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Senior Staff Product Designer - AI
Deel
Source: Headcount Labs · original listing ↗
Job data: Headcount Labs, ODbL 1.0. Job descriptions belong to their employers.
Source date: 11/4/2026
About this role
Who we are is what we do. Deel is the all-in-one payroll and HR platform for global teams. Our vision is to unlock global opportunity for every person, team, and business. Built for the way the world works today, Deel combines HRIS, payroll, compliance, benefits, performance, and equipment management into one seamless platform. With AI-powered tools and a fully owned payroll infrastructure, Deel supports every worker type in 150+ countries—helping businesses scale smarter, faster, and more compliantly. Among the largest globally distributed companies in the world, our team of 7,000 spans more than 100 countries, speaks 74 languages, and brings a connected and dynamic culture that drives continuous learning and innovation for our customers. Why should you be part of our success story? As the fastest-growing Software as a Service (SaaS) company in history, Deel is transforming how global talent connects with world-class companies – breaking down borders that have traditionally limited both hiring and career opportunities. We're not just building software; we're creating the infrastructure for the future of work, enabling a more diverse and inclusive global economy. In 2024 alone, we paid $11.2 billion to workers in nearly 100 currencies and provided healthcare and benefits to workers in 109 countries—ensuring people get paid and protected, no matter where they are. Our momentum is reflected in our achievements and customer satisfaction: CNBC Disruptor 50, Forbes Cloud 100, Deloitte Fast 500, and repeated recognition on Y Combinator's top companies list – all while maintaining a 4.83 average rating from 15,000 reviews across G2, Trustpilot, Captera, Apple and Google. Your experience at Deel will be a career accelerator. At the forefront of the global work revolution, you'll tackle complex challenges that impact millions of people's working lives. With our momentum—backed by a $17.3 billion valuation and $1 B in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in just over five years—you'll drive meaningful impact while building expertise that makes you a sought-after leader in the transformation of global work. About the role We’re looking for a Senior Staff Product Designer to lead the design vision for Deel’s AI vertical—one of the most ambitious and strategically important areas of the company. This role sits at the intersection of conversational AI, agentic workflows, and intelligent automation, shaping the experiences that define Deel’s next-generation platform. You’ll own the end-to-end design strategy for our AI products, including Deel AI, Akai, conversational interfaces, AI-powered agents, and developer experience tools. Your scope covers everything from in-chat interactions and agent-driven workflows to proactive notifications, anomaly detection, and human-in-the-loop interventions across payroll, HR, and compliance. This isn’t just about making AI features look good—it’s about defining how intelligence shows up across Deel’s entire ecosystem. You’ll work closely with the Principal Designer (who leads intent bar orchestration and the intelligent OS layer) to establish a seamless handoff between conversational AI, agentic actions, and the broader platform experience. Together, you’ll shape the foundational patterns that make Deel feel like one coherent, intelligent system. You’ll lead a growing team of designers and partner directly with engineering, product, and leadership to set the direction for AI design at Deel—codifying craft standards, mentoring designers, and influencing strategy across verticals. Lead AI design strategy • Define the design direction for Deel’s AI vertical, Akai, conversational interfaces, agents, labs, and developer experience tools. • Establish the strategic approach for how intelligence surfaces across the platform—from proactive agent notifications and anomaly detection to in-chat actions and workflow automation. • Shape strategic conversations using insights, narratives, and design vision to influence direction and uncover new opportunity spaces across the AI product portfolio. • Work in close synergy with the Principal Designer to define the boundary between conversational AI (your scope) and intent bar orchestration and the intelligent OS (their scope), ensuring seamless handoff and coherence. Drive craft excellence across AI experiences • Codify craft standards for AI interactions by formalizing patterns, quality expectations, and reusable approaches that emerge from practice. • Ensure coherence across the AI vertical, reducing fragmentation and inconsistencies between teams building conversational, agentic, and automated experiences. • Turn implicit good design into explicit guidelines and mentor designers to consistently apply high-quality craft to AI products. • Design and prototype at speed—rapidly exploring new interaction patterns for conversational AI, agent-driven workflows, and human-in-the-loop experiences. Own collaboration and communication • Drive effective cross-team collaboration within the AI vertical, fostering alignment and shared ownership across designers, engineers, product managers, and business partners. • Influence alignment through clear narrative and communication—managing stakeholders across teams with minimal oversight. • Shape shared understanding through compelling design narratives that connect AI design choices to user impact and business outcomes. • Partner with the design system team to ensure AI-enabled workflows, agentic UI patterns, and tool integrations are reflected in the system. Take ownership and drive outcomes • Lead problem spaces within the AI vertical, setting direction and defining success for complex, ambiguous initiatives. • Anticipate challenges and opportunities ahead of time, creating clarity before issues materialize across DAI, agents, and conversational AI. • Make prioritization and trade-off decisions that unblock teams and maintain momentum across the AI product portfolio. • Take accountability for progress and outcomes—shipping high-quality AI experiences that move the needle for customers and the business. Champion customer focus and research • Establish user research and customer insight practices within the AI vertical, ensuring empathy and evidence are embedded from problem framing through delivery. • Drive competitor and market analysis that shapes AI design direction and informs strategic priorities across teams. • Champion quality control by defining dogfooding rituals and feedback loops that surface issues early and raise the bar for AI experience quality. • Coach designers on research methods and ensure the voice of the customer is represented in cross-functional decisions about AI products. Mentor and grow the team • Shape design org culture within the AI vertical, driving initiatives that improve how designers work and grow. • Invest time in coaching and supporting designers—turning successful experiments into repeatable approaches that others can build on. • Provide mentorship and constructive feedback that fosters growth, skill development, and career progression for product designers. • Thrive in ambiguous or rapidly evolving contexts, and help others do the same. Requirements Experience and expertise • 8+ years as a Product Designer in a fast-paced environment, with at least 3 years operating at Staff level or above, leading holistic design for complex product areas. • Deep experience designing AI-powered products —including conversational interfaces, chatbots, AI agents, copilots, or intelligent automation. A portfolio that demonstrates this work is essential. • Proven track record of leading design for AI or ML products from zero-to-one and through iterative scaling. • Strong multi-disciplinary skills across UI, UX, interaction design, and visual design, with a proven ability to craft functional yet delightful experiences for complex workflows. AI and technical fluency • Deep understanding of AI/ML product design patterns —including prompt design, conversational UX, agentic workflows, human-in-the-loop patterns, progressive disclosure of AI capabilities, and trust calibration. • Comfort with technical AI concepts and the ability to collaborate deeply with ML engineers and AI researchers on interaction models, error states, and confidence thresholds. • Active use of AI tools in your own design workflow—prototyping, research synthesis, design exploration, or code-assisted design. Leadership and influence • Outstanding communicator and facilitator who can bring people together, build strong relationships, and gain alignment across teams through inspiring design narratives. • Experienced in mentoring and growing designers—providing guidance that enables them to learn, progress, and deliver high-quality work. • Comfortable navigating ambiguity at speed, driving clarity from complexity, and balancing user needs with business objectives in rapidly evolving product areas. • Strong cross-functional collaboration skills—builds trust with product, engineering, data science, and business partners to deliver coherent, impactful experiences. Mindset • Data-informed and evidence-driven—your design work is rooted in experimentation, user research, and measurable outcomes. • Passionate about the intersection of design and AI, with a genuine curiosity about how intelligent systems can transform complex global workflows. • Knowledge of payroll, HR, fintech, or compliance domains is a strong plus. Design & AI at Deel AI is changing how products are designed and built. At Deel, we’re excited about designers who are exploring how AI can enhance both the design process and the product experience. We’re looking for designers who are curious about emerging technologies and who actively experiment with AI in their work. This could include improving design workflows, prototyping faster, exploring new interaction patterns, or helping shape AI-powered product experiences. If you’ve worked on AI-related features or used AI tools as part of your design process, we’d love to see examples of that work in your portfolio. Total Rewards Our workforce deserves fair and competitive pay that meets them where they are. With scalable benefits, rewards, and perks, our total rewards programs reflect our commitment to inclusivity and access for all. • Our salary range reflects gross base salary. For commercial roles with commission eligibility, this figure represents On-Target Earnings (OTE), inclusive of base salary and target commission. • Salary ranges are quoted in USD as a consistent global reference. Your offer will be localized to your country's currency using a market-aligned conversion. • Final pay is based on objective, job-related criteria including experience, skills, and location. • We don't ask about salary history. Offers are based on the role and what you bring to it. Some things you'll enjoy • Stock grant opportunities dependent on your role, employment status and location • Additional perks and benefits based on your employment status and country • Optional flexible working office membership, with IWG At Deel, we're an equal-opportunity employer that values diversity and positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, pregnancy or maternity or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Unless otherwise agreed, we will communicate with job applicants using Deel-specific emails, which include @deel.com and other acquired company emails like @payspace.com and @paygroup.com. You can view the most up-to-date job listings at Deel by visiting our careers page. Deel welcomes persons with disabilities to apply to any of our open roles. We will provide application and/or interview accommodations on request throughout the recruitment, selection and assessment process for applicants with disabilities or other needs. If you require application and/or interview accommodations, please inform our Talent Acquisition Team via email (recruiting@deel.com) and a team member will be in touch to ensure your equal participation. As part of our hiring process, we primarily rely on interviews and role-related assessments. In limited cases, we may also consider informal background information relevant to the role, in line with our privacy and fairness obligations. This application process may utilise Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) and AI systems to assist in evaluating candidates based on experience level, technical skills and qualifications. This processing is conducted in compliance with applicable Data Protection, AI Governance and Labour Laws. We ensure human oversight is maintained in all final hiring decisions. Your personal data is not used to train AI models. For more information on how we process your personal data, please see our Recruitment Privacy Policy. • For NYC Residents: In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, an independent bias audit has been conducted on AEDT