Product Manager UX Specialist

Location: Amsterdam (hybrid) or Europe (remote).

About the Role:

We seek a Product Manager who thrives on creative product design tasks. You have a portfolio of pragmatically and beautifully designed digital products. Ideally, your prior work experience exposed you to academia, research, or the scientific publishing industry. You will work closely with company leadership to define the product vision and strategy, ensuring our tools meet the needs of researchers and scientists globally. You will also work closely with the engineering team to ensure technical implementation and functionality meet your original vision. We will give you the tools and budget to conduct market research and feedback you can apply to your next design iteration.

We Offer:

• Flexibility: Remote work is the default. Office space in Amsterdam can be arranged, and co-working in Amsterdam and other locations is possible.
• Competitive pay.
• Equity stake in the company.
• A fun, ambitious, and highly talented team.
• Annual global company retreat in the world's most captivating locations.
• Flexible travel support for approved business trips.
• You will have a clear impact and responsibility from day 1.

• A UX Designer with a strong portfolio of digital products.
• Proficiency in Figma and other design and prototyping tools.
• Creativity and intelligence, combined with conscientiousness and reliability.
• A passion for science.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Ability to independently conduct thorough market research among scientists and analyze user feedback.
• Leadership skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Bonus points for programming skills and familiarity with academia, researchers, and the scientific publishing industry.

• Define and communicate product vision and strategy.
• Create wireframes, sitemaps, and prototypes in Figma.
• Prioritize product features based on business value and user needs; develop user personas and use cases.
• Collaborate with design, engineering, project management, and marketing teams to ensure timely and high-quality product delivery.
• Analyze user feedback and data to inform product decisions and optimize for intuitive navigation and high user engagement.
• Track key performance indicators (KPIs) and plan usability tests to measure and improve product success.

DeSci Labs is an open-source software startup with strong R&D capabilities, dedicated to building infrastructure and innovative products for scientific communication. Backed by $6.5M in funding from leading investors, our mission is to revolutionize the way science is published, validated, curated, and exchanged. We believe in openness, fairness, and truth-seeking.

Our products are designed to accelerate scientific progress by addressing the current system’s shortcomings. We create tools that recognize and reward high-quality science, fostering an environment where the scientific community can thrive through genuine innovation and rigorous research.

Our first application is Nodes, an interactive online platform that lets researchers create, validate, and curate research objects. Research objects are versionable publications that contain a broad range of components such as manuscripts, data, code, and all other files and objects related to scientific research. We will import over 50 million open-access research articles into the Nodes platform this summer, which requires the development of powerful search, browse, sort, and filter functionalities. Nodes will also gain AI capabilities, social features, and unique metrics that require thoughtful product design. Furthermore, Nodes will evolve into a publication platform that enables research-owned scientific journals and communities without paywalls or author publication charges.

We are also developing CODEX (for “Collaborative Data Exchange”). This open scholarly infrastructure protocol aims to weave the truly persistent fabric of the scientific record, where publications and their artifacts can be addressed with high granularity in a participatory open-state repository.

These products will be combined with an incentive layer that rewards communities, journals, and referees for high-quality validation and curation services around scholarly content.

We value a collaborative and dynamic atmosphere. As a young startup, we support and encourage professional growth: We always find opportunities to expand our skill sets and take on new responsibilities.

We offer flexible remote work arrangements, but we recognize the value of face-to-face interaction for strengthening cohesiveness and creativity in our team. That’s why we offer office space in Amsterdam and bring the full team together at least once a year in inspiring locations. We are an equal-opportunity employer. Join us in shaping our dynamic and innovative company culture.