Head of Design

About This Role

Lead the product design vision and strategy for Cartesia's cutting-edge AI voice and sound generation technology, focusing on the developer experience and building a world-class design culture. This is a hands-on management role that requires shaping the getting started experience and establishing design cohesiveness across all product surfaces.

Responsibilities

• Own the complete getting started experience, from first discovery to successful API integration
• Establish and maintain design systems for visual and interaction consistency across products
• Conduct competitive analyses of AI infrastructure and developer tool companies to inform roadmap
• Push the bar on craft and quality across every pixel and interaction
• Manage a small team of designers with coaching, career development, and recruiting
• Partner closely with engineering, product, and go-to-market teams to ship impactful features
• Translate complex technical concepts into intuitive experiences for developer audiences
• Advocate for design perspective in product strategy discussions and help shape future products
• Foster a culture of high craft, rapid iteration, and user empathy
• Drive measurable improvements in time-to-value metrics and design culture

Requirements

• First-line management experience leading designers while maintaining a strong IC practice
• Exceptional design sense with a portfolio demonstrating craft across visual design, interaction design, and systems thinking
• Comfort designing for technical audiences (APIs, developer tools, B2B products)
• Deep fluency with design tools and ability to move quickly from concept to high-fidelity execution
• Experience working alongside world-class designers at companies known for design excellence
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, ship iteratively, and wear multiple hats in a startup environment

Nice to Have

• Experience at leading tech companies, combined with startup experience
• Background designing developer experiences
• Technical depth or coding experience enabling stronger collaboration with engineers
• Experience in the AI/ML product space or adjacent technical infrastructure products
• Track record of establishing design culture and processes at early-stage companies

Benefits