Founding Designer (German-speaking) Founding Designer

Cherry Ventures is supporting our portfolio with this hire

Are you a seasoned design generalist with a passion for shaping the future of a brand and product from the ground up?

Join a Fintech startup as a Founding Designer and be at the forefront of our product and brand design, helping to build a strong design culture.

This is an on-site position based in Berlin, where you'll collaborate closely with our team.

Core Responsibilities

• Brand Identity: Own the entire brand identity of the company in its early days. From the way our brand appears online & offline to owning our touch-points with prospective clients (website, etc.)
• Product Design: Own the entire Product Design for our product. Collaborate closely with the engineering team to iterate and refine a best-in-class product experience.
• Maintaining of consistency: Develop and uphold a detailed and consistent design system. Facilitate rapid iterations and updates to our product while maintaining design integrity.

Preferred Experience

• Startup Experience: Experience as a Principal Designer or Head of Design in startup environments. Proven track record of working on diverse products, preferably with a B2B focus.
• Multiple Persona Management: As our product is targeting multiple personas in one go, it’s key that you have experience in working on complex, multi-persona products.
• Design Expertise: 8-10 years of professional experience in product design.

Technical Skills

• German: Fluent in German, both verbal and written, as our primary customer base is German-speaking.
• Design Stack: High proficiency with industry-standard design tools (i.e. Figma, etc.)
• System Design Competency: Strong experience in managing and evolving design systems.

What We Avoid

• Running Large Teams: Preference for candidates who thrive in hands-on roles rather than managing large teams.
• Dependency on External Teams: Candidates who rely heavily on external resources (tools, budget, etc.) to deliver designs are currently not a great fit.
• Rigid Execution: Preference for designers who do not strictly adhere to rigid methodologies like cross-functional team setups or two-week sprints.

Soft Skills

• Clear communicator: Excellent at conveying design concepts to team members and clients. Comfortable engaging with (prospective) customers for research and ideation.
• Autonomous and Pragmatic: Skilled at independently framing problems, designing solutions, and executing tasks. Pragmatic in balancing idealism with practical constraints.
• Focused Execution: Thrives in a hands-on role, prioritizing practical outcomes over leadership or management responsibilities.

Based in Berlin: We are unfortunately not able to sponsor visas - for this role, you will need to possess an existing EU/German work permit.

Cherry Ventures is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status.