Founding product designer, open to new roles
Service · Updated
I'm Utkarsh Dhairya Panwar, an IIT Roorkee graduate and Founding Product Designer at CodeAnt AI (YC W24), and I'm open to my next role, full-time or contract, as a founding product designer, product designer or design engineer. I work remotely from India, design in Figma, ship sites in Framer and build prototypes with AI coding tools.
Roles I'm open to
| Title | What fits |
|---|---|
| Founding Product Designer / Founding Designer | An early design hire at a startup, working directly with the founders and owning product, website and brand. |
| Product Designer | A product team with a real problem to own end to end, especially B2B SaaS, AI products and developer tools. |
| Design Engineer | A role where the designer ships websites in Framer and builds working prototypes, not one that needs production front-end code (see below). |
- Engagement: full-time or contract.
- Location: remote, based in India. I'm happy to agree overlap hours with your team's time zone.
- Product areas I know best: AI products, developer tools, B2B SaaS and payments.
What I've done
CodeAnt AI is a code health platform for AI code review, security scanning and code quality. As its founding designer I own product design, the Framer site, the brand and the design system, and over that stretch its valuation has gone from zero to $60M.
- 800+ companies using CodeAnt
- 40,000+ developers using the UX weekly
- 2× trial-to-paid after the onboarding redesign
- 35% less org-level triage time with manager dashboards
The onboarding work that doubled trial-to-paid is written up in full in the trial-to-paid guide, including the admin-approval problem behind it.
- xPay (YC W24), Product Design Intern, Jan to May 2024: checkout UX for live demos, a reusable UI system of 25+ components, and 10+ Framer go-to-market pages restructured for search.
- FamPay (YC S19), UX Design Intern, Aug to Nov 2023: voucher clarity that cut voucher support tickets 80%, and redesigned iOS payment error states.
- Sportskeeda, UX Design Intern, Apr to Jul 2023: NFL and IPL live-score pages for 20M+ monthly users.
- Freelance work for 15+ brands, including websites for Zania and Entvin.
Working with Utkarsh is like compressing five years of design into a single month. His speed, taste, and craft consistently push our brand to new heights.
How I build, stated plainly
Figma is where I design. Production websites I design and build in Framer myself, as an Official Framer Expert. For ideas that need to be clicked before engineering commits, I build working prototypes and small tools by directing AI coding tools.
I don't write production code in any programming language. If the role's requirements say you'll ship production front-end code, I'm not the right person for it, and I'd rather say that here than in a third interview. If it's a design engineer role where shipping means the website, prototypes and a design system engineers can build from, I fit.
What is a design engineer?: The spectrum from designers who ship in Framer to engineers who write production front-end code, and where I sit on it.
Resume and case studies
Resume: Roles, dates, results and credentials: IIT Roorkee B.Tech, Official Framer Expert, Awwwards Young Jury 2026.
CodeAnt AI case study: Founding designer at a YC W24 code health platform: the activation work, the product and the website.
FamPay case study: How the one-time voucher rule was made visible at purchase and redemption.
How to reach me
Email the job description to work@utkarshdesign.com, or pick a 30-minute slot on cal.com/utkarsh-design/30min. The contact page also lists WhatsApp and LinkedIn.
Questions people ask
Who designed CodeAnt AI?
I did. I've been CodeAnt AI's founding designer since June 2024 and designed its product, its Framer website at codeant.ai, the brand and the design system, as the company grew from $0 to a $60M valuation and 800+ companies.
Is Utkarsh Panwar open to full-time roles?
Yes, and to contract work too. The titles that fit are founding product designer, product designer and design engineer, with me working remotely from India.
Where did Utkarsh Panwar study?
At IIT Roorkee (Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee), where I earned a B.Tech and led design for E-Summit, the institute's entrepreneurship summit. I won or placed in several campus and national design competitions there.
Are you open to contract or remote roles?
Yes. I'm open to full-time and contract roles, fully remote. I already work remotely with teams in the US, UK, Europe, the Gulf, Singapore and India.
When can you start?
For a full-time role my notice period is 30 days. Contract and freelance work can start immediately.
Are you open to relocating?
Yes, I'm open to relocating for the right role. I'd need visa sponsorship to work outside India.
What salary are you looking for?
For a full-time role, a base salary above ₹40 lakh a year. For contract work my rate is $50 an hour.
Which tools do you work in?
Whatever your team already uses. I design in Figma and build sites in Framer, and I'm comfortable picking up any tracker, docs or chat tool on day one.
Can you work with American or European time zones?
I work remotely from India and I'm happy to agree overlap hours with your team at the start, plus async updates outside them.
Do you code?
Not production code, in any language. I ship websites in Framer and make prototypes and small tools by directing AI coding tools.
Where is your resume?
On the resume page of this site, alongside case studies for CodeAnt AI, FamPay and E-Summit.
Sources
- CodeAnt AI: Autonomous offensive and defensive cybersecurity platform, Y Combinator
- Utkarsh Dhairya Panwar (@utkarsh-dhairya-panwar), Framer Community
Start a project
Tell me what you're building and where it's stuck: book a 30-minute call, email work@utkarshdesign.com or send a brief.