Executive Founding Product Designer Jobs in Raleigh, NC

The Product Design team at Pendo works closely with senior product leaders and sits at the center of product strategy and delivery. The team operates close to both the problem and the build, using LLM-assisted exploration, code-level prototyping, and customer validation before work moves into Figma for systems and polish. Designers ship across a multi-app platform with a high bar for craft, reliability, and product impact.

As a Staff Product Designer, you will lead design across the platform and move toward the highest-impact work. You will own projects end-to-end, from problem framing through shipping, partnering with product and engineering to make sophisticated experiences feel simple. AI-assisted workflows are part of how this team works every day, and this role is expected to use, improve, and share those workflows.

This role is based in our Raleigh office.

• Platform design leadership: Lead design across multiple product areas and own projects from problem framing through shipping. Partner with product and engineering to reduce complexity without losing capability, starting from customer need rather than feature requests.
• Prototyping and validation: Build interactive prototypes using code-adjacent tools and validate them with real users before engineering investment. Use findings to sharpen flows, surface edge cases, and improve the work before full systemization.
• AI-integrated workflow: Use AI tools actively across the design process, including LLMs for problem framing and brief development, Cursor and Claude for prototyping, and generative tools for faster interface exploration. Document and share prompts, patterns, and workflows with design and engineering partners.
• Design systems: Translate and evolve Pendo's design principles into reusable components and patterns. Identify when to extend existing systems and when to push them forward, then drive those decisions with stakeholders.
• Cross-functional alignment: Influence technical and product requirements upstream and communicate design rationale clearly with executive audiences. Surface issues before they become blockers and make the design case with data, principles, and demonstrated craft.
• Team elevation: Give feedback to other designers that is direct, principled, and growth-oriented. Share AI-native workflows, documented prompts, and repeatable patterns that improve the output of designers and engineers around you.

Beyond the qualifications, we hire through a specific lens. These aren't buzzwords; they're the things we'll actually look for in how you talk about your work.

You're a builder, not a maintainer.

You're most energized when there isn't a clear path yet, and you get to define it. You don't wait for direction; you identify gaps, shape solutions, and drive them forward. At Pendo, great Staff Product Designers don't just follow instructions; they operate as strategic advisors, influencing decisions, guiding stakeholders, and elevating how we work.

You're AI-curious - genuinely.

You're not using AI tools occasionally. You're rewiring how you work around them. You're faster, sharper, and more prolific because of it, and you bring that energy to everything - how you approach your work, how you prep, how you communicate, how you think. We want someone who sees AI as a multiplier, not a shortcut.

• 5 or more years of product design experience across enterprise B2B SaaS, with demonstrated ownership across multiple surface areas or product lines at the same time.
• A portfolio that shows measurable business outcomes, strong visual craft, and a clear point of view on simplifying complex systems. The work should be strong enough to stand on its own without a verbal overlay.
• Proven ability to prototype in code or work close enough to front-end development to validate ideas without waiting for engineering. Comfort with tools such as Cursor, v0, Replit, or equivalent tools is expected.
• Active use of AI tools in daily design workflows, including LLMs for framing and brief development, generative tools for exploration, and AI-assisted prototyping for iteration.
• A track record of influencing product and engineering requirements upstream, with product and engineering leadership viewing you as a credible design voice rather than a downstream dependency.
• Strong written communication and the ability to articulate design rationale clearly in writing, even when the artifact is not in the room.

• Experience designing AI- or ML-assisted interfaces where AI output is a first-class part of the user experience.
• Deep expertise in data visualization, including accessibility, interaction design, and data storytelling across complex, high-density datasets.
• Experience contributing to design culture through shared standards, critique frameworks, or mentorship in measurable ways.
• Familiarity with Pendo as a product or with the product analytics and digital adoption platform category.

Pendo was founded in 2013 by former product managers, who combined their heads and hearts to build something they wanted but never had as product managers: a simple way to understand and attack what truly drives product success. Our mission is to improve society's experience with software. Come join one of the fastest-growing startups, supported by best-in-class institutions like Battery Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Spark Capital and Meritech.

Pendo Core Values: Bias to Act, Hone Your Craft, The Team is Pendo, and Maniacal Focus.

Location: Pendo is a hybrid culture. In-office 3 days per week unless designated remote.

Compensation: The expected salary range for this role to be performed in Raleigh, NC is $150,000 - $165,000.

Benefits: Highly competitive, employer-heavy coverage, including $0 premium options, strong 401(k) match, equity, and flexible time off.

EEOC: We are an equal opportunity employer and believe having diverse teams where everyone brings their whole self to Pendo is key to our success. We welcome all people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives.

Accessibility: Pendo is committed to working with, and providing access and reasonable accommodation to, applicants with mental and/or physical disabilities. If you think you may require an accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, please send a request to: accommodation@pendo.io. All requests for accommodations are treated discreetly and confidentially, as practical and permitted by law.