Principal Designer (Web & UX/UI) Job at Bellota Labs in Redwood City

Overview

At Bellota Labs, we are a fast-paced, hypergrowth startup on a mission to revolutionize the online poker experience with ClubWPT Gold — a cutting-edge platform from the World Poker Tour. We are creating a skill-based, strategy-driven ecosystem where players can learn, train, and compete for real prizes. We are looking for a Principal Designer (UX/UI) to help define and deliver the end-to-end design experience — from homepage to player dashboard, onboarding flows, and training tools. This is a high-impact role shaping the product from MVP to full-scale launch, with the potential to influence the visual identity of one of the most ambitious new gaming platforms in the market. We seek a designer who combines a refined craft eye with an AI-native workflow and can move at startup speed by leveraging modern tools to ideate, prototype, and ship rapidly.

Join us at Bellota Labs — where the game is just getting started.

Key Responsibilities

• Design the full web experience: Own the look, feel, and flow of our mobile-first responsive web platform—from landing pages to in-app dashboards and gameplay interfaces. Use AI-assisted design tools to rapidly explore layouts, generate variants, and move from concept to high-fidelity outputs.
• Craft seamless UX: Design intuitive flows for onboarding, account creation, training modules, vanity stores, and tournament play. Leverage generative AI to prototype multiple UX directions, test flows, and iterate based on data.
• Create high-fidelity UI mockups: Turn concepts into developer-ready screens that balance usability and visual appeal. Use generative image tools to explore visual treatments, illustration directions, and marketing imagery that reinforce the brand.
• Collaborate cross-functionally: Work with product managers, stakeholders, and developers to translate business goals into elegant design solutions. Use AI tools to accelerate research synthesis, competitive teardowns, specs, and design documentation, so more time can be spent on craft.
• Define and uphold our design system: Establish our visual identity across products — sleek, strategic, and skill-oriented. Build and maintain a system optimized for both human designers and AI-assisted workflows, so components scale as the team grows.
• Deliver production-ready assets: Ensure design handoffs are clean and ready for rapid development cycles, using AI-assisted tooling to streamline specs, variants, asset generation, and dev-ready exports.
• Champion AI in the design process: Continuously evaluate new AI tools and techniques that can elevate output or speed, and share learnings with the broader team.

Experience

• Bachelor's in Computer Science or equivalent required
• 6+ years in UX/UI, web, or product design (with a strong emphasis on responsive web and mobile-first experiences)
• A portfolio that showcases clean visual design, complex user flows, and thoughtful UX strategy
• Proficiency in Figma and familiarity with Adobe CC
• Hands-on experience using AI tools in a professional design workflow — generative image tools, AI-assisted UI tools, and AI-powered research/writing tools — with clear judgment about where AI accelerates the work and where human craft must lead
• Strong UX instincts and a refined aesthetic that appeals to a skill-based gaming audience
• Experience designing for platforms in gaming, training, or education is a strong plus
• Bonus: You know poker — or are excited to learn

What Success Looks Like

• A live MVP platform that's sleek, intuitive, and conversion-optimized
• A seamless onboarding flow that drives adoption and player retention
• A polished brand and product identity that builds credibility and trust with serious players
• Design systems and flows that scale as we grow into a category-defining product
• A demonstrably AI-accelerated design practice — shipping more, exploring more directions, and iterating faster than a traditional design org of similar size

If you’re passionate about building immersive, skill-first digital products and want to help shape the future of poker innovation, we’d love to hear from you.

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.