Contract Product Designer

About the Company:

Stable Kernel is a technology services firm and custom software developer building scalable software solutions for cutting-edge, innovative enterprises to move their business forward. We are headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

We’re a privately held, Great Place to Work Certified Company™ with a multi-award-winning culture and an impressive 10-plus-year trajectory of sustainable growth. At Stable Kernel, we support our employees in ways that help them do some of the best work of their lives.

About the Role:

As a Senior Product Designer, you’ll play a key role in shaping the future of digital products across a range of industries. You’ll drive the creation of thoughtful, intuitive, and engaging experiences that not only meet user needs but also align with business goals. Your work will directly influence the success of our clients and the evolution of our design practice.

We’re seeking a Senior designer who brings a rare blend of strategic thinking, creative curiosity, and practical execution. You’re confident without ego, empathetic by nature, and thrive in collaborative, cross-functional environments. You understand how to balance ideal experiences with real-world constraints — and know when to push the boundaries.

Core Responsibilities Include:

• Technical Impact:
• Designing end-to-end mobile and desktop experiences, from discovery and wireframing through high-fidelity mockups and interaction specifications.
• Creating and maintaining a component library and design system that ensures consistency across the application.
• Conducting user research, usability testing, and design validation to inform and iterate on design decisions.
• Collaborating closely with engineers to ensure designs are implemented with high fidelity and optimal performance.
• Designing for accessibility, responsive layout, and platform-specific conventions on iOS,Android, and web.
• Participating in design reviews and providing thoughtful feedback to peers.
• Business Alignment:
• Understanding and aligning with project objectives, effectively balancing leadership and collaboration to shape design approaches that support overall goals.
• Delivering customer value through design, identifying improvement opportunities within their scope and contributing enhancements that elevate the user experience.
• Supporting project estimation and planning, identifying gaps, risks, and assumptions, and working with team members to ensure accurate planning and costing.
• Partnering with sales and business development teams, offering design expertise and support for scoping and client-facing engagements when needed.
• Interacting with Others:
• Fostering strong collaboration across teams, facilitating communication within project teams, and providing support to fellow designers to ensure alignment and momentum.
• Influencing through insight and mentorship, actively sharing knowledge, and collaborating on solutions with other designers.
• Serving as a design expert on project teams, balancing guidance from senior designers with mentorship for junior team members while confidently advising stakeholders and providing clear design direction.
• Communicating project status proactively, escalating unforeseen challenges, and working with leadership to resolve blockers and maintain progress. 
• Autonomy & Ambiguity:
• Taking ownership of design initiatives, delivering high-quality work while aligning with the broader project, departmental, and company objectives.
• Navigating ambiguity with support, demonstrating comfort in uncertain situations while collaborating with peers to plan, structure, and execute complex design solutions.
• Contributing to roadmapping and project planning, leading efforts to define phases and timelines with input from cross-functional team members.
• Problem-Solving:
• Driving problem-solving at multiple levels, addressing challenges across project, team, and department contexts with strategic thinking and a solution-oriented mindset.
• Identifying and planning for risks proactively, anticipating potential challenges, and integrating mitigation strategies into project planning.
• Escalating issues proactively to the appropriate team members, including Project Manager or Product Design leadership, to address blockers and maintain project momentum.
• Leadership:
• Contributing to process improvement efforts, actively collaborating with the team to refine workflows and enhance team efficiency.
• Advocating for design best practices, staying current with industry standards and sharing insights to elevate the team’s overall craft.
• Mentoring and collaborating with peers, providing guidance to base-level designers and contributing to the growth and development of fellow senior designers.
• Leading design efforts across projects, typically serving as a project lead unless partnered with a lead designer, and flexibly supporting design work based on project structure and team needs.

Intimate, Working Familiarity With:

• Figma is essential, with working knowledge of additional design and prototyping tools such as Adobe XD, Sketch, and Zeplin.
• Understanding of Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) and Android’s Material Design principles, ensuring platform-consistent, accessible, user-centered experiences.
• Design system creation and component library management.
• User research methods: interviews, usability testing, journey mapping.
• Collaboration with engineering teams in an agile delivery environment.
• Accessibility standards and inclusive design practices for mobile.
• Google and Microsoft Office Suite to create compelling client presentations.

General Requirements:

• 5+ years of product design experience, with at least 2 years focused on native or cross-platform mobile apps.
• A portfolio demonstrating strong mobile design work across iOS and Android.
• Degree in a design field or relevant experience. 

Nice to Haves:

• Experience designing for retail, e-commerce, or loyalty applications.
• Familiarity with React Native or cross-platform design considerations.
• Experience with motion design and micro-interactions.
• Background working with professional (B2B) and consumer (B2C) user personas alongside consumer flows.

A Bit More Info:

Minimum Base Compensation: $65 per hour

This is a contract position.

Stable Kernel operates a People Before Place Hybrid model, allowing most employees to choose where they can do their best work most days.

Minimal travel is associated with this role.

*Note – We are not sponsoring employment visas at this time. If you are currently in possession of an employment visa, it will need to be effective for at least 3 years from the date of your application for your candidacy for employment to be considered.

Stable Kernel’s culture is inclusive and expansive. We celebrate diversity in its many glorious forms and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender role orientation, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

However, we will discriminate against those unwilling to comply with the practice of our company values:

• we work with integrity always
• we respect our work and each other
• we are dedicated to life-long learning and sharing
• we stay hungry for new challenges

If you are like-minded in this regard, we hope you will apply. We look forward to meeting you.