Principal Designer (m/f/d)

About the role

You define and own end-to-end product design for B2C offerings at AutoScout24, driving concept development and execution from initial ideation through market launch. You lead strategic design decisions in close partnership with product managers, engineers, and researchers to ensure user-centered outcomes. Your work shapes how products look and feel, balancing business goals with exceptional user experience. You are responsible for creating user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and polished visuals that solve complex problems. You test your ideas directly with users and iterate based on their feedback to refine solutions. Design decisions you make are judged by key outcomes such as usability, conversion, and customer satisfaction. You contribute to and uphold a living design system that keeps products consistent across the AutoScout24 portfolio.

Key facts

What you'll do

Define and drive end-to-end product design for specific products from concept to launch, owning the full journey with accountability for outcomes.

Advance goals with cross-functional stakeholders through structured meetings, aligning objectives and maintaining momentum across teams.

Track business metrics and product knowledge, scaling understanding across the organization to inform future design decisions.

Provide oversight of user experience from initial concept to market release, collaborating closely with product managers, engineers, and researchers.

Communicate design decisions clearly to product and engineering teams using representations such as prototypes, flows, and artifacts.

Pursue continuous improvement by challenging existing practices and exploring enhancements that elevate the product and user experience.

Contribute to the design community by sharing insights and practices that foster professional growth and strengthen team capabilities.

Requirements

Bring seven or more years of in-house product design experience, primarily within e-commerce or marketplaces, to demonstrate deep domain understanding.

Curate a portfolio that showcases strong UX design skills and demonstrates your proven ability to handle complex problems end-to-end.

Mentor less experienced designers while exhibiting strong written and verbal communication and facilitation skills in collaborative settings.

Maintain a critical eye that pursues high-craft UI excellence and consistently questions established patterns and assumptions.

Leverage data experience to identify problems and translate analytical findings into actionable design solutions.

Collaborate effectively with visual and product designers, UX researchers, and writers to build coherent, user-centered experiences.

Develop product goals, identify opportunities, and make decisions based on impact to both users and the company.

Practical notes

Employment is hybrid, with mandatory office presence twice weekly in either Berlin or Munich.

The role requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design or a related field as a minimum educational qualification.

Candidates must hold eligibility to work in Germany without the need for visa sponsorship from the company.

Typical interview steps

Design interviews typically include a portfolio review, a design exercise, and a team conversation to assess your process and thinking.

You will present past work and clearly explain your design decisions, methodology, and the reasoning behind your solutions.

Some interview loops may include a live design challenge to evaluate real-time problem-solving and adaptability.

Communication is valued as highly as visual output, emphasizing clarity, structure, and storytelling in your presentations.

Portfolios are strongest when they show the problem, constraints, and iteration journey, not just the final screens and outcomes.

Interviewers will observe how you receive and incorporate feedback during the discussion and design activities.

Good to know

Design roles in product companies often combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution across multiple stages of product development.

Collaboration across disciplines is common in mature product teams, requiring comfort working with diverse specialists and stakeholders.

E-commerce platforms depend on clear user journeys and data-informed decisions to guide product optimization and success.

Strong portfolios play a key role in how design candidates are evaluated, highlighting both process and final outcomes.

Mentoring responsibilities signal leadership expectations within the design organization, indicating growth opportunities.

Questions to ask

You may ask about what a typical week looks like in this role and how work is assigned on the team.

It is reasonable to inquire about the tools the team uses for design, collaboration, and product tracking.

Understanding how feedback works, including review cycles and decision-making processes, can clarify team dynamics.

Asking how the role has evolved recently and what the team wishes it had known when joining provides insight into context and change.

Questions about the manager's current priorities and how this position contributes to team goals are especially valued during interviews.

Career growth

Design careers typically progress from junior to senior, staff, and principal levels, with increasing ownership and impact.

Some designers transition into design management or design operations roles as they grow their leadership and organizational skills.

Specializations such as UX research, interaction design, and brand design offer distinct paths to deepen expertise.

Cross-functional influence naturally expands with seniority, allowing greater involvement in strategy and decision-making.

Senior designers are expected to shape product strategy, not only execute visual details and interface decisions.

Building a consistent habit of user research strengthens any design career and improves outcomes across the product lifecycle.