Head of Product Design

About the Role

This is a senior design leadership opportunity at a fast-growing, Series A-backed AI startup that is rethinking procurement for mid-sized industrial enterprises. The company combines human expertise with AI agents to make high-impact cost decisions legible, trustworthy, and actionable for industrial buyers — directly affecting profitability at scale.

As Head of Product Design , you will define the interaction paradigms for an agent-native product where AI executes procurement workflows and humans supervise, steer, and handle exceptions. You will build and lead a team of ~4 product designers while operating as a strategic partner alongside Product and Engineering leadership. This role is based in Munich, Germany in a hybrid setup. Visa sponsorship is not available ; right to work in Germany is required.

What You'll Do

• Define how humans and AI agents collaborate across the product — evolving a screen-first experience into a fully agent-native one.

• Create the core interaction paradigm for AI-driven procurement workflows, covering agent execution, buyer supervision, exception handling, and steering.

• Develop mental models, UI patterns, and design frameworks that make complex procurement concepts (e.g. should-costing, raw material indices, contract leakage) accessible and actionable for non-analyst users.

• Own and evolve the design system and component architecture to support agent-driven development and rapid product iteration.

• Build, hire, and lead a team of ~4 product designers, setting high standards for craft, velocity, and strategic impact.

• Establish design as a strategic pillar in the product trio alongside Product Management and Engineering.

• Champion UX research best practices company-wide, driving deep and shared understanding of real user problems.

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 6+ years of product design experience, with at least 2+ years in design leadership and people management at high-growth technology companies.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field.

• Deep experience designing data-heavy, workflow-driven products — someone who treats information density as an asset, not a problem.

• Strong systems thinking; you design in frameworks and patterns, not just screens.

• Proven experience building and maintaining design systems and component architectures for complex software.

• Genuine fluency with AI as a design material — a clear, informed point of view on LLMs, agents, and automation UX.

• Experience designing UX for AI/LLM-driven products and translating complex AI concepts into clear, accessible interfaces for non-experts.

• Strong collaborator with executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders (PM, Engineering, C-suite); skilled at stakeholder management and communication.

• Ability to move fluidly between strategic leadership and hands-on craft.

• Fluent in English (written and spoken).

• Right to work in Germany; ability to work in a Munich-based hybrid setup ( no visa sponsorship available ).

Nice to Have:

• German language skills (a plus, not required).

• Background in enterprise procurement, supply chain, or industrial software domains.

Location & Work Arrangement

This role is based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany in a hybrid on-site setup . Candidates must have the right to work in Germany. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation will be discussed directly during the interview process and will be competitive with Munich market rates for senior design leadership. The role comes with meaningful equity participation and the opportunity to shape design culture at a well-funded, high-growth AI startup backed by top-tier European and global investors.