Covalent is redefining how top industrial companies are qualifying their workforces and utilizing workforce data. We’re a fast-moving, SaaS startup building data-heavy tools that power the future of manufacturing and workforce management. Our platform enables supervisors and teams to make better, faster decisions with tools designed for frontline intelligence. We’re now building new AI/LLM capabilities to unlock the next wave of operational productivity — and we need an experienced designer to help us lead the charge.
As our lead design hire, you’ll own design across the company — from shaping user experiences to prototyping new AI/LLM-powered concepts. In the short term, you’ll collaborate with product and engineering to rapidly explore, prototype, and validate high-impact features. Over time, you’ll evolve into the design leader for the organization, helping us build scalable, beautiful, and intuitive workflows for our users.
This is a rare opportunity to define not only the user experience of a fast-growing product, but also our entire design culture, system, and strategy.
- Design user-centric experiences from concept to implementation, balancing usability with technical feasibility.
- Prototype and test new ideas — especially AI-driven features — with tools like Figma or similar.
- Lead UX discovery efforts through user research, interviews, usability testing, and feedback loops.
- Iterate rapidly based on insights, feedback, and changing priorities.
- Partner closely with engineering and product to scope and ship intuitive, high-impact features.
- Establish and evolve a design system that will scale with the platform.
- Lay the foundation for our internal design practice and help grow a thoughtful, consistent design language.
- Communicate clearly across teams and stakeholders to advocate for design and articulate your decisions.
Requirements
- 3+ years of experience in product or UX/UI design (B2B SaaS or data-heavy apps a plus).
- Fluency in Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or equivalent tools for wireframing and prototyping.
- Experience designing and shipping intuitive, user-first interfaces in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
- Strong user research and discovery skills; you’re comfortable speaking with users and turning insights into action.
- A systems thinker — capable of building and maintaining reusable components, patterns, and scalable design systems.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, and switching between high-level vision and tactical execution.
- A technical mindset — you can talk to engineers, understand constraints, and design realistic solutions.
- Familiarity with design thinking methodologies and customer discovery frameworks.
- Clear, confident communication skills — you can align stakeholders and tell compelling product stories.
- Strategic Vision — you can shape and drive the overall design vision in line with the company’s goals and product vision.
- Bonus: Experience with AI/LLM-powered UX or designing in frontier tech environments.
- Given the industries we serve, this position must meet Export Control compliance requirements, therefore a “US Person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 is required. “US Person” includes a US Citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.
Benefits
- Work directly with the Head of Product and co-founders on meaningful, high-impact problems.
- Becoming an early contributor to a growing technology organization in a high-growth startup
- Take ownership and leadership as our first design hire, helping define our product DNA.
- Build at the intersection of AI, manufacturing, and modern workforce tech.
- Fully remote with flexible hours and unlimited PTO.
- Annual home office stipend and learning and development program.
- Opportunities for professional development and career growth.
- Competitive compensation and meaningful equity — you’ll help shape the future and share in its success.
Covalent started as a research initiative to understand the drivers of the skills gap in advanced manufacturing and energy. With the most experienced workers retiring and the rapid adoption of new technology, the necessity for industrial employers to understand their workforce’s capability has never been more critical. However, our research uncovered that the majority of industrial employers still track worker qualifications offline, limiting access to data that can provide deep insight into how their workforce needs to evolve.
With this in mind, Covalent designed a unique, cloud-based software solution purpose-built to manage end-to-end qualifications in complex, industrial environments. In doing so, we capture data required to improve company operations, individual employment outcomes, and ultimately contribute to closing the skills gap.
We’re an agile, passionate team focused on improving workforce outcomes and delivering value to companies and individuals through access to better data.
Covalent Networks is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.