Founding Product Designer - Volunteer

About Arou

Loneliness is one of the biggest modern challenges of our time.

People move cities. They leave university. They change jobs. Friendship becomes harder. Not because people do not want connection, but because there is no simple infrastructure for it.

Arou exists to change that.

We are building a new way for adults to make real friends. Not followers. Not matches. Not surface level chats. Real friendships.

Arou places you straight into a small group chat with three people nearby who are similar in age, location and interests. It is an instant friendship group designed to move people from zero to talking quickly. From there, we give people the tools to sustain those friendships, not just start them.

Think WhatsApp meets Tinder BFF, without the swiping. Built for depth.

Over the last six months, Arou has grown into a fast moving 1500+ community and a new way for adults to make real friends. Now we’re turning that into a product.

The Role

We have early designs in place. They work, but they are basic and lack polish.

We are looking for a product designer who can elevate the entire experience. Someone who understands that design builds trust.

You will work directly with our Founder and Founding Engineers to:

• Refine and elevate the existing screens
• Design new flows including onboarding, matching and retention loops
• Help define our visual identity and interaction system
• Create an experience that feels exciting, intentional and different

Who You Are

• You care deeply about craft.
• You think in systems, not just individual screens.
• You understand behaviour, social psychology and how small design choices shape connection.
• You have shipped consumer apps before. Social or community products are a strong plus.
• You move fast but you do not cut corners.
• You use AI to accelerate thinking and production, not to replace taste.
• You are comfortable working closely with a founder and pushing back when something is not good enough.
• You want to build something that genuinely improves people’s lives.

Commitment & Equity

This is an equity-only role. Everyone on the founding team currently has full-time roles, so this is treated as a passion project - we work evenings or weekends (when we can), with weekly syncs to stay aligned and move fast.

You’ll have full ownership from day one, a real voice in product and technical decisions, and the opportunity to shape something that will impact millions.

You should be excited about building something of your own.

Why Join

• You’ll help build a product that tackles one of the biggest modern challenges: loneliness.
• You’ll join our team at Day 1, right as we launch our MVP - this has the potential to change so many lives
• You’ll work alongside a founding team who are building at some of the most exciting, fast-growing startups across People, Product, Engineering and Operations.
• You’ll be part of a small, close-knit founding team with ambition, heart, and a bias for action.

If this sounds exciting, drop us a note at hello@arou.app or share your CV - we’ll grab a virtual coffee to chat.