Design Lead

Design Lead at Alva Labs

The workforce is currently undergoing a massive transformation. Up to 50% of today’s jobs are predicted to change in terms of the skill sets required in just a few years. This makes it very difficult to understand how to evaluate talent, and closing this skill gap is rapidly becoming the most important problem for companies across the world to solve.

Because let's face it, you are more than your CV, and there is no way any company can accurately predict how you will perform in your role based on that. Especially not when the role you have will change so much, so quickly.

At Alva, we are committed to building an inclusive product that provides everyone with an equal opportunity to showcase their capabilities and where candidates can efficiently be matched with relevant job opportunities. We are currently seeking a Design Lead to lead our Product Design function and help us change how the world views talent, today and tomorrow.

The company

Alva Labs is a Stockholm-based SaaS company that offers a solution that is helping global companies grow their team in a scientific way. Alva has created a unique candidate assessment platform that helps companies build their organizations with the right people in the right place. Combining state-of-the-art psychometrics, data science, and an obsession with candidate experience, it provides the needed tool for data-driven talent acquisition.

Our main focus as of now is adapting our offering to larger and more complex organizations. We believe that by serving this segment, we maximize our impact on how the market views talent. We are therefore working on large product bets as well as adapting our go-to-market strategies. In this effort, getting product design right is crucial and the Design Lead will have significant impact on the future success of our company.

The role

As Design Lead, you will report directly to the COO and be the leader of our design team. We expect you to own the long-term product design vision that aligns with the product strategy, ensuring that every interaction with the product is seamless, intuitive, and delightful.

You will:

• Oversee the end-to-end design process to ensure the design team's alignment with user needs and business goals.

• Integrate the user perspective into the design mindset, ensuring it is part of every product development phase and focuses on solving the right problems.

• Conduct prototyping and rapid validation to align stakeholders and ensure momentum in the right direction.

• Ensure cross-departmental communication, project coordination, and the integration of design principles into product development processes.

• Attract, retain, and develop top-tier design talent, fostering a culture of continuous learning, creativity, and high performance within the design team. We currently have three product designers, one per product squad.

• Lead cross-functional collaboration and leadership efforts, working alongside the CTO and CPO, to promote effective teamwork across Design, Product, and Engineering.

Additionally, you will contribute to hands-on design work in one of our three squads, working with product managers and engineering managers from the early product stages to the final development of features and functionality.

You

We are seeking a Design Lead with a solid track record of working with design systems and launching products. Ideally, your experience comes from a SaaS product, but we value your expertise regardless of whether it lies in B2C, B2B, or agency contexts. The important aspect for us is that you have a history of seeing your designs being shipped to production and having iterated on them based on user feedback.

To be a successful candidate, you:

• Have significant work experience as a Product Designer, UI/UX Designer, and/or Visual Designer. Experience as a team lead would be valued.

• Possess core design skill sets, including visual design, prototyping, interaction design, and information architecture.

• Are very comfortable with planning, conducting, and analyzing user research.

• Excel in explaining your work, process, and findings to cross-functional stakeholders, actively seeking feedback to produce your best work.

• Take ownership over design projects from start to finish, independently involving and leading contributors such as product managers, engineers, and people scientists to a successful outcome.

• Are interested in taking a leadership role and have talent for being a leader

• Have a strong grasp over the long term design vision and strategy of a product in order to guide the design team towards creating a delightful product.

Your future colleagues

We are a team of 60+ people, representing a wide selection of professional backgrounds. The common denominator is the excitement for our mission: to create a fair and efficient job market. We have high ambitions and are eager to create true impact and value for our customers and candidates. There is for sure a lot of engagement and eagerness to build something spectacular together with other highly talented individuals.

What we offer

The problem we are solving is not just engaging and interesting (the combination of psychological science and statistics, with a large chunk of candidate experience obsession, what’s not to love?), but it is also something that has a tremendous impact on both people and businesses. You will have the opportunity to work with something that truly makes a difference.

What else? We have flexible work hours in a hybrid setup, where we spend 3 days at the office and 2 days hybrid (on-site or remote, based on individual preferences). You will get seven weeks of vacation, an on-market salary, a generous preventive care benefit, and a few other neat perks. You can read all about our benefits → here ← and our company values → here ←.

The hiring process

Given that we claim to be experts in hiring, you probably wonder what we have in store for you.

• Application with screening questions.

• Screening with Alva’s psychometric tests and offline portfolio review.

• First interview (focusing on who you are) with HR.

• Deep dive portfolio review with manager and designer colleagues.

• Case together with future close colleagues.

• Background check (yes, we do take security seriously).

• Offer, sign, and happy dance!