Senior Product Designer - USA - Contractor

About the role

About Very (Remote - USA) Very is a fully distributed technology firm led by expert problem-solvers who create efficient, scalable solutions that move commercial, industrial, and consumer products from pilot to production in record time. We believe that real innovation happens in the grind, working shoulder to shoulder with clients who are building the future. Our team thrives on that energy. When we're not helping clients deliver business-critical outcomes, we're refining our craft and celebrating what it means to do hard things well. We've built a collaborative, tight-knit culture that thrives in both remote and in-person settings. We've won numerous workplace awards over the years, including Great Place to Work certification and recognition from Parity.org as a Best Company for Women to Advance. Our clients include well-known brands like Vizio, Peloton, Clear, iHeart Radio, and Fellowes - all determined to leverage connected devices and AI to drive meaningful impact. Our job is simple: help them win. About This Role We are seeking a senior product designer who can run the full arc of product design, from sitting with a client in the fog of an undefined problem to shipping a launched product. This role is for someone who works comfortably when the path isn't straight. You'll work directly with clients, sift through unknowns, contribute to strategy, and drive toward outcomes even when the brief is ambiguous and the target keeps moving. You'll run discovery workshops and alignment sessions, facilitate feedback with clients and their users, and partner closely with engineering throughout. We want beautiful craft, but craft in service of products that launch, not artifacts that sit in a file. We're embracing AI and exploring where it's best used. Using it doesn't mean we stop doing craft. We think AI is great for expanding on patterns, not creating them, and for building specific tools that let us design more fluidly across design and code. We pick and choose where it fits, and we never remove human judgment from the process. We want someone who has started folding AI into their own workflow and is eager to learn from, and push on, what we're building. What You'll Be Working On You will work directly with clients and their teams, from early discovery through launch, running the full arc of product design. You will own design across the full engagement lifecycle, including UX and UI design, interactive prototyping, research, data visualization, and design systems work. You will run discovery workshops and alignment sessions, facilitate feedback with clients and their users, and partner closely with engineering throughout. You will also ensure design QA happens and that shipped products reflect the craft and intent behind them. This role requires someone who is adaptable to whatever the work demands: comfortable in ambiguity and invested in outcomes, not just artifacts. Minimum Qualifications Experience At least 5-7 years of relevant design experience A track record of launching real products, not just polished concepts. Both zero-to-one and incremental work. Communication above all. Writing matters, but what matters more is your ability to speak, articulate your thinking, and carry a room. Self-direction and ownership. You scope your own work, manage its blast radius, and know when to push back or say no. Comfort with ambiguity, at both the design and business layer. Design systems thinking as a core competency. Someone already integrating AI into their practice, and energized rather than threatened by it. Technical Capabilities UX and UI design Interactive prototyping User research Data visualization Design systems Nice to Have IoT and connected-product experience React, HTML, and CSS (our team does this; we can teach it) Experience designing for data-heavy or analytical products, where the challenge is making complex information feel clear and actionable Experience designing agentic or AI-driven products, you understand how to design for systems that act, not just respond. Location and Residency Must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorship. Skills In addition to experience, these are the critical skills we look for in all technical roles, and how they should be demonstrated at the Senior level. Client Obsessed: Keeps the client's success front and center. Measures technical choices by their business impact. Clear Communicator: Collaborates effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders. Quality-Driven: Holds themselves to high standards for code quality and reliability. Ownership Mindset: Takes responsibility for delivering solutions that work in real-world conditions. Problem Solver: Thrive in complexity and find solutions even when requirements are evolving. Compensation USD $70 per hour Contract Type Independent contractor. You must have access to your own computer/device, design software and reliable internet. This is an ad-hoc hourly contractor (1099) engagement. Why Work for Very