Product Designer

Product Designer

Full-Time 60000 - 110000 £ / year (est.) Hybrid
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Create exceptional user experiences for installers in the renewables sector.
  • Company: Join a fast-growing startup on a mission to revolutionise heat pump installations.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, 33 days holiday, and hybrid working.
  • Other info: Collaborative team culture with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact on carbon emissions while designing innovative solutions.
  • Qualifications: 3+ years of product/UI design experience, ideally in a startup environment.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 110000 £ per year.

In just over two years, we’ve gone from 0 to over 750 customers, succeeding where many have tried and failed before.

We have a big mission: to make it wildly easier and more profitable to run and grow a renewables installation business – and through that to make a massive dent in the world’s carbon emissions and create a hugely better experience for homeowners.

We’re now looking for a stellar Product Designer who’s buzzing to create exceptional experiences for installers as we expand into new markets.

  • About Spruce
  • Almost 20% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from heating homes – there’s simply no way to make reach net zero without phasing out gas and oil boilers.

Right now the only serious alternative is heat pumps, with their almost‑magical ability to turn 1 k W of electricity into 3‑5 k W of heat.

But the heat pump installation journey is slow, inefficient, and just so painful.

This makes it hard for existing installers to grow their businesses and puts off gas engineers from starting to do heat pumps.

Perhaps most critically, it means you can’t currently offer a heat pump when someone’s boiler breaks and they urgently need heating.

  • We’re fixing this.

We’ve built a platform for heat pump installers to manage the whole installation journey from initial enquiry through to final compliance paperwork, freeing up their time to focus on what really matters: doing high‑quality installations, providing great customer service, and scaling their business.

Despite only getting started at the beginning of 2024, we’re having a massive impact on installation businesses, suppliers, and manufacturers across the UK: halving the time they spend on each job and doubling their sales conversion rates.

  • We raised a chunky Seed round last year from top-tier investors and have been scaling the team to massively grow our impact.

We’re in the process of expanding outside heat pumps and by the end of the year will be an operating system for the whole home renewables supply chain.

If you can picture a combination of Service Titan, Procore, and auto CAD, you might get a sense of where we’re headed.

The Role

You’ll be central to our mission as we turn historically slow and painful processes into ones that are quick, intuitive and even delightful for installers.

We’ve been design‑led since the beginning but the challenge is only growing as our product becomes (necessarily) more complex.

Day‑to‑day you’ll be

  • Making complex decisions feel effortless – Our platform handles everything from building physics calculations to fluid dynamics modelling to complicated compliance requirements.

We need to make handling that complexity feel effortless for all our customers, irrespective of how tech‑savvy they are.

  • Designing across multiple touchpoints – You'll work on desktop design tools, homeowner‑facing outputs, enquiry flows, mobile survey apps (incl Li DAR), and collaborative workflows that work seamlessly across different user types (from 3‑person local installers to national utilities).
  • Collaborating closely with developers & shipping code yourself – Understanding data structures and technical constraints so your designs can be shipped quickly; and shipping PRs yourself when it makes sense (with the support of the dev team).
  • Building systematic, scalable design systems – Creating robust, structured, and reusable components that work across platforms and for potentially low‑tech users.
  • Researching and validating - Interviewing and spending time with installers to deeply understand how they work and what the core problems to solve are; and building quick prototypes to test and validate design decisions and uncover unexpected pain points.

About You

  • We’re looking for a designer with
  • 3+ years of product/UI design experience

(and potentially a lot more), ideally in a startup context or within fast‑paced, impact‑focussed teams. We'd love to speak with you if you are:

  • A clear, systematic thinker who loves tackling complex flows.
  • Comfortable with diving into technical detail, even if it’s a new domain.
  • User‑obsessed; you enjoy deeply understanding the user, solving their problems and making a tangible impact on them.
  • Great with people and confident running research with customers.
  • Proactive and self‑organising, happy juggling multiple projects.

Bonus if you’ve worked on tools for field teams, low‑tech users, or on operational workflows (but absolutely not a requirement!).

  • Our offer
  • £60-110k salary, depending on experience.
  • Meaningful slice of equity (options) in the company.
  • 33 days holiday and opportunity to work from abroad for another 30 days each year.
  • Hybrid working: 2‑3 days in‑person a week (London or Bristol), with full‑team meetups every fortnight.
  • Private Medical Cover.
  • Workplace Nursery Benefit scheme (Yellow Nest).
  • Cycle to Work scheme.
  • Brilliant team to learn from and massive opportunity to grow.
  • Working at Spruce
  • We’re currently a close‑knit team of 28, split between London and Bristol.

We spend 2‑3 days each week working together in‑person in both locations, and get everyone altogether every fortnight.

  • You'll have genuine influence from day one.

The best idea wins regardless of seniority.

We expect you to challenge everything, ask "why?" multiple levels deep, and push back when something doesn't make sense.

  • We want everyone to spend time with installers on‑site, feel their pain points, then be able to rapidly suggest and implement solutions based on real feedback rather than assumptions.

This is clearly particularly important for this role but you’ll be surrounded by a whole team who are also close to our customers.

  • We move fast and ship imperfect things, learning from users rather than trying to perfect in isolation.

When things break, we focus on how we fix it, what can we learn and never blame.

You'll own your outcomes whilst knowing the team has your back.

  • Feedback is constant, direct, and kind – we'll tell you when something isn't working and expect the same honesty (and empathy) back.

Compensation Range: £60K - £110K

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Product Designer employer: Spruce

At Spruce, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters collaboration and innovation. With a focus on meaningful, impactful work in the home renewables sector, our team enjoys generous benefits including 33 days of holiday, hybrid working arrangements, and opportunities for personal growth within a supportive environment. Join us in making a difference while working alongside a passionate team dedicated to solving real customer challenges.

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Contact Details:

Spruce Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Product Designer

✨Show Off Your Portfolio

In the world of UX/UI design, your portfolio speaks volumes! Make sure it's packed with your best work and showcases your process, not just the final product. We want to see how you tackle design challenges, so consider adding case studies that reflect your thought process and user-centric approach.

✨Get Involved in Design Communities

Jump into local or online design meetups and workshops! Places like UXPA or local design events can be goldmines for networking and learning. Plus, mingling with fellow designers can introduce you to potential job openings that might not be listed elsewhere.

✨Tailor Your Applications

When you find a role that excites you, like the one at Spruce for a Product Designer, make your application count! Highlight specific projects and skills that directly relate to the job description. Hiring managers are looking for candidates who fit into their specific team, so show them you’re the one!

✨Leverage Social Media

Don't underestimate the power of social media in finding a UX/UI design job! Follow design leaders on platforms like Twitter or Instagram, share your work, and engage in conversations. It’s a great way to get noticed by recruiters and even catch wind of openings at companies like Spruce before they go live!

We think you need these skills to ace Product Designer

Product/UI Design
User Research
Prototyping
Collaboration with Developers
Design Systems
Complex Problem Solving
Technical Understanding

Some tips for your application 🫡

Showcase Your Design Process:When you're applying for a UX/UI Design role like Product Designer at Spruce, make sure to include examples that clearly highlight your design process. We want to see not just the final product but also the journey that led you there—wireframes, user personas, and iterations demonstrate your thought process and user-centric approach!

Tailor Your Portfolio:A tailor-made portfolio is crucial for a full-time design role! Curate your best projects that align with the kind of work Spruce does. We suggest including 3-5 case studies that showcase a variety of skills such as wireframing, prototyping, and user testing to really make your application pop.

Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter should not just be a summary of your CV. Use it to express why you’re excited about UX/UI Design and what draws you specifically to Spruce. Mention any relevant experience, tools you’re proficient in (like Sketch or Figma), and how you can contribute to their projects.

Highlight Collaboration Skills:In the world of UX/UI Design, teamwork is crucial. Make sure to highlight any past experiences where you worked in cross-functional teams. Illustrate how you communicated design decisions and listened to feedback, as this will resonate well with the culture at Spruce.

How to prepare for a job interview at Spruce

✨Show Off Your Portfolio

When you're gunning for a full-time UX/UI design role, your portfolio is your best friend! Make sure you've got a solid selection of your work, showcasing not just the final designs, but the process behind them—think wireframes, user flows, and any user research you've conducted. During the interview with Spruce, be prepared to discuss your design decisions and how they solve specific user problems.

✨Prepare for Design Challenges

Expect to face some practical design tasks during your interview. Spruce might ask you to tackle a quick design challenge or critique an existing interface. Brush up on your problem-solving skills and try to articulate your thought process as you work through these scenarios. Showing how you approach a design problem is just as important as the final output!

✨Know the Tools of the Trade

Familiarise yourself with the tools commonly used in the industry—figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch should be second nature to you. Be ready to discuss your preferred tools during the interview and how they've shaped your design process at previous positions. This knowledge could give you an edge at Spruce!

✨Show Passion for User Experience

In a full-time UX/UI design role, having a genuine passion for improving user interactions can set you apart. Be prepared to share instances when you went above and beyond to ensure a great user experience in your previous projects. This will demonstrate that you’re not just a designer, but a user advocate, which is exactly what Spruce is looking for.