María A. M.
5.0
Studied at Universidad de Los Andes
Works at Deel
Available Thursday at 4:00 PM UTC
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About María A.
I’m a Staff Product Designer at Deel, specializing in Fintech, with 7 years of experience designing user-centric solutions across startups, VC-backed companies, and hyper-growth scale-ups. From being the sole designer at a startup acquired by Datadog to collaborating with a 60+ person design team at Deel, I’ve thrived in remote, cross-functional environments. I know how overwhelming career growth can feel—whether you're breaking into UX, navigating remote work, or finding your voice in a team. I’ve been there, and I want to help. As someone involved in hiring designers, I can offer insider insights into what companies look for and how to stand out. My mentorship approach is structured, practical, and tailored to your unique challenges. Beyond design, I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I co-founded a small, highly automated coffee subscription business, blending my passion for craftsmanship and technology. That experience, combined with my values, reinforced my belief in thoughtful, high-quality execution. I’m meticulous about the details, hold a high bar for excellence, and believe great design comes from both strategic thinking and precision in execution. I help designers sharpen their problem-solving skills, refine their craft, and develop the mindset to create work that truly stands out. People who’ve worked with me describe me as a thoughtful, structured, and impact-driven designer who delivers exceptional work and elevates those around me. I’m known for fostering collaboration across teams, giving feedback that challenges and uplifts, and helping designers grow into stronger problem-solvers. If you're looking for guidance on breaking into Product Design, excelling in remote teams, or leveling up as a designer, I’m here to help.
Work Experience
Staff product designer
Deel
August 2024 - Present
Deel helps thousands of companies expand globally. It's a global hiring, HR, and payroll tool in just one system. I am proud and happy to be part of and lead design in the Fintech vertical. Our team ensures that Deel consistently delivers timely, reliable, and scalable ways for contractors and employees to withdraw/receive their funds and for clients to pay their workers. - I've had the opportunity to design withdrawals (to banks, wallets, and crypto methods), cards, and even advance-related interactions currently used by thousands of contractors and employees worldwide. - I've also been able to design multiple interactions on our internal operations tool that helps our amazing FintechOps team to make sure we take care of all payments conveniently.
Senior Product Designer
Deel
June 2023 - August 2024
Senior Product Designer
Actiondesk
January 2023 - August 2023
Actiondesk allowed businesses to gather all their data in one place and enabled them to build reports in minutes without being proficient in Excel. All data was always fresh and updated. I was the only designer on the team and I focused on delivering designs (and iterations) of the feature that helped our sales team close more leads and contributed to the company's exit. Actiondesk was acquired by DataDog! I contributed by introducing design processes in the delivery workflow of the company (including a V1 Design System and usability testing of features before implementation).
Product Designer
Deel
March 2022 - June 2023
Product Designer
Torre
May 2021 - March 2022
Torre is a marketplace and network that matches the profiles of over a million candidates/professionals with teams and their job openings using AI. I managed the product development process of two product teams, orchestrating every step from user research, analysis, ideation, scope definition, design, testing, and supported engineers during implementation. While at Torre, my role extended beyond design. I assumed leadership responsibilities working closely with the CEO to align the business vision and user needs to execute the product roadmap of two teams of hard-working engineers.
UX Researcher
Torre.ai
July 2020 - May 2021
Successfully planned, recruited, and moderated hundreds of interviews with users across the globe without paying them a dollar to be part of my UX research efforts, just my charm 😉. Prototyped, prepared, sent, and analyzed unmoderated tests for each new feature we released. Identified hundreds of bugs while reviewing periodically user sessions and running tests on the product. User Personas and Key Metrics
Co-founder
Arjé Coffee
July 2019 - May 2021
Designed all the e-commerce interactions that hundreds of customers used to buy coffee beans. Talked/interviewed different coffee farmers across the country to assess their products and make sure for each coffee we bought we could also display their history in the branding. Designed the operations! I was in charge of making sure we had enough fresh and diverse roasted coffee beans for our customers. Key Metrics
Senior Service Designer
Tritocafé
January 2019 - June 2020
Hiring Manager
Education
Coursera
Interaction Design Specialization UC San Diego, Human Computer Interaction
2020 - 2020
I learned how to design technologies that bring people joy. I trained myself in how to generate design ideas, research techniques, and prototyping. Also, I practiced how to use prototypes to get feedback from other stakeholders like your teammates, clients, and users. I also further develop my visual design, perception, and cognition skills.
Universidad de Los Andes
Bachelor's degree, Design
2015 - 2019
8 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
María A. has helped clients get into these companies: