Founding Designer / Head of Design

About this role

Design and launch a new mass-market language app and brand from the team behind Migaku, owning product, brand, and growth from the ground up.

Reporting to: Jannik Wambsganss, Founder & CEO

Location: Remote (US, Europe, or APAC) with a few hours of regular overlap with Tokyo working hours, or hybrid in Tokyo (relocation available)

Engagement: Contract, or full-time employment through an employer of record (EOR)

Compensation:

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US based Employee

• Contractor $190-220K • 1% – 3%

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UK based Employee

• Contractor £100K – £140K • 1% – 3%
• Europe based Employee
• Contractor €117K – €164K • 1% – 3%
• Tokyo Employee
• Contractor €117K – €164K • 1% – 3%

Relocation to Tokyo available. Migaku offers the lower range for f/t employees with benefits through Deel; the upper range (inc VAT) for contractors. Compensation dependent on experience.

About Migaku

Migaku is a radical approach to language learning from a fast-growing, Tokyo-based company. It's built on a deep understanding of how people actually acquire language, and has earned a devoted global community of 30,000+ serious learners.

Now we're taking what we've learned to a much bigger audience. We're launching an offshoot of Migaku: a free, mass-market app and brand that teaches real languages through short clips of real people talking, one word at a time. No studying, just scrolling. It's built on Migaku's learning engine and designed for the millions of casual learners who already love short-form video.

Our team consists of several micro-celebrities in the online language learning community, many of whom have spent 10+ hours a day for years across languages, which is why we're uniquely suited to build a breakthrough language learning product. Open migaku.com/team

The Role

We're looking for a Head of Design to define and launch the app and its brand from scratch.

This is a hands-on role. You'll design most of the product and brand yourself, working directly with the founder and a small team of craft-obsessed builders. Over time you'll set the design bar and help hire one or two designers, but the heart of the job is your own craft.

• Mostly 0 to 1: a new product and a new brand, not an incremental redesign

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A proven foundation: Migaku's learning engine, community, and fast-growing business behind it

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A clear mission: help people actually become fluent, without the pressure of studying

• Unique content team: our Tokyo-based in-house team of prodigious Gen Z video producers are committed to making this new brand compete directly with Duolingo on the marketing landscape

What You'll Do

• Design the core experience from scratch: a mobile-first (iOS and Android) short-form video feed, including onboarding and placement, the core learning loop, and tap-to-learn interactions
• Build the brand from the ground up (identity, motion, UI), translating a cheeky, energetic voice into visuals across the app, ads, and social. Collaboration with a renowned branding agency is possible.
• Make complex learning science, like spaced repetition and level-adaptive content, feel effortless inside a feed
• Design for virality: make the product and its moments share-worthy on TikTok, Reels, and beyond
• Own growth design, from onboarding to retention loops to free-to-premium conversion, iterating against real metrics
• Work closely with engineering to ship fast and refine through use
• Set the design bar and, over time, help hire one or two designers
• What We're Looking For
• Hands-on, shipped mobile consumer apps. You still design and ship the work yourself.
• 0 to 1 as a founding designer. You've built products from scratch, carried them into growth, and can connect your design decisions to outcomes like retention and conversion. We’re looking for creative and product leadership – management experience isn’t a requirement.
• High-impact, energetic visual work with a strong point of view. Bold and a little gritty, but always intentional: serving the product's emotional and business goals, and resolved into experiences that are clear and easy to use. Please include samples reflecting this in your portfolio; it's a requirement for the role.
• Big Plus: a brand you've launched! You've built a brand from the ground up (identity, motion, UI and character) and translated its voice into visuals across product, ads, and social, ideally with a significant viral following.
• Especially Relevant Experience
• Short-form video or feed-based products
• Consumer social, entertainment, or creator apps
• Character-led or voice-led consumer brands
• Motion design for products and social
• Learning tools or habit-forming products
• Products with strong community or viral loops
• How We Work

We're remote-first, with team members across time zones and about a third of the team in Tokyo. We ask for a few hours of regular overlap with Tokyo working hours and periodic trips to Tokyo. Relocation is available if you'd like to join us here.

• You'll work directly with the founder in a small, high-agency team that tests ideas quickly and learns from what users actually do.
• Why Join
• Launch a mass-market product with a proven engine and business behind it
• Build a brand with a genuinely distinctive voice, with real creative freedom
• Work directly with the founder on something meaningfully more effective than existing language-learning tools
• Join at a true inflection point: Migaku grew revenue 10x in the past year and plans to do so again this year

How to Apply

Please include a portfolio with:

• One or two short case studies showing the goal, your key design decisions, and the outcome
• Your boldest, most energetic visual work