Staff Product Designer in London

Staff Product Designer in London

London Full-Time 60000 - 75000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
Fleek

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Design innovative solutions for a mobile-first B2B marketplace in the fashion industry.
  • Company: Join Fleek, a fast-growing startup revolutionising secondhand fashion.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, equity, healthcare, and exclusive employee discounts.
  • Other info: Collaborative culture with high ownership and direct access to founders.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact on sustainability while working with cutting-edge AI technology.
  • Qualifications: Exceptional design skills, experience with design systems, and a passion for secondhand fashion.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 75000 £ per year.

Can you help us fix the world's most broken supply chain? The fashion industry produces over 100 billion garments a year. 60% end up in landfill, not because people don't want these clothes, but because the supply chain for getting secondhand fashion from donation to resale is completely offline, manual, and broken. Fleek is fixing this. Our mission is to make secondhand the first choice. We're building the infrastructure powering the global secondhand clothing trade, through a B2B marketplace and the AI systems digitising the supply chain behind it.

Through Fleek, vintage stores, online resellers, and retail buyers source graded secondhand inventory directly from wholesalers and rag houses across multiple countries. Our key enabler is FleekSort, an AI model fine-tuned on secondhand fashion, that can grade, price, and categorise items with just a photo, turning what has historically been an opaque and manual trade into a structured, searchable, and tradable global inventory layer. Since 2022, we've saved 9 million items from landfill and tripled in size year-on-year. We've raised ~$50M from a16z, Y Combinator, HV Capital, and others, and have recently closed our Series B. Our advisors and private investors include operators behind Depop, Shopify, and Postmates. Today, we serve thousands of resellers and retailers across the UK, Europe, and the US. With the secondhand fashion market projected to reach $350B by 2027, Fleek is building the AI-native operational and financial backbone for secondhand commerce globally.

We're looking for people who want to build something that matters, and move fast doing it. Sound good? Keep reading.

About the Role: We're hiring a Staff level Product Designer to join our design team, reporting directly to Miles Norris, VP Product & Design. You'll own real surface area from day one across a product spanning four surfaces: our customer app, supplier app, website, and internal tools. Working alongside and directly with the VP and founders, with no management layers in between.

The design problem here is unusually good. Fleek is a mobile-first B2B marketplace that has to behave like a consumer app. Design is a named differentiator bet in an AI-first company and this role leads that bet at the craft level, shipping exceptional end-product experiences while building the AI-first design system that engineers and agents will build from. This is an individual contributor role at Staff or Principal level, explicitly not a Head of or manager role. We're looking for someone who has genuinely crossed the line from owning the craft of a surface to setting the bar across a product area and coaching it into others.

What You'll Do:

  • Set the craft bar: own the design bar across a priority product area, deliver quickly while holding a high bar, intervene when the bar slips and coach craft into others.
  • Unblock product delivery: take a priority surface off the bottleneck, clear the design work blocking its PMs and establish a reliable design-review rhythm with product and engineering.
  • Build the AI-first design system: own the design system end to end and establish its governance, so consistency scales across surfaces and engineers and agents can pull from it in agentic workflows.
  • Lead discovery: drive the research cadence, get in front of customers directly, prototype as a way of asking questions and shape product direction through design insight with strong PM support around you.
  • Design for a multi-sided marketplace: hold buyer, supplier and ops experiences at once with mobile-heavy, consumer-grade craft across every surface.
  • Own end to end: discovery, interaction, visual, prototyping and engineering handoff, with the technical fluency to understand how your design decisions land in the architecture and codebase.
  • Raise the whole team: partner fluently with PMs and engineers, and lift the craft of the designers around you so the bar rises beyond your own surfaces.

What You Bring:

  • Exceptional craft and execution. Mobile-heavy, consumer-grade design at the highest level, delivered fast, with a portfolio of real-world product work that evidences your skills.
  • Worked design-systems experience. You've built and governed a design system in production, not just contributed components to one. This is a primary signal for us.
  • An AI-first mindset. You use AI instinctively in your own workflow and you're excited to design the system layer that AI agents will build product from.
  • End-to-end ownership. Discovery, interaction design, visual design, prototyping and engineering handoff, with fluent PM and engineering partnership throughout.
  • Genuine Staff/Principal altitude. You've worked as part of a product design team (not a career solo designer), you set the bar across an area rather than a single surface, and you've raised other designers' skill level.
  • Proven business impact. A track record of meaningful impact on both the product and the business grounded in first-source customer insight.
  • A genuine excitement for making secondhand fashion feel like the best consumer product its users own.

Nice to Have:

  • Marketplace or ecommerce experience.
  • You can code, or you're technically fluent enough to work close to the codebase.
  • Exec-ready communication and experience partnering with founders on longer-term vision.
  • Experience designing for mobile-only users in emerging markets.

What You'll Get:

  • Competitive salary plus performance bonus.
  • Generous equity: being on Fleek means you'll own a part of it.
  • Comprehensive healthcare coverage.
  • A collaborative team in a lovely office in the heart of East London.
  • Access to founders. We're a small team and they're heavily involved (and good fun!).
  • Exclusive employee discounts to buy on Fleek.
  • Access to borrow any item from our collection of vintage and reworks in the office.
  • A disproportionate level of responsibility and the opportunity to drive massive impact.

How We Work: High ownership, non-hierarchical, fast-moving. Founder-led with strong opinions loosely held. Design works embedded with product and engineering pods, ships on a fast cadence, and reports straight into the VP Product & Design.

The Practicalities: Location: London HQ, E1, Spitalfields / Shoreditch. Work model: On-site, 4 days per week. Stage: Post-Series B, hyper-growth. Team: 200 across London, India, and Pakistan. Culture: High ownership, non-hierarchical, fast-moving. Founder-led with strong opinions loosely held.

Our Values: Five values shape how we work at Fleek:

  • Dream Big and Disrupt Yourself: Push the most ambitious version of what you're building. Step out of your comfort zone. Nothing is out of reach.
  • Absolute Ownership: The buck stops with you. Drive initiatives to completion. Experiment, learn, persevere. The job isn't done until the job is done.
  • Curiosity Leads the Way: Don't accept anything at face value. Ask questions you don't know the answer to. That's how you innovate.
  • Talk to the Customer: Deeply understand their challenges, motivations, and ambitions. Every decision starts with the customer at the centre.
  • Embrace Diversity: A global team building for a global supply chain. Bring your authentic self and embrace the diversity of everyone you encounter.

Ready to build the infrastructure for the world's fastest-growing fashion economy? If you want to work on genuinely hard problems, with a world-class team, at a company that's tripling annually, we'd love to hear from you.

Staff Product Designer in London employer: Fleek

Fleek is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic and fast-paced work environment in the heart of London. With a strong focus on innovation and a culture that promotes high ownership and agility, employees are encouraged to experiment and grow alongside the company. As a VP Engineering, you will have the opportunity to lead a talented team, drive AI initiatives, and shape the future of the organisation while enjoying ample opportunities for professional development in a supportive, founder-led atmosphere.

Fleek

Contact Details:

Fleek Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Staff Product Designer in London

Get Down to the Fashion Events

Dive headfirst into local fashion shows, trade fairs, and networking events. These are golden opportunities to meet industry pros and showcase your passion for the industry in person. Plus, it gives you the chance to chat about potential roles at places like Fleek!

Join Fashion-Focused Communities

Become a part of online fashion communities on platforms like Instagram or Pinterest. Participate in discussions and share your insights on trends or your personal style journey. It’s a great way to get noticed by brands looking to fill positions, including Fleek.

Craft a Rock-Solid Portfolio

Since you're aiming for a full-time gig, your portfolio should reflect not just your best work but also your personality. Whether it’s lookbooks, design sketches, or styling projects, make sure it screams 'you' and includes a bit about why you’d be a perfect fit for Fleek.

Leverage Your University Connections

If you’re fresh out of university, don’t underestimate your career services. They often have partnerships with fashion companies for internships and entry-level roles. Use this to your advantage and connect with them to find any openings at Fleek!

We think you need these skills to ace Staff Product Designer in London

Product Design
Mobile-First Design
Design Systems
Prototyping
User Research
Interaction Design
Visual Design

Some tips for your application 🫡

Showcase Your Style:In the fashion-apparel industry, your personal style and understanding of current trends are crucial. Make sure your CV and cover letter reflect your unique fashion sense – use visuals if you can and highlight any fashion-related experiences or projects that show off your flair!

Highlight Relevant Experience:When you're applying for a full-time role, be sure to focus on any past roles or internships in fashion that’ve honed your skills. Whether that's working in retail, fashion design, or marketing, quantify your achievements and show how they relate to the role at Fleek.

Include a Strong Portfolio:An impressive portfolio is key in fashion! Make sure to include a link to your online portfolio in your CV, showcasing your best work, be it designs, campaigns, or styling projects. This is your chance to let your creativity shine and demonstrate your abilities to Fleek!

Craft a Standout Cover Letter:Use your cover letter to weave in your passion for fashion and the specific reasons you want to work at Fleek. Share your vision of how you'd contribute to their brand and why you're excited about their work. Tailoring this will make you stand out from the crowd!

How to prepare for a job interview at Fleek

Showcase Your Style Portfolio

For a role in the fashion-apparel industry, having a well-curated portfolio is essential. Ensure you include your best work that reflects your style and creativity, whether it's sketches, lookbooks, or completed designs. Be ready to discuss your design process and the inspirations behind your pieces!

Know the Latest Trends and Brands

Being well-versed in current fashion trends and influential brands can give you a leg up in the interview. Get familiar with what’s trending in the market and know your competitors. This shows your passion for the industry and helps you connect your work experience to current fashion trajectories.

Demonstrate Your Collaboration Skills

In a full-time fashion role, collaboration is key, whether you’re working with designers, marketers, or suppliers. Be prepared to share experiences where you successfully worked as part of a team or navigated challenges with colleagues. This will highlight your ability to adapt and thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Dress the Part

This might sound obvious, but in fashion, how you present yourself is part of your brand. Wear something that represents your personal style while still aligning with the company’s aesthetic. It’s a great way to show you understand the industry's essence and can embody the brand’s image!