Product Design Lead

Our mission is to architect AI that learns from and interacts with the world like humans do.

We're pioneering the model architectures that will make this possible. Our founding team met as PhDs at the Stanford AI Lab, where we invented State Space Models or SSMs, a new primitive for training efficient, large-scale foundation models. Our team combines deep expertise in model innovation and systems engineering paired with a design-minded product engineering team to build and ship cutting edge models and experiences.

We're funded by leading investors at Index Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, along with Factory, Conviction, A Star, General Catalyst, SV Angel, Databricks and others. We're fortunate to have the support of many amazing advisors, and 90+ angels across many industries, including the world's foremost experts in AI.

About the Role

Cartesia is looking for a Product Design Lead to shape how developers experience our cutting-edge AI voice and sound generation technology. This is a hands-on management role where you'll own our getting started experience end-to-end while building design cohesiveness across all product surfaces. You'll be the design voice at the table, driving our product strategy through deep competitive analysis and establishing a world-class design culture from the ground up.

Your Impact

• Own the complete getting started experience, from first discovery to successful API integration, ensuring every touchpoint feels intuitive and drives activation

• Establish and maintain design systems that create visual and interaction consistency across our developer dashboard, API interfaces, documentation, and web properties

• Conduct regular competitive analyses of AI infrastructure and developer tool companies, surfacing product gaps and opportunities to inform our roadmap

• Push the bar on craft and quality across every pixel and interaction, transforming fragmented experiences into a unified product narrative

• Manage a small team of designers with hands-on coaching, career development, and recruiting as we scale

• Partner closely with engineering, product, and go-to-market teams to ship impactful features that balance technical capabilities with user needs

• Translate complex technical concepts into intuitive experiences designed specifically for developer audiences

• Advocate for design perspective in product strategy discussions and help shape what we build next

• Foster a culture of high craft, rapid iteration, and user empathy that becomes foundational to how Cartesia operates

• Drive measurable improvements in how Cartesia shows up, from time-to-value metrics to the design culture we're known for

What You Bring

• First-line management experience leading designers while maintaining a strong IC practice

• Exceptional design sense with a portfolio demonstrating craft across visual design, interaction design, and systems thinking

• Comfort designing for technical audiences—APIs, developer tools, and B2B products (not purely consumer-focused)

• Deep fluency with design tools and ability to move quickly from concept to high-fidelity execution

• Experience working alongside world-class designers at companies known for design excellence

• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, ship iteratively, and wear multiple hats in a startup environment

Nice to Have

• Experience at leading tech companies, combined with startup experience

• Background designing developer experiences

• Technical depth or coding experience that enables stronger collaboration with engineers

• Experience in the AI/ML product space or adjacent technical infrastructure products

• Track record of establishing design culture and processes at early-stage companies

What We Offer

🍽 Lunch, dinner and snacks at the office

🏥 Fully covered medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees

🏦 401(k)

✈️ Relocation and immigration support

🦖 Your own personal Yoshi

🏢 In-office policy: We’re an in-person team based out of offices in 🇺🇸 San Francisco, 🇬🇧 London and 🇮🇳 Bangalore We love being in the office, hanging out together, and learning from each other every day.

🌎 Visa sponsorship: We provide visa sponsorship support and assess each circumstance on a case-by-case basis. However, visa sponsorship is dependent on many factors, including the role you are applying for, and the location you are going to be based, and so we can't always guarantee success. Your Recruiter will work with you to understand your visa sponsorship needs from the first call.

🚢 We ship fast. All of our work is novel and cutting edge, and execution speed is paramount. We have a high bar, and we don’t sacrifice quality or design along the way.

🤝 We support each other. We have an open & inclusive culture that’s focused on giving everyone the resources they need to succeed.

💰 Compensation. Competitive base salary alongside attractive equity package.

🚆 Commuter Allowance. A monthly stipend to help you get to and from the office.

🏖️ Flexible PTO. Take as much time as you need to recharge your batteries.

🍲 Meals & Snacks. Lunch, dinner and plenty of snacks, provided daily.

🦖 Your own personal Yoshi.