Founding Product Designer

About Kernel Kernel provides enterprise RevOps teams with AI-powered company data for their CRMs. We raised $14M in Series A funding from top VCs and operators at Plaid, OpenAI, and Slack to build an AI-native alternative to Dun & Bradstreet's entity and hierarchy data. RevOps teams at Navan, Gong, Mistral, and AlphaSense use Kernel to run their organizations.

At Kernel, we process ≈30B tokens a day and run 1.8M+ agents daily , all on an architecture that’s intentionally simple: one database, one queue. It’s minimalism built for massive scale (For reference, Wikipedia has 2.3B tokens in the English wikipedia). Our queue processes a daily volume on par with the entire Visa network’s transactions (~365M/day).

All of which has been built by a small but mighty team of engineers. The role You’ll be Kernel’s Founding Product Designer - a foundational hire with end-to-end ownership of core product UX. Your mission: simplify complexity .

Make a powerful product feel effortless: clearer workflows, sharper mental models, fewer decisions, more confidence.

What you’ll do

Own core UX end-to-end: flows, IA, interaction design, and visual craft. Run ground-truth discovery: lead user interviews, synthesize fast, turn insight into shipped changes. Prototype quickly: use whatever gets to a high-signal prototype (Figma, v0, Figma Make, etc.).

Ship with engineering + PM: tight loops, high quality in production, iterate fast. Build the design foundation: principles, patterns, lightweight system - without slowing the team down. 5% “other stuff”: occasional help with decks/narrative when it moves the business.

What we’re looking for (impact > seniority) Founding designer experience is a plus, but not a requirement - what matters most is that you have early-stage startup experience and can point to tangible examples of transforming a business through design. You’ve shipped meaningful product work and can walk through decisions + outcomes. You’re strong at simplifying complexity (not just polishing UI).

You can run discovery independently and get to the truth. You move fast , communicate clearly, and collaborate tightly with engineers. You have taste and execution: prototype → production details. ⚠️ This role may not be for you if you: Need other designers to work best.

Need perfect clarity before starting. Prefer long cycles and big “reveals.” Want fully remote work (we move faster in-person).

What We Offer

We will do our best to offer you a ride of a lifetime. It will not be easy, but it will be thrilling. 💰 Salary: £120,000 – £180,000 base + equity 🗓️ 24 days holiday per year + bank holidays ✈️ 2 weeks work-from-anywhere 💼 Pension plan 💻 Top-spec equipment and central London office 🏆 High-autonomy, high-trust environment with a small team shipping at pace 🍽️ Free dinner at the office 🎉 Team events and dinners 🚀 Work directly with the founders to scale the systems that power enterprise AI 🎫 Visas & Relocation We sponsor visas for exceptional candidates and provide relocation support for those moving to London. 👉 Interview Process Stage 1: Introductory Call with De-Vene (45 minutes) Stage 2: Founding Team Conversation with Marcus (30 min) Stage 3: Take-Home Assessment with Remote Working Session with Stefan & Sam (60 minutes) Final Stage: Founders Interview

• A conversation with Anders (CEO) and Marcus (co-founder) focused on values alignment and long-term vision (45 minutes). Following Mutual Fit: Reference checks and offer stage.

ABOUT KERNEL

Kernel provides enterprise RevOps teams with AI-powered company data for their CRMs. We raised $14M in Series A funding from top VCs and operators at Plaid, OpenAI, and Slack to build an AI-native alternative to Dun & Bradstreet's entity and hierarchy data. RevOps teams at Navan, Gong, Mistral, and AlphaSense use Kernel to run their organizations.

At Kernel, we process ≈30B tokens a day and run 1.8M+ agents daily, all on an architecture that’s intentionally simple: one database, one queue. It’s minimalism built for massive scale (For reference, Wikipedia has 2.3B tokens in the English wikipedia). Our queue processes a daily volume on par with the entire Visa network’s transactions (~365M/day).

All of which has been built by a small but mighty team of engineers. THE ROLE You’ll be Kernel’s Founding Product Designer - a foundational hire with end-to-end ownership of core product UX. Your mission: simplify complexity.

Make a powerful product feel effortless: clearer workflows, sharper mental models, fewer decisions, more confidence.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own core UX end-to-end: flows, IA, interaction design, and visual craft.
• Run ground-truth discovery: lead user interviews, synthesize fast, turn insight into shipped changes.
• Prototype quickly: use whatever gets to a high-signal prototype (Figma, v0, Figma Make, etc.).
• Ship with engineering + PM: tight loops, high quality in production, iterate fast.
• Build the design foundation: principles, patterns, lightweight system - without slowing the team down. - 5% “other stuff”: occasional help with decks/narrative when it moves the business. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR (IMPACT > SENIORITY)
• Founding designer experience is a plus, but not a requirement - what matters most is that you have early-stage startup experience and can point to tangible examples of transforming a business through design.
• You’ve shipped meaningful product work and can walk through decisions + outcomes.
• You’re strong at simplifying complexity (not just polishing UI).
• You can run discovery independently and get to the truth.
• You move fast, communicate clearly, and collaborate tightly with engineers.
• You have taste and execution: prototype → production details. ⚠️ THIS ROLE MAY NOT BE FOR YOU IF YOU:
• Need other designers to work best.
• Need perfect clarity before starting.
• Prefer long cycles and big “reveals.” - Want fully remote work (we move faster in-person).

WHAT WE OFFER

We will do our best to offer you a ride of a lifetime. It will not be easy, but it will be thrilling. - 💰 Salary: £120,000 – £180,000 base + equity - 🗓️ 24 days holiday per year + bank holidays - ✈️ 2 weeks work-from-anywhere - 💼 Pension plan - 💻 Top-spec equipment and central London office - 🏆 High-autonomy, high-trust environment with a small team shipping at pace - 🍽️ Free dinner at the office - 🎉 Team events and dinners - 🚀 Work directly with the founders to scale the systems that power enterprise AI 🎫 VISAS & RELOCATION We sponsor visas for exceptional candidates and provide relocation support for those moving to London. 👉

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Stage 1: Introductory Call with De-Vene (45 minutes) Stage 2: Founding Team Conversation with Marcus (30 min) Stage 3: Take-Home Assessment with Remote Working Session with Stefan & Sam (60 minutes) Final Stage: Founders Interview

• A conversation with Anders (CEO) and Marcus (co-founder) focused on values alignment and long-term vision (45 minutes). Following Mutual Fit: Reference checks and offer stage.