Designer

Instrument is a design and technology company. We build brands, products, and experiences that move businesses forward—by making the complex simple.

For over 20 years, we’ve partnered with companies like Google, ServiceNow, Uber, Eventbrite, and ŌURA, helping them navigate change, launch new ideas, and grow with intention.

Our work spans Brand, Marketing, and Product, but what defines us is how we work. We bring strategy, design, and engineering together from the start, moving quickly from idea to execution and refining as we go. We aim to do great work and be great to work with, because both matter.

We’re a collaborative, hands-on team with roots in Portland and New York and a distributed presence across the U.S. and Europe. We build teams around the needs of the work, staying nimble without sacrificing craft.

We value curiosity, perspective, and continuous learning, and we’re committed to building an inclusive environment where people can do their best work.

If that sounds like you, we’d love to meet you.

Designers at Instrument contribute thoughtful, well-crafted design solutions across digital, brand, and experiential work. This role is ideal for designers who are building confidence in their craft, learning to navigate complex projects, and growing their ability to translate ideas into clear, compelling visual outcomes.

Designers collaborate closely with creative, strategy, and technology partners to execute high-quality work that supports project goals and client needs. This role emphasizes craft development, responsiveness to feedback, and growing ownership of design execution within multidisciplinary teams.

What You'll Do

• Contribute to design solutions across platforms and formats, including digital interfaces, visual systems, prototypes and presentation materials.

• Translate creative direction, briefs, and feedback into thoughtful, on-brand design work.

• Apply strong visual fundamentals — typography, color, layout, hierarchy — to produce clear and effective outcomes.

• Support the development and application of design systems and component libraries.

• Work collaboratively with writers, strategists, technologists, and producers to deliver cohesive, cross-disciplinary work.

• Participate actively in critiques, reviews, and working sessions, incorporating feedback into design iterations.

• Communicate design rationale clearly to internal partners and, when appropriate, to clients.

• Prepare and organize working files, assets, and exports for collaboration and downstream production.

• Follow established workflows and design standards while learning when and how to adapt them.

• Manage assigned tasks with attention to detail, meeting timelines and delivery expectations.

• Stay curious about emerging design trends, tools, and best practices.

• Seek feedback proactively and apply learning to strengthen craft and process.

• Contribute to team knowledge sharing and documentation as appropriate.

• Practices Creative Intelligence by staying curious about emerging tools and technologies (including AI) and applying sound judgment about when and how they should inform the work. Continuously learns and experiments while keeping human needs, craft, and responsibility at the center.

What You'll Bring

• A strong portfolio of visually compelling, concept-driven design work, with your role clearly outlined in each project.

• Experience working collaboratively with cross-disciplinary teams.

• The ability to quickly iterate and refine your work based on feedback.

• Proficiency in current design tools, with a willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies.

• A strategic mindset for solving problems and translating complex ideas into accessible, impactful design.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• A natural curiosity, a collaborative spirit, and a passion for creating outstanding work.

Pay range

• The expected pay range for this position is $55,000-$85,000 for our base US Region 3*. We have three regional pay ranges that are adjusted for cost of living (US1 +15%, US2 +7.5%, US3 Base), learn more about our pay philosophy and cost of living adjustments

What We Offer

Flexible, Hybrid Work Environment

Great Compensation with Annual Reviews (Learn more about our Pay Philosophy)

401(k) Matching with Immediate Vesting

Robust Medical, Vision, and Accident Insurance

Generous Paid Holidays and unlimited PTO

Sabbaticals

Monthly Wellbeing Stipend

Career Management and Leadership Training

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.