Founding Product Designer
Founding Product Designer at Parrot — San Francisco, CA, US
- Company: Parrot
- Location: San Francisco, CA, US
- Employment type: FULL_TIME
- Salary: USD 120000–180000 / year
- Posted: 2026-07-17
About this role
About Parrot
Parrot is building the TikTok for language learning - real native videos, interactive subtitles, and AI-generated activities that help people learn the same way they learned their first language.
We believe in immersion-first learning, grounded in second-language acquisition research and comprehensible input. Our goal is to make learning natural, fun, and effective - powered by real content, not artificial drills.
We launched in February 2025, already have thousands of active users, and are now hiring our first Founding Product Designer to join the core team and help us scale to millions.
Why This Role Matters
Design at Parrot is not a support function. It is core to how the product works, feels, and grows.
As our Founding Product Designer, you will:
Redesign and elevate the core product experience
Work directly with the CPO and founders to shape product direction
Influence activation, retention, and meaningful progress through thoughtful UX
Establish the foundations of our design system
Set the visual and experiential standard for the company
This is a high-ownership role with real authorship.
What You’ll Work On
You will work across the full product lifecycle:
Conduct user research and translate insights into product direction
Design complete user journeys and reusable patterns
Create wireframes and interactive prototypes
Craft high-fidelity mobile UI
Partner with engineering through implementation to ensure quality
Iterate based on usage data and qualitative feedback
We believe learning can be both fun and effective. Design should reduce friction, not add noise and every element should serve real progress.
What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for a designer who combines strong product thinking with exceptional visual craft and cares deeply about building something simple, accessible, and effective.
Core Strengths
Strong mobile portfolio (iOS/Android experience preferred)
Exceptional eye for layout, hierarchy, typography, spacing, and color
Deep UX thinking → you understand behavior, not just screens
Fluent in Figma (components, auto-layout, variants, prototyping)
Comfortable leading work independently in a fast-moving environment
Product & Analytical Mindset
You’re curious about what actually works.
You care about retention, learning progress, and long-term user success
You’re comfortable forming hypotheses and iterating based on data
You can articulate why a design decision improves a metric or reduces friction
Design decisions should be intentional, measurable, and thoughtful.
Prototyping & Modern Tools
We move quickly and value designers who can accelerate feedback loops.
You can:
Build interactive prototypes that mirror real product behavior
Validate ideas early through realistic, testable demos
Use AI tools to explore variations and iterate quickly
Expected tools:
Figma
Vibe coding
You don’t need to be an engineer, but you should work efficiently and stay current with modern design workflows.
The Kind of Designer Who Thrives Here
You likely:
Have strong taste and high standards
Sweat the details
Think in systems, not just screens
Care about simplicity and real user progress
Want meaningful ownership in an early-stage product
We value thoughtful collaboration, humility, and ambition.
Bonus
Experience at a venture-backed company
Background in consumer mobile apps
Interest in language learning or education