Design excellence is central at Merge — it shapes how developers adopt us, how customers evaluate us, and how we execute at speed. We’re looking for a Product Design Lead who upholds that standard by bringing clarity to complex problems and raising the craft across everything we ship.

In this role, you will:

• Own and elevate the end-to-end experience of Merge’s core product.
• Balance vision and detail — zooming out to define systems and zooming in to sweat the pixels.
• Push for simplicity, polish, and consistency across everything we ship.
• Be highly opinionated, while also being collaborative and adaptable with product and engineering peers.
• Thrive in an in-office, high-energy environment where design has a seat at the leadership table.

This is a role for a designer who wants to leave fingerprints on a fast-growing product and scale design practice inside a company that holds the bar high.

What You Will Do:  

• Lead design for Merge’s core platform, from concept through launch.
• Be very opinionated, sweat the details, strive for simplicity, and relentlessly push the broader team around you to uphold an exceptionally high design standard.
• Partner with founders, product, and engineering to translate strategy into user-centered solutions.
• Create and maintain a design system that balances speed with consistency.
• Conduct customer research and prototype high-fidelity experiences to uncover friction and validate ideas.
• Push the org toward higher standards in usability, visual quality, and design process.
• Mentor designers and influence how design integrates into Merge’s broader product culture.

What We Are Looking For: 

• Strong portfolio demonstrating deep systems thinking, visual craft, and an ability to translate ambiguous problems into practical user-centric solutions
• 5-7+ years of experience as a product designer, with additional involvement leading company-wide design initiatives.
• Strong ability to articulate design decisions and communicate complex concepts clearly through compelling storytelling
• Strong collaboration abilities with other designers, product managers, and engineers, including exposure to mentoring more junior designers
• Expertise in Figma, UX research methods, writing product specifications, creating interactive prototypes, and conducting design reviews
• Ability to explore multiple design solutions broadly before focusing deeply on the most promising approaches
• Conscientious advocate for product quality and achievement of user-oriented goals

Compensation

• The cash compensation range for this role is $165,000 - $190,000.
• Actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, years & depth of experience, certifications. In addition to cash compensation, all employees receive an equity compensation package.

Benefits

• Unlimited PTO + 10 company holidays
• 100% covered health, vision, and dental insurance
• 401K Plan
• $200 one-time home office stipend
• Free dinner when working past 7pm