# Eddie Machado **Honest & Practical Design Leadership** - **Email:** eddiemachadonl@gmail.com - **Portfolio:** [eddiemachado.com](https://eddiemachado.com/) - **LinkedIn:** [linkedin.com/in/machadoeddie/](https://linkedin.com/in/machadoeddie/) 14+ years of experience in Product Design and UX Design, specializing in AI integration, Design systems and Design ops. I love building functional foundations that set design teams up for success. --- ## Current position ### Design Engineer **Miro.com** • 2023 – Present • Remote - Leading end-to-end product design for rebranding, redesign, and new product vision launch - Leading integration of AI into Design system team's workflow and processes - Creating and documenting comprehensive Design System with design tokens and component libraries - Building & optimizing MCP to align various AI platforms with our internal Design system & Design language - Collaborating with engineering teams on AI-powered features and LLM integrations - Designing accessible, inclusive, and flexible components and patterns for designers and engineers *AI • Design Systems • Design Docs • Figma • Storybook • MCP • LLMs • UI Design • UX Design • Product Design • User Research • Prototyping • Wireframes • User Flows • Accessibility* --- ## Previous positions ### Lead Designer **Lokalise.com** • 2022 – 2023 • Remote - Led product design for new AI-first localization platform - Established AI design principles to guide design & development teams - Created, enhanced, and documented Design System in order to roll out Design tokens & components throughout the existing product - Organized design rituals and operations for product design team efficiency *Design Systems • Prototyping • Figma • Storybook • AI • UI Design • UX Design • Product Design • End-to-End Design • Cross-Functional Collaboration* --- ### Product Design Lead **TheDefiant.com** • 2021 – 2023 (Contract) • Remote - Refreshed branding and created Design System for network of financial products - Designed end-to-end UX flows and prototypes for trader dashboard - Collaborated with team of 4 engineers to build financial product dashboard - Built user onboarding funnel and conversion flows to guide users through product suite - Conducted user research and synthesized insights to inform design decisions *Design Systems • Figma • Developer Tools • Branding • UI Design • UX Design • Design Ops • Management • User Research • Prototyping • User Flows • Information Architecture* --- ### Lead Product Designer **Parcel** • 2021 – 2022 (Contract) • Remote - Refreshed branding and created Design System for network of products - Designed UX flows and prototypes for financial dashboard - Collaborated with team of 4 engineers to build trader dashboard - Built conversion funnels and user flows to guide users through product suite *Design Systems • Figma • Developer Tools • Branding • UI Design • UX Design • Design Ops • Management • Prototyping • User Flows* --- ### Lead Product Designer **Hotjar.com** • 2020 – 2022 • Remote - Built and documented Hotjar's first Design System from scratch - Crafted design processes and rituals to improve design team efficiency - Served as liaison between Brand and Product teams during company rebrand - Managed 3 product designers across 3 different product squads - Facilitated design workshops and collaborated with product managers, engineers, and researchers *Design Systems • Design Docs • Figma • Storybook • Zeroheight • UI Design • UX Design • Management • Design Workshops • Cross-Functional Collaboration* --- ### Senior Product Designer **Poki.com** • 2019 – 2020 • Amsterdam, Netherlands - Created Design System for both user-facing and developer-facing products - Designed developer dashboard while maintaining brand identity - Built product analytics tools and UX flows for creators to track game performance - Designed responsive, mobile-first experiences for gaming platform *Design Systems • Design Docs • Figma • Storybook • Sketch • UI Design • UX Design • Developer Tools • Mobile-First • Responsive Design* --- ### Senior Product Designer **Booking.com** • 2016 – 2019 • Amsterdam, Netherlands - Led product design for Property page within Booking's mobile apps - Increased conversion rates through A/B testing and design experimentation - Coordinated UX flows and design decisions across 24 cross-functional teams - Conducted user research and synthesized quantitative and qualitative insights - Supported migration from Sketch to Figma by migrating libraries and ways of working - Audited mobile apps in preparation for the creation of Booking's first Design System *App Design • Design Docs • Figma • Sketch • Management • UI Design • UX Design • Branding • User Research • A/B Testing • Data-Driven Design • Mobile-First • Accessibility* --- ## Speaking Working with many Design conferences, here are some events I've attended and spoken at: - **Into Design Systems:** Design Systems at Miro - **Friends of Figma Portugal:** Launching a new Design language at scale - **Digital Leute:** From consistency to chaos: Optimizing handoff for the AI age - **Into Design Systems:** The path to an AI enabled design system: Our approach and lessons learned --- ## Background Living in Greece as a permanent EU resident. I am eligible to work in the EU. I have companies established in the Netherlands and Malta and can be employed through those companies as a contractor. English fluent. Working knowledge of Spanish. Currently learning Greek. --- ## Design Engineering & Systems Expertise I sit at the intersection of design and code. My career started in front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) before moving into design, which means I've always operated comfortably across both disciplines. Key areas of experience: - **Design token architecture** — semantic naming conventions, Figma-to-code token mapping, multi-platform token systems (web, mobile, tablet) - **Component development** — building and documenting production-ready component libraries; extensive experience with Storybook as a canonical UI reference across multiple companies (Miro, Hotjar, Poki, Lokalise) - **Design-code parity** — ensuring design and production stay in sync; deep partnership with front-end engineering on implementation, review, and quality standards - **AI-accelerated workflows** — currently building MCP integrations at Miro to align AI platforms with our design system; using AI tooling to accelerate design-to-code generation and automate consistency checks - **Visual design craft** — strong foundation in typography, layout, spacing, color, and hierarchy; opinionated about quality and consistency across surfaces - **Legacy system modernisation** — auditing existing UI for patterns and inconsistencies, then migrating divergent components into cohesive, token-based systems - **Governance & contribution models** — establishing frameworks that balance speed, consistency, and autonomy as teams scale - **Documentation & enablement** — creating comprehensive documentation for designers, developers, and PMs; onboarding experiences that reduce friction and accelerate integration --- ## Design Ops Expertise Beyond the technical work, I've led the operational side of design systems: - **Tooling & automation** — evaluating and implementing design tools, workflow automations, and AI-powered solutions to improve team productivity - **Metrics & system health** — tracking adoption, component coverage, and support patterns to communicate impact to leadership - **Cross-functional evangelism** — driving adoption through training, presentations, workshops, and stakeholder communication - **Governance at scale** — managing backlogs, sprint planning, and cross-company alignment; previously managed a team of 3 designers reporting to me --- ## B2B SaaS & Scale-up Background All of my recent roles have been B2B SaaS products in fast-growing environments where consistency across surfaces was a constant challenge: - **Miro** — 100M users, 1800+ employees; scaling design system and AI-powered workflows - **Hotjar** — built design system from 0 to production across a 150+ person remote company; led first rebrand in company history - **Lokalise** — AI-first localization platform; exposed to internationalization and multi-language design challenges - **Booking.com** — audited mobile apps in preparation for Booking's first design system; worked across 24 cross-functional squads I thrive in environments that have outgrown their current processes and need someone to bring structure without slowing teams down. --- ## What I'm Looking For - A mission I can get behind, with a team that genuinely cares about what they're building - Strong culture: trust, autonomy, transparency, and employee wellbeing - Open to IC or leadership; leaning toward senior IC or a role with cross-functional influence - Salary is secondary to the quality of the opportunity and the team - Remote-preferred; I'm in Amsterdam (CET, ±2h window) - Not interested in Meta, Google or Amazon; company size is otherwise not a dealbreaker *Last Updated: Jan 2026*