About BigGeo
BigGeo is the Spatial Cloud. We help companies manage and access the world’s spatial data. Any size, any slice, any insight. Delivered in seconds.
We’re building something that hasn’t existed before: a new layer of the internet where the “where” and “when” behind every decision is instantly clear, programmable, and actionable. Our platform removes the complexity that has kept spatial data locked in silos for decades, and replaces it with speed, precision, and control.
We’re a Calgary-based company, early and moving fast, with real customers, real infrastructure, and a clear point of view on where the world is going.
Why BigGeo Exits and Why People Build Here
Most companies are spatially blind. They know what their data says, but not where or when things actually happen. That gap costs real money, creates real risk, and limits what AI can actually do in the physical world.BigGeo exists to close that gap.We’re not building another tool. We’re building the rails that connect the planet’s moving data to the systems that run the world. That’s a big problem, and it takes people who care about doing things right, not just fast.
People build here because:
- The problem is real and the category is open. We’re not competing for the middle of an existing market. We’re defining a new one. Your work shapes what the category becomes.
- Your fingerprints are on the architecture. We’re at the stage where the decisions you make today become the foundation tomorrow. What you ship matters.
- We run on clarity, not politics. We move with purpose. No bureaucratic drag, just a team that agrees on the mission and gets to work.
- You’ll grow fast because the problems are hard. Spatial data at scale is a genuinely difficult domain. If you want to be stretched, you’ll be stretched.
- We’re building for longevity. We’re not chasing hype cycles. We’re building infrastructure, the kind that compounds in value over time and earns the trust of the companies that depend on it.
The Role
The Design Lead owns the visual language of the Spatial Cloud, elevating BigGeo's product from functional and operational to something that feels considered and desired.
This is a hard hire: we are not looking for a graphic designer, we're looking for someone with real design systems fluency who can look at any screen and identify exactly what makes it more appealing, clickable, and organized.
You'll work alongside our UX/UI designer and design systems function to close the gap between what BigGeo's product does and how it feels to use.
If you've shipped visual language for tech products before and know the difference between decoration and design, this is where that experience compounds.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the visual design language across BigGeo's platform, translating functional screens into interfaces that feel intentional and desired
- Partner with our UX/UI designer and design systems team to close the gap between what a feature does and how it feels to use
- Audit existing product surfaces and identify concrete, high-leverage visual improvements across spacing, hierarchy, clickability, and flow
- Bring a customer-first lens to design decisions, grounded in how End User, Data Partner, and Solution Partner customers actually move through the platform
- Build and evolve visual patterns that complement Meridian, our design system, without duplicating its structural work
- Use AI-assisted design tools to accelerate concepting, iteration, and visual exploration without sacrificing craft
- Collaborate directly with Product and Engineering to make sure visual decisions ship as designed, not just as approved
- Bring outside perspective on what best-in-class SaaS visual design looks like and apply it to a category that's still defining its own conventions
What You Bring
Required:
- Proven experience as a product designer or design lead in a tech or software environment, not agency or brand design
- Deep fluency with design systems: how to work within one, extend it, and know when to introduce something new
- A portfolio that shows visual judgment, with specific decisions that made a product more appealing, clickable, or usable
- Comfort partnering closely with engineering to make sure visual intent survives implementation
- Customer-first instincts, with the ability to translate abstract customer needs into concrete visual decisions
- Demonstrated use of AI tools to accelerate design iteration, concepting, and production work
Nice to Have:
- Experience designing for complex, data-heavy, or technical B2B products
- Familiarity with geospatial, mapping, or data visualization interfaces
- Startup or early-stage company experience where design systems were still being built
- Experience mentoring or influencing other designers without formal management authority
Success Metrics
First 30 days:
- Complete a full audit of existing product surfaces, identifying concrete visual issues in spacing, hierarchy, clickability, and flow
- Deep-dive into Meridian (BigGeo's design system) to understand its current structure, conventions, and gaps
- Meet with UX/UI designer and design systems team to establish working rhythm and avoid duplicated effort
- Deliver a prioritized list of high-leverage visual improvements (quick wins vs. longer-term system work)
First 60 days:
- Ship visual improvements to at least 2-3 product surfaces identified in the 30-day audit
- Establish a clear collaboration pattern with Engineering to ensure visual intent survives implementation (e.g., design QA step before release)
- Begin extending Meridian with new visual patterns where gaps were identified, without duplicating existing structural work
- Gather initial customer/user feedback (qualitative or usage data) on shipped visual changes
First 90 days:
- Visual design language has measurably shifted at least one major product area from "functional" to "considered and desired" (before/after comparison, stakeholder or customer feedback)
- Meridian has been meaningfully extended with Design Lead's visual patterns, adopted by other designers/engineers
- Design-to-engineering handoff process is running smoothly, with minimal drift between approved designs and shipped product
- Demonstrated use of AI-assisted tools has visibly accelerated concepting/iteration speed (e.g., faster turnaround on design explorations)
Beyond 90 days:
- Recognized as the visual authority across the platform, with Product and Engineering proactively looping in Design Lead on visual decisions
- Consistent, measurable improvement in product visual quality across multiple surfaces (not just initial pilot areas)
- Meridian and BigGeo's visual language are cohesive and scaling well as new features ship
- Contributes outside perspective that elevates BigGeo's visual design conventions relative to best-in-class SaaS products