We are a growing SaaS start-up with an international team that brings maritime workforce management into the 21st century! Backed by strong investor support and with a growing base of paying customers, we’re passionate about solving overlooked problems in the maritime industry.

Over 90% of global trade depends on ships, and the 2 million mission-critical seafarers who operate them spend months at sea to keep our economy running. At Tilla, we’re dedicated to improving their lives and the processes that support them. Our platform eliminates inefficiencies in crew logistics, streamlining collaboration between operators and seafarers. By doing so, we make crew operations more humane and efficient.

The Role

We’re looking for a Head of Design to take ownership of our product design function and play a key leadership role in shaping the future of Tilla. Design is central to our success—our product lives and dies by how intuitive, elegant, and empowering it is for our users. You’ll report directly to the founders and work as a peer to the Head of Product and Head of Engineering. This is not a subordinate support function—this is a leadership role with strategic influence.

You’ll lead our approach to UX and product design, ensuring we build tools that are not just functional, but a joy to use. You’ll manage one talented Product Designer and have the opportunity to grow the design team as we scale.

This is a hands-on leadership role ideal for someone excited by complex problem spaces, information-dense interfaces, and the opportunity to build design systems and team culture from an early stage.

What You’ll Do

Lead the product design function, driving excellence in UX, usability, and visual design
Partner closely with product and engineering to define and ship product experiences that delight users
Manage and mentor our current designer, with scope to grow the team
Own and evolve our design system, ensuring consistency and scalability
Drive user research and translate insights into clear, actionable design decisions
Develop and continuously improve the design process, from concept to implementation
Advocate for design as a strategic function at the leadership level
Bring structure to ambiguity in complex problem spaces, making the complex feel simple and intuitive

You Should Have

5+ years of experience in product design, with at least 1-2 years in a lead or head role
Proven experience in B2B SaaS, ideally in a product-led company
A passion for tackling complex systems, information-dense workflows, and simplifying them through design
Experience building design processes, systems, and growing design teams
Strong skills in interaction design, UX, and UI—with excellent attention to detail
Mastery of Figma and your core UX toolbox
Experience collaborating deeply with product and engineering peers
A strong user-centered mindset and experience conducting or interpreting user research
An affinity for early or growth-stage startups
Fluency in English

Why Join Tilla