⚠️ Please read first
This is a full-time, in-person role based in San Francisco (Presidio) - we work from the office 5 days a week.
You must be based in the Bay Area or willing to relocate before starting.
We require US work authorisation, but are open to O-1 or J-1 visa sponsorship for exceptional candidates.
About Sauna by Wordware
Most AI products hand you a coworker on day one and hope you trust it. Sauna is the coworker you raise: it starts by learning how you work, earns autonomy task by task, and ends up running hours of work on its own while you keep taste, review, and the final say. Wordware is the ~20-person team behind it, backed by Spark Capital, Felicis, and Y Combinator with a $30M seed, the largest in YC history. We build from a San Francisco office in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, and we work absurdly hard because we can see and feel the outcome every day.
About the Role:
We're looking for a Designer to make Sauna beautiful, from the brand that represents it to the pixel-perfect screens users see every day. This isn't an abstract "design thinking" role. You'll take user flows the product team has designed and execute them to the highest visual standard: typography, color, spacing, interactions, all of it. You'll also own how Sauna looks to the world: brand guidelines, marketing materials, and the visual identity that earns attention. You'll report to the CEO and Head of Product.
Heads-up: while we don't use seniority titles at Wordware, this role is intended for designers with 3+ years of experience who have already shipped polished work at a company that cares about craft.
What You'll Do:
Turn user flows into pixel-perfect, production-ready Figma files
Work closely with the product designer and engineering to ensure visual fidelity across all surfaces
Build and maintain brand guidelines: typography, color, iconography, visual language
Design all outward-facing brand assets: website, social, launch content, decks
Own the visual consistency of the product across web, mobile, and email
Move fast: iterate on designs in hours, not days
Who You Are:
Minimum:
Have 3+ years of visual design experience, with a portfolio that shows pixel-level craft
Be proficient in Figma: you prototype and specify in Figma faster than anyone
Understand the difference between design and art: every decision serves a user and a goal
Have strong brand instincts: you can take a brand direction and build a complete system from it
Be able to execute from a brief without needing to own the strategy
Work cleanly: organized files, clear naming, design systems you'd actually want to maintain
Bonus (but not required):
Experience at a fast-growing startup that shipped a polished consumer product
Motion design skills (Figma prototyping, Lottie, After Effects)
Experience designing for both product and brand in the same company
A personal aesthetic: something distinct in your portfolio that isn't just "clean and minimal"
AI tools already in your workflow (Figma AI, code assistants, etc.)
A portfolio of brand work: logos, visual identities, design systems
Compensation & Benefits:
Base salary: $140K–$220K + meaningful early-stage equity + health, dental, 401(k), considerable PTO, gym budget, lunch.
The Process:
We keep our process simple. Exceptional candidates go from first touch to offer within 2 weeks.
1. Application: Submit your resume and answer a few short questions.
2. 15-minute intro call: Quick check to align on location, motivation, and logistics. If it's a go, we move fast from here.
3. Portfolio review & craft interview: Walk us through your work and the decisions behind it.
4. Final conversation: We answer your questions and scope out the work trial.
5. Work trial: Paid, in person, usually a few days to two weeks. You work on a real project with us. See how we work, see if it fits, both sides.