Design Lead

About the job

Midjourney is an independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species. We are a small, self-funded team focused on design, human infrastructure, and AI.

We don't think the future should look like yesterday's software. Our design team works across research, engineering, and product to make new capabilities feel intuitive, fun to use, and deeply human.

We're looking for a Design Lead to help lead that effort.

You'll partner closely with our Chief Design Officer to shape the future of Midjourney's products while building and leading the product design team.

This isn't a traditional management role. You’ll spend meaningful time designing, prototyping, reviewing work, and solving difficult product problems alongside your team. Most days you will be helping exceptional designers do the best work of their careers by building with them. If your favorite part of leadership is modeling what good looks like by collaborating and getting your hands dirty with your team, you’ll probably enjoy it here.

What you'll do

• Work closely with the Chief Design Officer to shape the direction of Midjourney's products.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead the product design team.
• Stay close to the work by designing key product experiences and helping teams solve their hardest design problems.
• Partner closely with engineering and research to turn new tech into intuitive product experiences.
• Establish design reviews and operating rhythms that help the team do its best work.
• Ensure a coherent experience across Midjourney's growing portfolio of products.

You might be a fit if

• You've spent the last decade designing software people love to use.
• You've led design teams, but you still want to be in Figma every day.
• You're as comfortable thinking through product strategy as you are refining a single interaction.
• You work well with engineers and like building things that don't have established playbooks.
• You care about craft and iterate until something feels right.
• You're comfortable using tools like Claude Code and Cursor as part of your workflow.
• You believe the best work comes from showing work early and often, and collaboratively iterating on unfinished work
• You're excited by the idea that AI requires entirely new interaction paradigms, not just new features.
• Work > ego
• Prototypes > presentations

Logistics

• Full-time. San Francisco Hybrid.
• Compensation: $285,000–$350,000 + benefits

To apply

A portfolio is required.

We care much more about what you've made than where you've worked. If this role excites you, we'd love to hear from you—even if you don't check every box.