Head of Design

Join to apply for the Head of Design role at Odin Odin is building the investment infrastructure for the future of private markets. We believe capital is one of the most powerful tools for shaping the world - and more people should know how to put it to work. Our mission is to make it radically easier to raise and deploy capital, so that anyone, anywhere, can back the companies and ideas they believe in. Our first product is a full-stack platform for launching and running private investment firms - think Shopify for VC and PE. We handle all the infrastructure: from legal structuring and investor onboarding to KYC/AML, payments, tax, reporting, and exits. We’re already trusted by over 10,000 angels, VCs, and founders. We administer over $500m in assets, covering investments from pre-seed to series E. This includes household names like ElevenLabs, OpenAI, SpaceX, xAI, Anduril, etc. but also new companies creating everything from synthetic brains to small nuclear reactors. Mission We’re looking for a design leader who combines aesthetic taste with systems-level thinking. The scope here is intentionally broad. Very few places offer this level of creative control, decision-making power, and direct influence on product, brand, narrative and culture. If you want a role where the design work actually changes the trajectory of the company, not just the polish of the interface, this is it. This role is foundational. Reporting directly to Mary (co-founder), you will define and elevate the entire customer experience at Odin as we prepare for a major US launch. You will set the design direction for the company, shape the design culture, and build the systems and practices that future designers will inherit. You're not slotting into an existing structure - you are creating it from scratch. Your remit includes the product and the brand. You'll redesign complex, regulation-heavy workflows and dense UIs into clarity, introducing a standard of craft that makes the product feel inevitable. And you will own the development of our brand identity alongside the founders - expressing the philosophy, ambition and cultural stance of a company that is rethinking what progress means and how we get there. If you're energised by building something genuinely new, having direct impact on company trajectory, and working at the intersection of design, finance, and culture - you'll do your best work here. Your Must-Have Qualities We value designers who combine rigorous reasoning, high agency, strong taste, and deep customer empathy. In this role, you’ll succeed if you demonstrate the following qualities: Deeply user-centric: You advocate for the customer’s experience, care about how people feel when using the product, and use interviews and data to understand real behaviour-not just what users say. Strong judgment: You make thoughtful trade-offs between speed, quality, compliance, and complexity. Reasoned and curious: You validate assumptions, ask sharp questions, and seek to understand root causes rather than relying on surface-level fixes. You enjoy figuring things out. High agency and proactive: You don’t wait to be asked. You reach out to customers, propose solutions, and push work forward without requiring direction. Craft-obsessed: You care about detail, polish, clarity, and cohesiveness across the entire product surface. You want the shipped product to meet a very high bar-and you will push for it. Clear communicator: You articulate your thinking simply and precisely, write clearly, and give engineering everything they need to build exactly what was intended. Calm and grounded in feedback: You operate with conviction but without ego. You engage in healthy debate, use data to sharpen decisions, and don’t take feedback personally. Comfortable with ambiguity: You’re able to form structure from incomplete information and navigate constraints (technical, regulatory, operational) without losing momentum. Outcome-driven: You care about the results of your work. You check impact, look at metrics, and make sure what you designed actually improved the experience or reduced friction. Your Experience Must-Have 8+ years experience in design, with a strong track record shaping complex products end-to-end. In-house experience (not purely agency) with ownership over entire journeys, not just isolated screens. Strong in information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, and delivering polished, production-ready UI. Demonstrated strength in visual design and high-bar craft: an eye for detail, care for precision, and the ability to enforce quality even at the pixel level. Systems thinker who designs with the full workflow in mind - across user actions, emails, automations, permissions, operational steps, and regulatory constraints. Experience designing complex, multi-party systems or working in regulated environments. Able to run product discovery independently: user interviews, assumption validation, prototypes, usability tests. A portfolio showing real business impact-how design improved operations, clarity, conversion, or user experience. Numerical literacy and attention to detail, especially for financial or data-heavy products. Nice-to-Have Experience as the first or only designer. Experience with AI-assisted prototyping or excitement to learn quickly. Exposure to brand or marketing design. Fintech or B2B experience. Experience designing data visualisations or complex SaaS workflows. Experience with workflow automation or AI-powered UX. The Hiring Process Interview with Imani, our Head of People & Talent – In this session, you’ll unpack the role and learn more about us, while she ensures you're the right fit for the position (30-45 mins). Interview with Mary, our Co-CEO & Co-Founder – During this initial interview, we’ll touch on topics like culture, values, and your experience to see if there’s alignment on both sides (60 mins). Live Workshop with the team – This session will focus on your approach to design processes, product thinking, and problem-solving. (90 mins) Final Interviews with Mary & Paddy, our Founders (60 mins) - At this stage, we're genuinely excited and believe you should spend some with the founders, learning more about each other and our values. Trial Day (Paid) – We’d like to make an offer, but want to ensure that you experience working with us in a real-world setting and get a feel for our team dynamics and processes. This trial allows both sides to see if the fit is right before making a long-term commitment, ensuring mutual success. Our process typically runs over two weeks. We share detailed feedback within 24 hours of each interview stage and aim to line up next steps quickly so momentum isn’t lost. Location This is a founding leadership role, and proximity matters. We’re open to hiring remotely across Europe with regular (monthly) paid travel into our London office. We’re also open to supporting relocation, or hiring directly in/around London so you can work closely with founders and wider team a few days a week at our office. We're a fast-growing startup building something very ambitious, and we expect you to work hard and relish this challenge. However, we also offer flexibility and support your life outside of work so you can bring your best to the table. Our benefits include: Work from anywhere for up to 6 weeks a year Private health insurance, paid sick leave (including support for pregnancy loss and fertility treatments), and free access to Spill for mental health support Enhanced maternity, adoption, paternity, and partner leave 4% pension employer contribution, with salary sacrifice options and NI savings reinvested into your pension 25 days of annual leave, 2 wellness days, and flexible bank holidays (33 days total) An extra day off to celebrate your birthday Seniority level Director Employment type Full-time Job function Design Industries Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals and Financial Services Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Odin by 2x #J-18808-Ljbffr