Permanent
Berlin
Fully-remote
Salary: Not specified
> 5 years
Skills we're looking for
Motivational skills
Communication skills
Prototyping
Coaching and mentoring
Creative design
+3
You'll be part of
1400 employees
Software
Education
Our take
Babbel is one of the leading lights in the language eLearning sector. Its premium subscription-based online learning resources cover over a dozen predominantly European languages, at all proficiency levels. They include interactive lessons and podcasts - all developed and delivered by professional educators and linguists. Learning languages online has become big business in recent years, and this has led to a surge of VC investment in the sector. This diversified the field of competition, tripling revenue for smaller rivals like Busuu and driving up engagement on online tutoring sites. It has ramped up pressure on incumbents like Babbel, and its better established (but pricier) competitor Rosetta Stone, to diversify their offerings. To get there, Babbel has taken a smart cue from live tutoring sites like Preply, which also saw a surge in engagement over recent years. Babbel has launched its own live tuition offering, and additional B2B services, demonstrating a savvy use of its leading position and strong resources to keep a tight grip on its substantial market share.
You'll be working on
- We’re a small, fast-moving team rethinking how people learn languages with AI. We’re looking for an experienced product designer to take over hands-on design leadership: shaping the product’s direction, running discovery, and getting work delivered
- This is a design leadership and mentoring role, not a people management role. You’ll guide the craft and direction of the design team. Speed, precision and quality are how we work. You’ll set the pace. You’ll work AI-first, using various ways to test ideas quickly and turning the best ones into experiences that are ready to hand off
- Lead design across discovery and delivery, owning key design decisions for AI-first language learning experiences
- Design AI-powered learning experiences. Shape how learners interact with AI, from conversation and voice to feedback that stays clear and trustworthy even when the AI gets things wrong
- Work as an AI builder. Use AI tools first to speed up research, exploring ideas, prototyping and delivery
- Prototype in code. Build prototypes in SwiftUI and HTML to test ideas and produce vision prototypes that are ready to hand off
- Design with Claude Code and Figma together. Figma is one tool among several here, not where every project starts
- Coach and mentor the small, experienced design team, who also work as AI builders, and help them share one set of AI-first design principles
- Work across disciplines with engineers, product managers, linguists and language learning specialists
- About Babbel Labs
- Babbel Labs is building the future of language learning. We are an AI-first, independent company within the Babbel group, based in Berlin. Our teams bring AI, research and product together to ship experiences that set a new standard for how people learn
- The role
- How you’ll make an impact
- Your skills and qualifications
- Proven design leadership. Solid experience leading product design, with a record of shipping work that users actually adopted
- Excellent UI craft and motion design. Learning happens moment by moment, so polished interfaces and purposeful motion are essential to a great learning experience
- Hands-on prototyping in code. You’re comfortable in SwiftUI and HTML/CSS/JS and can build things people can use and test
- AI fluency. You use AI tools like Claude Code as a real part of how you design, not an add-on
- Design systems know-how. A working knowledge of design systems and how they make teams faster and more consistent
- A coaching mindset. Experience coaching designers and raising a team’s standards through example, feedback and shared practices
- Clear communication. You work well with technical and non-technical partners, including specialists like linguists and learning designers
- Comfort with ambiguity. You thrive on fast iteration and figuring things out as you go
- What you’ll get
- Room to learn new tools as they arrive. Try them on real work as soon as they come out, and help decide what the team adopts
- A consumer product used around the world. Design for a live product that real learners use every day, globally
- A competitive salary. Salary range: TBD. Pay that reflects the level of the role and the impact you’ll have on the product and the team
- What success looks like:
- Delivery-ready prototypes. Prototypes that give engineering and stakeholders a clear vision to build from
- Faster, better design work. Quality and speed improve through AI tools and design systems
- An aligned design team. A team that is coached, confident and aligned on AI-first design principles
Benefits
- 30 vacation days and flexible working hours
- BVG card or Swapfiets bike
- Jobbatical and Sabbatical options
- Many internal & external learning opportunities to choose from
- A yearly Learning & Development budget
- Visa and relocation assistance
- Full access to Babbel & Babbel Live classes
- Modern office in the heart of buzzing Berlin equipped with a family, music, faith and nap room
- Various internal communities to be part of including the Femgineers, DEI Ambassadors, Accessibility & Disability Group and more
We're looking for
- Clear communication. You work well with technical and non-technical partners, including specialists like linguists and learning designers
- Design systems know-how. A working knowledge of design systems and how they make teams faster and more consistent
- Excellent UI craft and motion design. Learning happens moment by moment, so polished interfaces and purposeful motion are essential to a great learning experience
- A coaching mindset. Experience coaching designers and raising a team’s standards through example, feedback and shared practices
- Comfort with ambiguity. You thrive on fast iteration and figuring things out as you go
- Proven design leadership. Solid experience leading product design, with a record of shipping work that users actually adopted
- AI fluency. You use AI tools like Claude Code as a real part of how you design, not an add-on
- Hands-on prototyping in code. You’re comfortable in SwiftUI and HTML/CSS/JS and can build things people can use and test
- We are a learning company, inside and out, and we encourage you to apply even if you do not fit all the technical requirements — all candidates are assessed based on skills, qualifications, and our business need