About the role

Staff Product Designer joining Tailscale's design team to work on networking and security. Leading design solutions and collaborating closely with engineering and product teams.

Responsibilities

Define where design attention is needed across the network features product space and lead discovery on complex, ambiguous problems that often span multiple features or product areas.
Translate abstract technical systems into clear problem frames, using diagramming, system mapping, and design artifacts to build shared understanding and drive alignment across engineering, product, and other stakeholders.
Deliver design solutions end-to-end as needed, whether that means changes to a GUI, a CLI experience, or both, working closely with engineers through implementation and QA.
Explore forward-looking design questions in spaces that do not yet have clear owners or established answers.
Partner closely with engineering and PM counterparts to move from ambiguous problem statements to clear, well-reasoned solutions.
Raise the bar for craft and quality across your team and contribute to how the broader design organization approaches process and product thinking.
Translate insights from user research, behavioral data, and your own product knowledge into design direction.
Bring AI tools into your workflow in practical ways, whether for research synthesis, rapid prototyping, or solution exploration, and develop a point of view on where AI-assisted experiences belong in technically complex products.

10+ years of product design experience, with meaningful time operating at the staff level or equivalent scope
Strong portfolio demonstrating experience with technically sophisticated B2B or infrastructure products, and a track record of leading discovery on problems without waiting for scope to be defined
A developed point of view on users and product direction, with evidence of using that perspective to influence roadmap and strategy across engineering and product teams
Genuine interest in the networking and security space and comfort engaging with technically complex subject matter
Strong written communication and an ability to articulate design decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical partners
Ease working in a distributed, asynchronous environment with highly technical teammates.