Founding Designer / Head of Design

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:

• US based Employee - Contractor $190-220K • 1% – 3%

• 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.

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

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

• 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