The posting
About Us
At algo1, we are reinventing one of the world’s most familiar experiences: the in-store grocery trip. We are building an AI-native product that understands each shopper, responds to their context in real time and makes an everyday experience less stressful, more personal and more engaging.
We’re backed by leading investors and founded by two entrepreneurs: one with a track record of building and scaling companies, and the other a leader in retail data and shopper analytics. Together, they have brought together frontier AI researchers and engineers, product and strategy leaders, and senior operators from major UK and US grocery businesses.
The people who join now will have an opportunity to shape the product, the culture, and what algo1 becomes.
The Role
This role reports to our Head of Design, Andrea. Working with him and our Product and Engineering teams, you'll design the interfaces, interactions, and systems that will shape how millions of shoppers experience algo1 in-store.
You'll tackle a unique design challenge at the intersection of digital interfaces, physical environments, and human behaviour, turning complex AI capabilities into experiences that feel simple, useful, and natural. You'll take ideas from concept to live experience quickly, test them with real shoppers, and use what you learn to make the product better.
This isn't a role maintaining an established product or polishing an existing design language. From first flows to shipped screens, you’ll define how our product looks, feels, and works, and see your work in the hands of shoppers.
What You'll Own
- Shopper experience end-to-end. Own the design of what shoppers actually see and use, from first sketch to shipped interface, making the thousands of small decisions that decide how effortless the product feels.
- Interaction and simplicity. Turn complex user problems into elegant, intuitive flows that shoppers can use instinctively, in a store, while distracted, without a manual.
- Rapid prototyping. Prototype relentlessly to answer difficult product questions before they're written in code, so engineering builds against something real rather than a spec.
- Visual craft. Set the bar for typography, layout, hierarchy, and detail. You're the person who decides what "good" looks like on the design side.
- The design system. Evolve the components, tokens, patterns, and documentation that let the whole team move faster and ship more consistently.
- Motion and micro-interactions. Use motion intentionally, to guide attention, provide feedback, and add moments of delight, not to decorate.
- Real-world validation. Observe real shoppers in real stores, translate what you see into better designs, and iterate on the loop that most product teams never build.
About You
Must Have
- Product design craft. A track record of designing and shipping digital products that customers use regularly, with a portfolio demonstrating both sharp UX thinking and exceptional visual detail.
- Motion design. Meaningful animation and interaction experience, with a clear sense of when movement improves clarity and when it gets in the way.
- Simplification instinct. Ability to take complex user journeys and reduce them to something that feels obvious in hindsight, without losing the substance.
- Design system fluency. Experience building or meaningfully evolving a design system that engineering teams actually adopted and used, including familiarity with Tokens Studio, design-to-code workflows, and modern frontend collaboration.
- Figma and prototyping depth. High proficiency with Figma and modern prototyping tools, and the judgement to know when a static frame is enough and when a working prototype is required.
- Accessibility as default. You design for the full range of shoppers who'll use the product, including those with visual, motor, or cognitive differences. Accessibility is part of your craft, not a compliance afterthought.
- Judgement under constraint. You know when to hold the line on design quality and when to ship, and can defend either call to product and engineering.
- AI-native design. You already use frontier AI tools every day to explore concepts, generate options, prototype faster, and sharpen your work. You can talk credibly about where they help and where they don't.
- Level. 4+ years of product design experience.
Nice to Have
- Brand and identity. Experience contributing beyond product into brand systems, visual identity, or design leadership across the wider surface area.
- Adjacent domain experience. Background designing AI-powered, consumer-facing, or retail technology products.
- Observational research. Experience conducting ethnographic or observational research in real-world environments, not just usability sessions in a lab.
- Startup experience. Background working at an early-stage startup.
How We Work
We're a startup, so this is a high-intensity environment. The people who thrive here are curious, proactive, and love building. If you're happiest when you're creating, experimenting, and moving fast, you'll love it here.
We draw our energy from being together, so this is an office-based role. It suits someone who enjoys the quick conversations and shared momentum that comes from building together. Our office is on what we think is the best garden square in London, just a couple of minutes from Tottenham Court Road, so it's easy to get to and a great place to build.
What We Offer
- Direct access to our founders and a real voice in the calls that shape the product and the company.
- Competitive salary and meaningful equity.
- 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays.
- Team offsites.
- Cycle to work scheme.
