Head of Design

<p style="min-height:1.5em">Lead a full reinvention of an immersive language learning platform for Migaku, a fast-growing Japanese company, shaping product, brand, and experience from the ground up to redefine how people achieve real fluency.<br><strong><br></strong>Reporting to Founder & CEO<br>Location: Tokyo (preferred) or Remote (APAC / EMEA with Asia overlap)</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">Migaku is a radical new approach to language learning.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">It already has a devoted global community of 20,000+ serious learners. The next stage of growth requires rethinking, and redesigning, grounded in a deep understanding of how people actually acquire language.</p><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>The Role</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">We are looking for a Head of Design to define and execute the next version of Migaku.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">This is not about incremental improvement. It is a full reset of product, brand, and experience.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will define the product and brand at a true inflection point.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">Migaku has already grown revenue 10x in the past year and plans to do so again this year.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will work on a product with a deeply engaged global community (over 20k on Discord).</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will help work on something meaningfully more effective than existing language learning tools – our mission is to make people actually fluent.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will work directly with the Founder and a highly technical team to shape not just how Migaku looks, but how it works, how it grows, and how it spreads.</p><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>What You’ll Do</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Own design end-to-end for Migaku across product, brand, and growth</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Redesign the core product experience from the ground up</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Translate complex language acquisition ideas into simple, intuitive interactions</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Create a design system that supports both usability and speed of iteration</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Shape a new brand identity that reflects the product’s ambition and effectiveness</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Design for virality: how the product appears in social content, clips, and shared moments</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Work closely with engineering to ship quickly and refine through use</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Act as both a hands-on designer and a design leader</p></li></ul><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>What We’re Looking For</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Strong experience designing consumer software products end-to-end</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Clear evidence of simplifying complex systems into intuitive user experiences</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Ability to move fluidly between product design, brand, and storytelling</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">High taste and strong point of view</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Comfort working in ambiguity and building from scratch</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Experience shipping real products, not just concepts</p></li></ul><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>Especially Relevant Experience</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Designing learning tools, creator tools, or habit-forming products</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Building products with strong community or viral loops</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Creating design systems that scale quickly with small teams</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Bridging product design and brand expression in a cohesive way</p></li></ul><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>Working Style</strong></h2><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>For Migaku</strong>, one third of the current team is located in Tokyo so ideally we’d have the Head of Design there as well. However, there’s flexibility on location: remote APAC or EMEA can work, with a preference for regular overlap with Asia-based working hours.</p><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>Why Join</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will define the product and brand at a true inflection point</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will work on a product with a deeply engaged global community</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will help build something meaningfully better than existing language learning tools</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Migaku has already grown revenue 10x in the past year and plans to do so again this year</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p>