Product Designer (Contractor) at Normative in Toronto, Ontario, CA

PRODUCT DESIGNER (CONTRACTOR) Welcome to Normative At Normative, we are committed to solving valuable problems through human-centered design consulting. Our team operates at the intersection of strategy, product design, and technology, helping organizations navigate complexity and drive meaningful innovation. We believe that exceptional design comes from true partnerships, where collaboration is built on transparency, trust, and shared ownership. Our expertise in specialized problem-solving enables us to tackle hard challenges, leveraging deep domain knowledge and a user-first mindset.  If you thrive in ambiguous and complex environments, seek to design for real impact, and believe in the power of collaboration and innovation, Normative is the right place for you. About This Role We're seeking a strategically-minded and innovation-focused Product Designer Contractor to drive user-centered design improvements to shape enterprise product experiences that are effective, accessible, and aligned with user and business needs. This short-term contractor role (9-10 months) is for a seasoned Product Designer with a strong, proven background in UX and UI design, UX research, and enterprise product design, particularly in government and large-scale digital services.  You’ll join a small product team and work on bringing new ideas to life with designs that map back to customer needs and business opportunities. You'll use your ability to translate opportunities into great customer and user experiences, whether that’s through concepts, prototypes, workshops, decks and stories, or functional software products. This is a collaborative, client-facing role with direct ownership and accountability in delivering high-quality design work. Strong communication, organization, attention to detail, and the ability to navigate complexity are essential. Work Eligibility & Location This role requires candidates to be located in Canada and eligible to work in Canada. Candidates must also be set-up with a business number to provide contractor services in Canada order to be considered for this position . While Normative is fully remote and offers flexibility in working hours, there will be times when availability during 7:30am-3:30pm PST / 8:30am-4:30pm MST / 10:30am-6:30pm EST is required to align with team collaboration and project needs. What You’ll Do • Craft design solutions for complex user and business problems using an outcome-driven design approach. • Design at the various stages of the product innovation cycle: sketches, concepts, interactive prototypes, end-to-end product interface designs. • Own the end-to-end product design process; including client management, workshop facilitation, discovery, strategy, UI design, and deliverable hand-off. • Develop artifacts and tools that can communicate decisions and facilitate change at large-scale organizations: customer journeys, user flows, scenarios, wireframes, functional prototypes, through to high-fidelity designs. • Work cross-functionally with agile multidisciplinary teams, leading and facilitating the design process through internal discussions and working sessions to reach alignment on understanding user needs. • Bring empathy, creativity, and a constructive highly collaborative mindset to deliver exceptional design experiences, both in look and function, and craft great client experiences. • Support UX research activities, including workshops, user interviews and usability testing to inform design decisions. • Synthesize multiple inputs and feedback sources to make sense of complex subject matter, and to create cohesive, compelling narratives, visions and designs. • Apply a deep understanding of interaction design, IA and visual design fundamentals. • Understand the technology and business landscapes that opportunities exist within to map product features directly to business outcomes and customer/user goals. • Advocate for accessibility and inclusivity in digital service design, ensuring compliance with WCAG and government accessibility standards. What You’ll Bring • 2-5+ years of experience in Product Design. • Experience in a consulting or digital innovation agency environment. • Experience designing for government services, healthcare, enterprise software, or complex systems. • Strong product thinking with a user-centered approach. • Experience working with design systems for large-scale digital products. • Experience delivering exceptional user experiences that apply design thinking, or human-centered design approaches to incorporate user needs into design processes, ideas, solutions and service improvements. • Experience exploring multiple design solutions to a given problem or feature, and communicating those solutions visually through sketches, user flows, wireframes, functional prototypes, and/or high-fidelity designs, as necessary. • Proficiency in design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Axure, Adobe XD, Sketch, Miro and similar and a willingness and ability to learn new software as required. • Experience with leveraging AI-assisted tools and methodologies to drive new ways of working and thinking. • Strong understanding of Agile methodologies, Lean UX, and iterative design processes with the ability to systematically move from open-ended challenges to well‑reasoned solutions. • Experience working collaboratively in cross-functional teams in fast-paced, agile environments. • Strong ownership of your own design process with a solution oriented mindset to maintain forward momentum and drive results. • Knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1+), usability best practices, and inclusive design principles. • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present and defend complex ideas and design decisions with diplomacy and clarity. • Continuous learning mindset, staying updated on industry trends and emerging technologies. • Strong time management and organisation skills with a demonstrated ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks in a deadline-driven environment. • Comfort with ambiguity and an adaptive mindset that allows you to remain productive and grounded in evolving contexts. If you meet most of these requirements and are excited about this role, we encourage you to apply. Working at Normative: At Normative, we offer a place where curious, driven people can do the best work of their careers in an environment built for autonomy, mastery, and impact. We are a fully remote, highly collaborative team, designed to support independent thinkers who thrive in complexity, ambiguity, and high-accountability environments. We take on hard problems that matter, spanning strategy, UX, service design, and technology. You won’t just execute - you’ll shape solutions, drive impact, and push boundaries. We operate with high trust and high accountability. You own your work, manage your time, and contribute at a high level - without micromanagement. We stay connected through deliberate collaboration, a well-defined organizational cadence, and shared rituals. We expect ownership, directness, and bravery, but we also value introspection, creativity, and a positive mindset. We push for excellence while fostering continuous learning and growth. We invest in our team with fair, clearly defined salary ranges. The expected base salary range for a new hire in this role is listed above. The annual base salary offered is determined by each candidate’s relevant knowledge, skills, education, training and experience. It is aligned to ensure both internal and external competitiveness using market data for the geographic location and industry. We offer meaningful career growth opportunities, and a commitment to well-being. We support professional development, sustainable ways of working, and long-term success - for both our people and our company. Inclusion At Normative, we are committed to building an environment where everyone feels included, valued, and heard. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging are an important part of our everyday work. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, racialized people, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities, and/or people with intersectional identities. Accommodations and Accessibility Normative provides employment accommodation during the recruitment process. Should you require any accommodation, please indicate this on your application and we will work with you to meet your accessibility needs. For any questions, suggestions, or required documents regarding accessibility in a different format, please contact us at hello@normative.com.  Use of AI Normative uses AI tools in our recruitment process, including developing job postings and note-taking during interviews. AI is not used to screen, assess, or select candidates. All resumes are reviewed by a human, and all hiring decisions are made by humans. Any AI-generated output used during the recruitment process is reviewed by a human before action is taken.