Senior Product Designer: Building Digital Climate Platforms

San José, Costa Rica

Application link: https://noteforms.com/forms/senior-product-designer-job-application-20pjkk

Have you built a solid career in product design and now want your work to actually matter?

Open Earth Foundation is a California-based nonprofit on a mission to create groundbreaking technology that helps combat the climate crisis.

Our flagship platform, CityCatalyst, supports cities around the world with data-driven climate planning and delivery.

We’re a diverse, global team working remotely and collaborating with partners worldwide to make real change possible.

With strong funding and a powerhouse team of innovators, we’re ready to tackle big challenges for a resilient Earth for generations to come and we need the planet’s brightest minds to help solve them!

We’re looking for a Senior Product Designer who wants to go beyond traditional UX/UI work and actively build, test, and ship solutions alongside engineers, data teams, and product leads.

This is not a role for someone who only wants to design flows in isolation.

It is a role for someone who sees design as a way to make things real.

Priority will be given to applications submitted by January 31st

We will prioritize the first 50 applicants, with the goal of bringing someone onboard by early March (or sooner).

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

As a Senior Product Designer at Open Earth Foundation, you will:

Lead the design of digital climate platforms used by real cities and institutions.
Work under uncertainty, helping shape products even when requirements are incomplete or evolving.
Collaborate closely with engineering, data, and product teams to move from problem framing to deployed solutions.
Treat design as a hands-on, iterative practice — not just a deliverable.

You’ll help turn complex climate, urban, and data-heavy challenges into tools people can actually use.

How We Work:

Remote-first, async-friendly, highly collaborative.
This position is international.
Schedule flexibility is expected, with willingness to collaborate during overlapping hours.
LATAM time zones or availability within ±3 hours of ART (GMT-3) are strongly preferred.

The Ideal Candidate:

Cares deeply about climate

Has experience, education, or a strong personal connection to climate, sustainability, or environmental challenges.
Is motivated to learn about climate science, global climate governance, and how cities operate.
Wants their design work to contribute to real-world impact.

Works beyond “classic UX”

Has experience moving beyond purely UX/UI execution.
Is comfortable leading or co-leading projects or epics as a designer.
Understands design as a way to explore, decide, and build, not just document.

Builds, tests, and learns

Enjoys turning ideas into tangible solutions through rapid prototyping and iteration.
Adapts methods to the problem instead of following a rigid “ideal” design process.
Is comfortable working with ambiguity and evolving constraints.

Uses AI as a practical tool

Has experience using AI tools to prototype, explore ideas, or accelerate workflows.
Comfortable with AI-assisted building (e.g., Replit, Claude, Cursor, Figma MCP, or similar).
Cares about responsible and ethical use of AI.

Responsibilities

Design intuitive, accessible product experiences using Figma as the primary design tool.
Translate complex problems and datasets into clear interfaces and flows.
Prototype, test, and iterate on new features — from low-fidelity concepts to high-fidelity designs.
Plan and conduct lightweight user research and usability testing, adapting methods to each project.
Use qualitative and quantitative inputs to inform decisions, including product analytics tools such as GA4 or PostHog.
Collaborate closely with developers to ensure feasibility and quality implementation.
Document design rationale and decisions through diagrams, flows, and conceptual artifacts.
Contribute to shared design practices, systems, and standards.
Support the creation of supporting design materials when needed (decks, reports, product visuals).

Interpersonal Skills

Clear, confident communicator in written and spoken English (required).
Strong collaborator across disciplines and time zones.
Comfortable giving and receiving feedback.
Proactive, curious, and accountable.
Able to take ownership and contribute as a core team member in a remote environment.

Qualifications

Formal training or equivalent real-world experience in product design, UX, HCI, engineering, or related fields.
3+ years of experience as a Product Designer, UX Designer, or similar role.
Experience in startups, open-source projects, civic tech, or climate-related work is a strong plus.
Familiarity with HTML/CSS or frontend concepts is welcome (for collaboration, not for coding).

Compensation & Benefits

Full-time position.
Salary range: USD $40,000 – $50,000 per year, depending on experience and location. Paid in USD.
Professional development budget.
Unlimited PTO, paid holidays, and paid sick leave.
Fully remote, international work environment.
Annual in-person team retreat

Open Earth Foundation is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

We celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we believe people do their best work when it aligns with their values.