Job Description
About CDS
CDS is the in-house creative studio behind two distinct kitchen appliance brands: Chefman, a mass-market, value-driven brand with deep Amazon and retail presence, and CHEF iQ, a premium, editorial, culture-led brand built around intelligent cooking technology. We handle everything from brand strategy and packaging to UX/UI, front-end prototyping, and campaign creative. This role is based in our Hackney Downs, London studio.
The Role
We're hiring a UI/UX Designer to help shape digital product experiences across both brands — most notably the CHEF iQ app (recipe discovery, guided cooking flows, connected device experiences) and supporting e-commerce, packaging-adjacent, and marketing touchpoints. You'll work at the intersection of interaction design, visual craft, and front-end feasibility, translating brand systems into working product experiences.
This is a hands-on, high-craft role — not a hand-off-and-wait position. You'll be prototyping in code as often as in Figma, and you'll be expected to hold a point of view in review, not just execute tickets. Because our products live in real kitchens, we want someone who brings a cook's instincts to the work — not just a designer’s.
What you'll do
• Design and prototype UI/UX for the CHEF iQ app and related digital products, from flow to pixel
• Build interactive, front-end prototypes (HTML/CSS/JS) to test and present real product behavior — not just static comps
• Translate CHEF iQ and Chefman brand systems (typography, color, tone) into consistent, functional interfaces across both brands' distinct registers
• Collaborate directly with the Design Director and US-based leadership (including the CEO) on product direction
• Contribute to the evolving design system — tokens, components, and documentation
• Partner with external agencies and vendors on campaign and packaging touchpoints where digital and physical intersect
What we're looking for
• Genuinely into cooking — someone who cooks regularly, thinks about kitchens, and understands the real friction points of a home cook's day. This isn't a nice-to-have: our best product decisions come from designers who've actually stood at the stove and felt where an app or interface gets in the way
• Strong portfolio demonstrating UI/UX craft across mobile and web product design
• Comfortable prototyping in front-end code (HTML/CSS/JS) in addition to Figma
• Experience designing for e-commerce, DTC, or connected/IoT products a strong plus
• Ability to work across two brand voices with very different registers — mass-market/value vs. premium/editorial —without losing rigor on either
• Self-directed, comfortable taking a point of view and defending it in review
• Based in or able to work full-time on-site in London
Logistics
• Location: Hackney Downs, London — on-site, full-time
• Engagement type: Independent contractor, engaged through RJ Brands LLC (US-based parent company)
• Reports to: Design Director