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Founding Designer Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

C10 Labs

Founding Product Designer

Washington, DC · On-site +1

$40 - $50/hr

Founding Product Designer Department: Buckstop Employment Type: Contract Location: Washington, DC Compensation: $40.00 - $50.00 / hour Description About Buckstop Industries Founded in 2025, Buckstop ...

C10 Labs

Founding Product Designer

Washington, DC · On-site

$40 - $50/hr

Buckstop is looking for a highly talented Founding Product Designer to help shape the user experience, workflows, and visual direction of our platform. This is not a role for someone who simply ...

Rosendin Electric, Inc.

Designer II

Sterling, VA · On-site

Since our founding over 100+ years ago, Rosendin has been driven to positively impact the ... Designer II is a mid-level designer responsible for creating marked drawings, model development ...

Rosendin Electric, Inc.

Designer II

Hanover, MD · On-site

Since our founding over 100+ years ago, Rosendin has been driven to positively impact the ... Designer II is a mid-level designer responsible for creating marked drawings, model development ...

Rosendin Electric, Inc.

Designer III

Hanover, MD · On-site

Since our founding over 100+ years ago, Rosendin has been driven to positively impact the ... Designer III is a senior designer position responsible for the development of the design to show ...

Rosendin Electric, Inc.

Designer III

Sterling, VA · On-site

Since our founding over 100+ years ago, Rosendin has been driven to positively impact the ... Designer III is a senior designer position responsible for the development of the design to show ...

Ramboll

Associate Structural Designer

Arlington, VA · On-site

$57K - $83K/yr

You will join a global company that has been growing successfully since its founding in 1945 ... You will join our Structural Department As our new Structural Designer, you will be part of a ...

VHB

Senior Signal Engineer/Designer

Washington, DC · Hybrid

Overview ABOUT THE POSITION Senior Signal Engineer/Designer - Transit & Rail - Hybrid - Multiple ... Since our founding, we have intentionally fostered a culture of inclusion and belonging, supported ...

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Founding Designer information

See Washington salary details

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How much do founding designer jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 14, 2026, the average hourly pay for founding designer in Washington is $35.84, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $32.69 and $41.11 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a founding designer?

Founding Designers are design professionals who join a company at its earliest stages, often as one of the first design hires or even as a co-founder. Their role goes beyond traditional design work, as they help shape the company's brand, product direction, and user experience from the ground up. Founding Designers collaborate closely with other founding team members, influence the overall vision, and often set the design culture and processes for the organization. Their impact is significant because early design decisions can shape the company's trajectory and influence its long-term success.

What is the difference between Founding Designer vs Product Designer?

AspectFounding DesignerProduct Designer
CredentialsPortfolio, design experience, startup understandingPortfolio, design experience, user-centered design skills
Work EnvironmentEarly-stage startups, founding teamsEstablished companies, product teams
Industry UsageCommon in startups and new venturesWidespread across tech and non-tech companies
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding startup roles, founding team contributionsDesign responsibilities, career growth

Founding Designers focus on establishing the visual and user experience foundation in early-stage startups, often wearing multiple hats. Product Designers typically work within established teams to refine and develop products, emphasizing user-centered design. While both roles require strong design skills, Founding Designers are more involved in shaping the company's initial design direction, whereas Product Designers focus on ongoing product development and improvement.

What skills and qualifications are needed to thrive as a founding designer?

To thrive as a Founding Designer, you need a strong foundation in visual and interaction design, a robust portfolio, and experience in early-stage product development. Proficiency with design tools like Figma, Sketch, and Adobe Creative Suite, as well as familiarity with prototyping and collaboration platforms, is essential. Exceptional communication, adaptability, and entrepreneurial thinking help you collaborate effectively with technical and business teams in a dynamic startup environment. These skills ensure you can shape the product vision, build cohesive user experiences, and drive the company's design direction from the ground up.

What are the main challenges a founding designer faces when working in an early-stage startup environment?

As a Founding Designer in an early-stage startup, you'll often work with limited resources and shifting priorities. You'll collaborate closely with founders, engineers, and sometimes directly with customers to shape both the product and the brand vision from the ground up. The role requires balancing rapid prototyping, user feedback, and long-term design strategy, often in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment. While this can be challenging, it also offers significant autonomy and the opportunity to have a major impact on the company's trajectory and culture.
Founding Designer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Designer job openings in Washington as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 85% Full Time, 10% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $74,544 per year, or $35.8 per hour.

Founding Product Designer

C10 Labs

Washington, DC • On-site, Remote

$40 - $50/hr

Contractor

Re-posted 22 days ago

Job description

Founding Product Designer
Department: Buckstop
Employment Type: Contract
Location: Washington, DC
Compensation: $40.00 - $50.00 / hour
Description
About Buckstop Industries
Founded in 2025, Buckstop is building the intelligence layer for the circular economy. Our mission is to create a sustainable end-of-life for every electronic device on Earth, transforming yesterday's waste into tomorrow's resources.
We're reimagining how enterprises manage electronic assets by creating a platform that identifies, tracks, and maximizes the residual value of devices at scale. In a fragmented industry where value is lost through layers of intermediaries, Buckstop provides a single source of truth and execution.
Our founding team brings together leaders from manufacturing, logistics, reverse supply chains, energy, mining, and technology who have experienced the industry's challenges firsthand and are building the future of asset recovery and circular commerce.
Your assets. One platform. Maximum value. Full stop.
The Opportunity
Buckstop is looking for a highly talented Founding Product Designer to help shape the user experience, workflows, and visual direction of our platform.
This is not a role for someone who simply executes mockups.
We are looking for a designer who can evaluate what has already been built, understand the business and customer requirements, identify opportunities for improvement, and present thoughtful design solutions.
You will work directly with the founders, engineers, and customers to create intuitive workflows and enterprise-grade user experiences that make complex data and operational processes easy to understand and act upon.
The ideal candidate combines strong visual design skills with strategic product thinking and can confidently say:
"Here's what you've built, here's what's working, here's what isn't, and here are three approaches I'd recommend moving forward."
What You'll Do
Product & UX Strategy
  • Evaluate existing product experiences and identify usability improvements
  • Translate business requirements into intuitive user workflows
  • Create multiple design concepts and recommendations for key product initiatives
  • Partner with founders to shape product direction and user experience strategy
  • Help define design principles and standards across the platform

User Experience Design
  • Design end-to-end user journeys and workflows
  • Create wireframes, user flows, mockups, and interactive prototypes
  • Conduct usability reviews and recommend improvements
  • Simplify complex operational and analytical workflows into intuitive experiences
  • Design for enterprise users operating in logistics, asset management, manufacturing, and sustainability environments

Product Design & Systems
  • Create and maintain scalable design systems in Figma
  • Establish reusable components and interaction patterns
  • Ensure consistency across product experiences
  • Collaborate closely with engineering to ensure designs can be efficiently implemented
  • Participate in product roadmap and feature planning discussions

Founding Team Contributions
  • Bring product and customer insights into company discussions
  • Challenge assumptions and advocate for users
  • Help establish the product culture and design standards of the company
  • Work cross-functionally across engineering, operations, and leadership
  • Operate with a founder mentality and ownership mindset

What We're Looking For
Required Qualifications
  • 4+ years of experience in Product Design, UI/UX Design, or User Experience roles
  • Strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end product design work
  • Advanced proficiency in Figma
  • Experience creating wireframes, prototypes, user flows, and design systems
  • Strong understanding of UX principles, information architecture, and interaction design
  • Experience collaborating directly with engineering teams
  • Ability to clearly communicate design decisions and rationale

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience designing SaaS, enterprise software, analytics platforms, operational tools, or workflow applications
  • Experience in startup or early-stage environments
  • Familiarity with data-heavy applications, dashboards, and reporting tools
  • Experience conducting customer interviews and usability testing
  • Understanding of AI-enabled products and workflow automation

Who You Are
  • You have exceptional design instincts and attention to detail
  • You care deeply about both usability and visual quality
  • You are comfortable presenting multiple solutions to a problem
  • You think strategically rather than simply executing requests
  • You enjoy working directly with founders and engineers
  • You thrive in ambiguity and can create structure where none exists
  • You take ownership and operate with a builder mentality

Why Buckstop
  • Founding-team level influence on product direction
  • Direct collaboration with founders and engineering leadership
  • Opportunity to define the design language of an emerging category leader
  • Significant ownership and visibility across the company
  • Work on meaningful sustainability and circular economy challenges
  • Potential pathway into a long-term Product Design leadership role as the company scales

If you're excited about creating elegant experiences for complex enterprise workflows and helping shape a category-defining platform from the ground up, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply