Principal Product Designer

Overview

As Principal Product Designer, you’ll lead the creation of Phia’s product experience from the ground up, defining the design vision while scaling the systems, teams, and processes needed to move fast. You’ll operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Leadership to turn ambiguous problems into clear, compelling product experiences. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who thrives in rapid iteration, isn’t afraid of bold bets, and knows how to build high‑quality design at startup speed.

You’ll set the bar for craft, velocity, and impact as Phia grows from zero to one and beyond.

Phia is building the AI layer that connects consumers and brands, powering a personalized shopping agent that translates real‑time consumer intent into trusted product discovery. Launched in April 2025, Phia has surpassed 1 million users in under a year and partnered with 6,200+ retail brands, representing billions in annual gross merchandise volume. Each month, Phia drives millions of dollars in sales for brands and has achieved 11× revenue growth since launch, with partners seeing higher conversion rates, stronger new customer acquisition, increased average order value, and significantly reduced return rates.

Phia’s core experience is an AI shopping agent embedded directly within users’ natural shopping flow, delivering real‑time insights that help users make smarter, more confident purchase decisions.

Phia is a small, high‑ownership team building at startup speed. If you want to ship at high velocity, solve complex problems in consumer AI and commerce, and have clear ownership from day one, this is the place to do it.

• Own Phia’s product design vision and execution end to end, from zero to one to scale
• Set the bar for product quality, craft, and speed across all user experiences
• Build, lead, and scale high‑impact product design teams in a fast‑moving environment
• Drive design decisions in ambiguous problem spaces and turn ideas into shipped product quickly
• Partner tightly with Product, Engineering, and Leadership to shape product strategy and priorities
• Define and evolve design systems that enable rapid iteration and consistent experiences
• Push bold experimentation while maintaining a cohesive product experience
• Stay close to the work – reviewing, guiding, and unblocking teams to keep momentum high
• Use user insights and data to inform decisions and measure impact

• 10+ years of product design experience, including senior leadership roles in high‑growth products
• Proven experience leading design in zero‑to‑one or early‑scale environments
• Strong product sense and high bar for craft across interaction, visual, and systems design
• Track record of building and scaling design teams that ship quickly and well
• Experience partnering closely with Product and Engineering leadership
• Comfort operating at speed in ambiguous, evolving environments
• Clear, direct communicator with strong influence across functions

Compensation Range: $210K – $250K