AthenaHQ is the leading platform for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), helping brands improve their visibility across AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude.
Founded by a former Google Search PM and backed by the creator of Google Image Search, Y Combinator, and angels from DeepMind, Anthropic, and OpenAI, we work with brands like Coinbase, SoFi, and Twilio to help them win in the new era of AI-powered search.
The roleWe’re hiring our first designer.
You'll partner directly with the founders and engineers to shape how marketers understand their visibility across AI engines, bring clarity to complex and data-rich surfaces, and raise the bar for product quality across the board.
This is a high-ownership role for a senior product designer who wants to work close to the product strategy, talk to customers, and help define how design works at Athena from the ground up.
What you’ll doDesign the product end-to-end across key areas: research, user flows, UI, prototyping, and polish
Work closely with founders, engineers, and customers to turn insights into product decisions
Improve and unify workflows across the product so Athena feels like a cohesive platform, not a collection of features
Design clear, elegant experiences for complex and data-rich product surfaces
Build the first version of our design system and establish strong product design patterns
Contribute to product thinking and bring clear perspective in strategy and prioritization conversations
Billing
5+ years of product design experience, ideally including time in B2B SaaS or enterprise software
Enjoy diving deep into uncovering user pain
A portfolio with one or two projects you can talk about deeply, including the problem, constraints, tradeoffs, and outcome
Experience designing data-dense interfaces such as dashboards, analytics, or reporting products
Strong product judgment and a habit of asking why before jumping to solutions
The ability to simplify complexity and create clarity in products with dense information and multi-step workflows
Comfort operating in ambiguity and driving work forward with a high level of ownership
A collaborative working style and a strong taste for product quality and detail
Experience with AI-native or workflow-automation products
Background designing for marketing, growth, or SEO teams
Experience building a design system from scratch
Basic frontend fluency, especially the ability to collaborate closely with engineers
Competitive salary and meaningful equity
Health insurance
A founding-level seat at the table
A team that ships and cares deeply about craft
Food and drinks
Fulfillment with your life
Competitive work environment
What We Do
Action on AI Search with Athena. Backed by Y Combinator, FCVC (seed investor in Coinbase, Instacart, Webflow, Rippling), Eli Schwartz, and current and former CMOs, AthenaHQ is the preferred AI-search partner for forward-thinking marketing organizations Featured on Forbes, WSJ, and Business Insider. Trusted by hundreds of next-gen marketing teams at Paperless Post, Ollie, Checkr, OneSignal, and more.
