About Instead
Instead is a tax platform designed to help taxpayers and tax professionals collaborate to save money on taxes. As the first company in decades to receive IRS approvals to E-file 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S, and 1065 — we're re-inventing a complex category. Founded in 2023, Instead combines LLMs with tax law to make tax management a continuous, proactive process rather than a dreaded annual deadline.
Instead's investors include Sarah Guo from Conviction (conviction.com), IRIS (irisglobal.com) the largest tax software provider in the UK and many of our partners and customers who believe in our mission and vision. The Instead team comprises talented leaders from leading tax, financial services and fintech companies — Gusto, Intuit, Zenefits, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer — as well as top tax & accounting firms such as PwC, BDO, RSM, and KPMG.
Instead was a 2024 Innovation Award Finalist in CPA Practice Advisor. Instead's CEO, Andrew Argue, is a CPA and has been named Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession twice - Ones To Watch and CPA Practice Advisors 20 under 40.
About the role
At Instead, we’re unlocking millions in tax savings for businesses and individuals—and we’re looking for a creative and talented Product Designer who is eager to contribute to our mission. You’ll join forces with our Head of Design and US-based design team, product managers, and engineers to design and refine our flagship Instead platform—guiding taxpayers and tax advisors from tax strategy discovery through to filing their tax returns. As you follow and contribute to our design system to craft intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that balance user needs with engineering requirements and sprint timelines. You’ll also collaborate closely with customer support, cross-functional product teams, and our US-based design team to ensure every interaction effortlessly empowers our users navigating a complex domain.
What you'll do
- Design user-friendly interfaces for the Instead platform that guide taxpayers through complex tax-saving strategies through rapid iterations
- Showcase your designs through rapid prototyping to stakeholders and customers
- Follow and evolve our design system, ensuring consistency across the product and simplify the design process
- Work closely with cross-functional teams (engineering, product, marketing) to create designs that are both user-friendly and technically feasible
- Coordinate with customer support and product teams to ensure designs meet user needs and customer expectations
- Regularly meet and collaborate with our US-based design team to to ideate, uphold design quality and maintain consistency
- Ensure engineering team output matches the quality and specifications of your designs
- Utilize a design toolkit to connect-the-dots across different product areas to solve design challenges
What you'll need
- 2+ years of experience in Product Design, UI, or a related visual design field
- An innovative portfolio demonstrating Product Design, UX/UI design, problem-solving, and successful project outcomes through a keen eye for detail
- An interest and exploration of AI design tools and practices
- Expert knowledge of UI design principles and techniques
- Knowledge of design systems and component libraries
- The ability and desire to keep learning, fail fast, and pivot
- Strong attention to detail and ability to defend user-centric design thinking
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- Proficient in Figma and knowledgeable or eager to use emerging AI design tools.
Nice to have
- Experience working with distributed global teams
- User research and testing methodologies
- Knowledgeable about front-end UI frameworks
- Experience designing for financial or tax-related products
- Familiarity with tax processes or financial services
Why join us
- Ability to work with next-gen AI in all stages of the design and software development lifecycle
- Direct design to code tooling for faster exploration
- Work on a cutting-edge tax tech platform that's transforming the industry
- Be part of a collaborative, mission-driven team
- Competitive compensation and benefits
- Opportunity to directly impact how users interact with complex tax strategies
- Work with innovative technology and contribute to meaningful user experiences
Equal Opportunity Employer - M/F/D/V
As a global business, we rely on diversity of culture and thought to deliver on our goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.
We trust our team with sensitive information, so all candidates who receive and accept employment offers must complete a background check before joining us.
Top Skills
What We Do
Instead is revolutionizing the tax industry with our AI-powered software, designed to simplify and optimize tax strategies, calculations, and filings for businesses and accountants. Our platform leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the entire tax process, making it more efficient and cost-effective for companies of all sizes.
Our current focus areas include:
Tax Strategy Optimization: We offer AI-powered analysis to identify potential tax savings opportunities across U.S. tax strategies. Our system automatically applies relevant strategies based on each user's unique financial situation, maximizing tax benefits.
Tax Calculations (Coming Soon): Our platform will provide precise tax calculations based on taxpayer scenarios, covering 63 U.S. income tax jurisdictions. This feature aims to reduce the time required for tax return preparation from 8-24 hours to less than 10 minutes.
Tax Filing (Coming Soon): We're developing a streamlined, AI-driven tax filing process that will simplify this complex task for businesses and tax professionals alike.
Our vision extends beyond the U.S. market, with plans to expand our services to cover tax strategies and calculations in most countries worldwide.
At Instead, we believe in making sophisticated tax management accessible and affordable. Our pricing structure starts at just $16 per month for businesses, with options tailored for sole proprietors, various business entities, and specialized needs.
For accounting firms, Instead Pro offers a powerful tool to expand services and deliver greater value to clients. Our AI-driven approach enables tax professionals to focus on complex issues and client relationships while automating routine tasks.
Join us in revolutionizing the tax industry. Whether you're a growing startup, an established enterprise, or a tax professional, Instead is designed to maximize your tax efficiency and fuel your financial growth. Experience the future of tax management with Instead.
