Staff Product Designer

About the role

As a Product Designer at Ridgeline you will modernize the complex, fast‑moving area of investment‑management software focused on trading. You will partner closely with product managers, engineers, and customers to design experiences that help traders manage complex activity with greater clarity, speed, and accuracy. The work spans order management and electronic trading, including configurable trading workspaces, exception management, and AI‑assisted workflows. You will leverage modern AI tools such as Claude, Cursor, and Claude Code to accelerate exploration, prototype experiences, evaluate edge cases, and improve design velocity across the entire design process.

Responsibilities

• Reimagine workflows across order management and electronic trading, helping investment teams manage increasingly complex trading activity with clarity and efficiency.
• Design intuitive workflows that help traders navigate complex decisions, surface actionable information, and manage exceptions and alerts with speed and accuracy.
• Extend existing patterns and frameworks like Ridgeline’s configurable dashboards into trading, creating flexible workspaces that users can tailor to their workflows and priorities.
• Build intelligent trading experiences that incorporate automated and deterministic workflows, AI‑assisted guidance, and emerging AI capabilities.
• Prototype and iterate quickly using tools like Claude, Cursor, and Claude Code to explore workflows, edge cases, and interaction patterns.
• Translate concepts into polished, production‑ready experiences in Figma with strong systems thinking and visual craft.
• Collaborate closely with engineering to ensure designs are feasible, scalable, and thoughtfully implemented.
• Contribute to Ridgeline’s design systems, interaction patterns, prompt libraries, and AI design practices.
• Conduct customer conversations, lightweight research, and usability testing to rapidly validate ideas and improve workflows.
• Mentor designers through feedback, collaboration, and thoughtful design critique.
• Think creatively, own problems, seek solutions, and communicate clearly throughout the product lifecycle.
• Foster a collaborative environment deeply rooted in learning, teaching, and transparency.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience designing and shipping successful digital product experiences.
• Strong interaction design, systems thinking, visual design, and prototyping skills.
• Experience designing complex workflows, data‑intensive applications, or enterprise software platforms.
• Active AI‑native workflow experience using tools like Claude, Cursor, or Claude Code as part of daily product and design practice.
• Ability to simplify technically complex systems into intuitive user experiences.
• Experience collaborating closely with engineering teams to deliver thoughtful, scalable solutions.
• Strong storytelling, communication, and presentation skills.
• Ability to mentor and coach other designers while raising quality across a broader organization.
• Experience gathering customer insights and translating findings into actionable product improvements.
• Ability to manage ambiguity, prioritize effectively, and drive clarity across cross‑functional teams.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and a high level of product ownership.
• Willingness to learn about cutting‑edge technologies while cultivating expertise in investment‑management workflows and order‑management systems.
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels.
• A shareable portfolio (attachment or online).
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience in financial services, investment management, trading platforms, or other complex financial products.
• Experience conducting user research and usability testing.
• Proficiency with modern front‑end technologies including React, JavaScript/TypeScript, and CSS.
• Experience contributing to design systems and design‑to‑code workflows.
• Experience designing AI‑native product experiences, including agentic behavior, transparency patterns, confidence cues, and user controls.

About Ridgeline

Ridgeline is the first front‑to‑back system of record for investment managers. Founded by Dave Duffield (co‑founder of PeopleSoft and Workday), the company modernizes an industry held back by outdated, disconnected technology. Powered by a single, real‑time data set and embedded AI, Ridgeline helps firms automate complexity, accelerate collaboration, and deliver tailored client experiences at scale without added headcount or risk. Headquarters are in Lake Tahoe with offices in New York, Reno, the Bay Area, and Dublin, Ireland. Ridgeline has been recognized by Fast Company as a “Best Workplace for Innovators,” by Frost & Sullivan as a “Technology Innovation Leader,” and by The Software Report as a “Top 100 Software Company.”

Compensation

The typical starting salary range for this role is $168,000 – $210,000. In select locations (San Francisco Bay Area, CA, and New York City Metro Area) the range is $184,500 – $231,000. Final compensation is determined by multiple factors, including candidate experience and expertise.

Benefits

• Company Stock Plan (subject to applicable Stock Option Agreement).
• Unlimited vacation.
• Educational and wellness reimbursements.
• $0‑cost employee insurance plans.
• Opportunities for career advancement and impact on the product.
• Additional perks and benefits detailed on the Ridgeline Careers page.