Introduction

We are a VC-backed remote-friendly SaaS startup that creates embedded software designed to improve the way Africans manage their finances and access modern services via mobile apps they already use. We are adding manpower to our Design team to cater to the increasing demand for new features within our Alvin for Enterprise suite of products for banks, asset managers and consumer fintechs in Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia.

Role

As a Product Designer at Alvin, you'll spearhead the conceptualization, design and development of innovative products tailored to meet the diverse needs of Alvin Enterprise customers. You’ll collaborate closely on a cross-functional team consisting of Alvin’s Engineering, Data Science and Product units. Your role will be pivotal to ensuring that Alvin’s mobile and web app designs are intuitive, technically feasible (both for our team as well as that of our enterprise clients) and aligned with the company’s strategic goals.

We are headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, but you can be based anywhere that has roughly the same natural workday hour range as Nairobi (i.e., +/- 2 hours from Nairobi). This reflects our commitment to enabling individuals to excel and thrive in their work from any location where they feel most comfortable and productive. Join us in shaping the future of finance across Africa, regardless of where you live.

Key Responsibilities

• Conceptualization and Ideation: Generate creative ideas and concepts for new products informed by market research, internal design grooming, user feedback and industry trends.
• Design Development: Translate conceptual ideas and written Product Requirements Documentation into detailed design specifications, sketches, wireframes/mock-ups, prototypes and high fidelity designs to handoff to Engineering for implementation.
• User-Centric Design: Conduct user research and usability testing, iterating designs based on feedback to ensure a seamless and intuitive user experience.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineers, data scientists and product managers at Alvin throughout the product development lifecycle to ensure designs are technically feasible and aligned with business objectives.
• Prototyping and Testing: Build prototypes to validate design concepts, gather feedback from stakeholders and iterate designs based on testing results.
• Design Documentation: Create comprehensive design documentation including requirements, specifications and guidelines to facilitatee smooth handoffs to Alvin Engineering that is optimized for efficiency each cycle.
• Design System Development: Contribute to the development and maintenance of design systems and style guides to ensure consistency across products and platforms.
• Stay Updated with African and Global Industry Trends: Keep abreast of emerging design trends, tools and technologies being used locally and globally, and incorporate them into the design process as appropriate.

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Who You Are

• Experienced Full-Stack Designer: You are a versatile full-stack designer comfortable with all aspects of the design process, from crafting visuals to prototyping end-to-end flows and microinteractions. You also have experience doing technical QA review with Engineering (frontend engineering experience a plus).
• Understanding of Psychology in Finance Products: You possess a deep understanding of the intricacies of finance products and services, adept at deciphering user motivations and psychology within the context of financial interactions.
• Super Detail-Oriented: You take pride in being able to spot even the smallest discrepancies and inconsistencies, taking pride in delivering designs polished to perfection.
• Fluent with Modern Design Tools: You are proficient with design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Sketch and InVision and are known for being meticulously organized with file management and having an efficient workflow.
• Take Pride in Your Work: You are deeply passionate about your craft, taking ownership of your work with unwavering dedication, and you proactively find solutions to improve without being prompted. You pride yourself on being an autonomous worker.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Software Product Design, Interaction Design, Graphic Design, or related field.
• Proven product design experience of 5+ years, ideally in a fast-paced enterprise SaaS tech environment. (Bonus points for having built embedded widget software for banks or otherwise enterprise financial customers, but this is not a requirement.)
• Proficiency in design tools such as Sketch, Figma, Invision, Webflow and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Strong understanding of user-centered design principles and methodologies.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills between lay and technical stakeholders. This includes comfort with writing clearly in English.
• Self-motivated with a passion for learning and staying updated on industry trends.

Our Culture

At Alvin, we are big on autonomy to every individual, and this is built on our culture of collaboration and trust. We are looking therefore for self-starters who will not need significant daily management in order to excel and deliver work on time to expectation.

We are also each extremely passionate about the problem we are solving as a company and the impact we are working to make in the African financial services space as a whole. We are looking  for individuals who intrinsically share our passion for helping Africans achieve their financial goals and who will be eager to hit the ground running to ensure our customers and their end users win massively.

Benefits

• Market-competitive salary
• Company-issued Macbook Pro computer
• Equity stock options in Alvin’s Delaware holding company
• Flexible work hours and remote work friendly
• Stipend for health insurance

How to apply

Sound like you? Join us at Alvin and be part of a team shaping the future of embedded personal finance in Africa.

Apply by emailing your resume, a brief summary blurb about you and a link to your LinkedIn to hello@alvin.finance. We look forward to meeting you!

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