex challenges and transform them into simple, intuitive experiences.

• The ability to change altitude from design details to big picture thinki...