Designteer

This is written by <GitHubMention username="ComputelessComputer" name="John" />, whom you'll be directly working with.

<Collapsible title="What's a Designteer?"> **designteer** /dɪˈzɛn.tɪr/ _noun_ [ C ]

a design engineer who also does marketing. designs interfaces, writes production code, and ships campaigns. typically found debugging CSS at 2am while simultaneously running A/B tests

Compare: engigner /ˈɛn.dʒɪ.nər/ noun [ C ] - a rare species like <GitHubMention username="ComputelessComputer" name="John" /> who engineers products, designs systems, and manages roadmaps, often spotted merging their own PRs </Collapsible>

You won't get along with us

• If you only want to design in Figma
• If you prefer mockups over shipping
• If you can't write production code
• If you skip quality to move fast
• If you need process to make progress
• If you don't want to do marketing
• If you want a short-term role

Why we need your help

Char is product-led. Design execution is our bottleneck - visual quality depends too much on the founder. We need someone to own design across product and marketing.

Small team. High trust. Craft over hype.

<Collapsible title="Curious about how we're doing?"> <CompanyStats /> </Collapsible>

What you'll be doing

Own visual quality across product, website, and marketing. Design and implement real UI in code. Create assets for launches and content. Build a design system that actually gets used.

Success: the product feels calmer + more solid, marketing doesn't wait on the founder, design decisions feel obvious.

Who we want to meet

A design engineer who ships. You design in Figma, then build it yourself in React. Fast, independent, uncompromising on quality. Interested in marketing and storytelling. Prefers responsibility over rigid scope.

How we work

Remote-first. Async via <ToolIcon icon="logos:slack-icon" /> Slack. Occasional calls with <CharIcon /> Char on. Everything runs through <ToolIcon icon="logos:github-icon" /> GitHub - bug reports, feature requests, code review, and project management.

You must be comfortable with <ToolIcon icon="logos:figma" /> Figma, <ToolIcon icon="logos:react" /> React, <ToolIcon icon="logos:tailwindcss-icon" /> Tailwind, and basic video editing.

You will work directly with <GitHubMention username="ComputelessComputer" name="John" /> and <GitHubMention username="harshikaalagh-netizen" name="Harshika" />.

How we compensate

Ballpark: $80 ~ 120k/year + 0.5 ~ 1.5% equity. Depends on scope and experience.

Early, high-ownership role. You'll grow with the company.

How to apply

Click on the apply button and tell me three things:

1. About you: Your personal website + <ToolIcon icon="ri:twitter-x-fill" className="mb-0.5"/> profile + <ToolIcon icon="logos:linkedin-icon" className="mb-0.5"/> profile
2. Short story: Tell me the most interesting thing you've made - literally anything is possible
3. Why Char: Tell me why you want to work at <CharIcon /> Char and what you bring to the table

But really the above is just a guideline - feel free to surprise us with your unique format!

How we hire

1. Apply by email: We'll review your application and reply within 48 hours ONLY if we think you're interesting.
2. 20-min intro: An introductory chat about our team and getting to know each other. You'll get a reply within 24 hours with follow-up questions. You can answer via video call or email (which we prefer so we can make the most of our time together).
3. 30-min follow-up: We'll ask a bunch of questions, but don't hesitate to ask us too! We love questions and want to discuss things together. After all, this is a startup and lots of stuff needs to be figured out.
4. Take-home assignment: You'll have a week to propose a solution to a design problem. These are practical challenges like designing a landing page or a new settings tab for our desktop app - real issues on our mind. They're all open-ended, and some don't even have a low-fidelity design yet. It's up to you to figure out the best approach.
5. Negotiation: We'll negotiate salary and benefits based on your experience and skills, including the equity package and other perks.

FAQ

<FAQ> <FAQItem question="Why does this role exist at all?">

• Design quality is currently a bottleneck
• Visual decisions depend too much on the founder
• We know what we want to achieve, but execution is slower than it should be
• We want someone who can own this end to end, not just contribute pieces

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What problem does this role solve immediately?">

• Marketing and product should not wait on the founder
• Design decisions should feel obvious, not debated
• Launches should not feel rushed or compromised
• The product should feel calmer and more intentional with each release

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What does the company actually care about from a business perspective?">

• Higher quality first impressions
• Better activation from the website and onboarding
• Stronger retention driven by product clarity and trust
• Eventually, revenue that grows without needing brute force sales

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What does success look like in the first 30 days?">

• You deeply understand the product and users
• You have opinions about what feels off and why
• You start taking ownership of the website and key surfaces
• You ship something real, not just plans or mockups

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What does success look like in the first 90 days?">

• The first impression of Char feels cohesive
• The website feels owned and intentional
• Marketing assets no longer feel ad hoc
• Design decisions no longer bottleneck the team

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What does long term success look like?">

• Design quality compounds over time
• Marketing becomes a strength, not a scramble
• The product communicates itself visually
• You help define how people understand Char in public

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="How stable is the company really?">

• We operate with a very conservative cost structure
• Even under worst case assumptions, we have around three years of runway
• We are not optimizing for survival, we are optimizing for quality and growth

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="When do you plan to raise again?">

• When growth and monetization are clearly repeatable
• Not based on hype or timelines
• Internally we look for compounding growth as a signal, not vanity metrics

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="How are roadmap decisions made?">

• We work in weekly sprints
• Each sprint has a clear focus
• Priorities are allowed to change if users are blocked or hurting

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What data do decisions rely on?">

Quantitative:

• Funnel data
• Retention
• Revenue signals

Qualitative:

• Customer support
• GitHub issues and discussions
• Community feedback
• Direct user conversations

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="What part of the funnel matters most right now?">

• Acquisition and activation are solid
• Retention is the main focus
• Revenue comes right after retention stabilizes

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="How do you avoid decisions being driven by just a few people?">

• Opinions need signal behind them
• Repeated user pain beats internal preference
• Shipping and observing beats debating
• Anyone on the team is expected to push back if something feels wrong

</FAQItem> <FAQItem question="How human is the company really?">

• Very human
• Customer support is hands on by default
• We value talking to users directly
• Automation is a tool, not a replacement for judgment

</FAQItem> </FAQ>