About the Product Designer Role at Forus

Forus is building an AI-powered network that connects doctors, pharmacies, payers, and biopharma to accelerate new science to patients. As a Product Designer on the Product & Design team (based in person in Forus's SoHo, New York office), you will work across the entire product surface area, from patient-facing consumer applications to enterprise tools for biopharma companies and AI-powered workflows. This is a high-autonomy, high-responsibility role where you are expected to "act like an owner" and be a strategic partner across the business.

Forus is committed to investing in design and wants people who push their thinking. They are not just elevating the quality bar for healthcare products; they aim to build consumer-grade experiences that users love and want to tell others about. That means sharp product thinking, high craftsmanship, the ability to untangle complexity into elegant solutions, and clear design rationale you can defend internally and with clients.

Quick Stats

* Typical process: 4 to 5 rounds (recruiter screen, hiring manager, portfolio review, a design exercise, and final onsite), roughly 3 to 5 weeks

* Format: Initial video and phone screens, then in-person onsite at the SoHo office (the role is fully in person in New York)

* Core focus: Product thinking, craftsmanship and taste, simplifying complexity, cross-functional collaboration, design systems, user research

* Difficulty: Hard. Forus expects a high bar for craft plus the ability to run projects independently, move fast, and reason from the ground up in a demanding, fast-scaling environment

What Forus Looks For

* 5+ years designing software with strong skills and the ability to run projects independently

* A knack for untangling and simplifying complexity, then designing elegant, focused solutions

* Impeccable craftsmanship and taste across consumer, enterprise, and AI-powered surfaces

* Clear communication and strong design rationale, effective both internally and with clients, plus a track record of moving quickly and going to unreasonable lengths to deliver

Round 1: Recruiter Screen (~30 minutes)

What to Expect

A recruiter or member of the Product & Design team walks through your background, motivation, and logistics. Expect questions about your years designing software, why Forus and healthcare, and confirmation that you can work in person in the SoHo office. They will also gauge whether your energy matches Forus's "high horsepower, high throughput, hyper resourceful" bar and whether you are excited about intense, impactful work. Compensation range ($150K to $250K plus equity) and timeline typically come up here.

Example Questions

* "Walk me through your background and the kinds of software products you have designed."

* "Why Forus, and why are you drawn to accelerating science to patients in healthcare?"

* "Are you able to work in person in our New York SoHo office full time?"

* "Tell me about a time you went to unreasonable lengths to deliver on a goal."

Tips

* Have a crisp two-minute pitch that connects your design experience to Forus's mission of getting patients life-changing medicine faster.

* Show ownership and speed, not just craft. Reference a moment you found a shortcut or drove a project without being asked.

* Practice this conversational screen with Nora AI in Standard Mode so your pitch and motivation answers feel natural and tight.

Round 2: Portfolio Review with the Hiring Manager (~60 minutes)

What to Expect

This is the core design round. You will present two or three projects and defend your decisions in depth. Because Forus wants "sharp product thinking, high craftsmanship, and the ability to ask the right questions to get to the why," expect the hiring manager to probe your rationale at every step: how you framed the problem, what tradeoffs you made, and how you measured impact. Given the breadth of the role, be ready to speak to both consumer-grade and enterprise or complex-workflow work.

Example Questions

* "Walk me through a project you owned end to end, from problem framing to shipped outcome."

* "Show me a time you took something genuinely complex and simplified it into an elegant, focused solution."

* "How did you decide what to cut, and what tradeoffs did you make under time pressure?"

* "How do you know this design worked? What did you measure?"

Tips

* Pick projects that show range across consumer polish and complex enterprise or workflow problems, mirroring Forus's surface area.

* Lead with the "why": state the problem, your hypothesis, and the reasoning before showing pixels. Forus values reasoning from the ground up.

* Rehearse narrating your rationale out loud with Nora AI in Behavioral Mode so your storytelling and decision defense stay clear and confident.

Round 3: Design Exercise / Craft Deep-Dive (~60 to 90 minutes)

What to Expect

Expect a practical design challenge, either a take-home or a live whiteboard, tied to Forus's real problem space (for example, simplifying a patient-facing coverage flow or an enterprise tool for biopharma). This round tests craftsmanship, product thinking, and how you handle ambiguity. You may also be asked how you would approach a design system that supports rapid scaling, or how you would integrate an AI-powered workflow into a user experience. Communication of rationale matters as much as the artifact.

Example Questions

* "Design a flow that helps a patient understand and act on their insurance coverage. Where do you start?"

* "How would you structure a design system that lets a small team ship fast across many surfaces?"

* "Here is an ambiguous, messy workflow. How do you break it down and simplify it?"

* "How would you design an AI-assisted step so users trust it and stay in control?"

Tips

* Think out loud and expand the solution space before committing, then narrow to a focused, elegant answer. Forus explicitly values resisting false constraints.

* Ask sharp clarifying questions early. Getting to the "why" is a named expectation for this role.

* Use Nora AI in Technical Mode to practice talking through design tradeoffs, systems thinking, and ambiguous prompts under time pressure.

Round 4: Onsite Loop and Values Fit (~half day)

What to Expect

The final round is an in-person loop at the SoHo office with cross-functional partners across engineering, product, and operations, plus possibly a leader. Since the role involves participating in client engagements, expect to demonstrate how you communicate with non-designers and even directly with customers. Forus interviews hard for its operating principles: "Do the math," "Expand the solution space," "Spit it out," and "Raise the bar together." Expect direct, candid conversation and behavioral questions that test collaboration, speed, and low ego.

Example Questions

* "Tell me about a time you disagreed with an engineer or PM. How did you handle it?"

* "Describe a moment you gave or received blunt critique. What happened?"

* "How do you work directly with a client or non-design stakeholder to land on the right solution?"

* "Give an example of raising the quality bar for a team without slowing everyone down."

Tips

* Prepare STAR stories that show cross-functional collaboration, direct communication, and winning as a team under fast timelines.

* Be direct and invite critique in the conversation itself. Forus rewards candor and "right answers, not comfortable ones."

* Run mock behavioral and situational reps with Nora AI in Behavioral Mode to sharpen your STAR stories against Forus's four principles.

Round 5: Offer and Compensation (~30 minutes)

What to Expect

If successful, you will discuss the offer with the recruiter or hiring manager. The posted range is $150K to $250K plus meaningful equity, with rich benefits (fully covered medical, vision, and dental, One Medical, unlimited PTO, 16 weeks parental leave, daily lunch and dinner). Forus states pay is based on qualifications, experience, skillset, geography, and internal equity, so be ready to justify where you land in the band with evidence of your level and craft.

Example Questions

* "What are your compensation expectations for this role?"

* "How do you weigh base salary versus equity at a fast-scaling, well-funded startup?"

* "What would make this offer an easy yes for you?"

* "Do you have competing timelines or offers we should know about?"

Tips

* Anchor to the posted band and back your ask with concrete evidence of your years, scope, and portfolio impact.

* Factor in equity and the strong benefits package, not just base, given Forus's $160M+ raise and growth stage.

* Rehearse the back-and-forth with Nora AI in Salary Negotiation Mode so you can advocate for your number without underselling yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) How many rounds are there?

Expect roughly 4 to 5 stages: a recruiter screen, a portfolio review with the hiring manager, a design exercise or craft deep-dive, an in-person onsite loop with cross-functional partners, and an offer conversation. Forus has not published its exact process, so treat this as the typical structure for a Product Designer at a fast-scaling, well-funded startup of this type.

2) What topics are most common?

* Product thinking and design rationale (getting to the "why"), craftsmanship and taste, and simplifying complexity into elegant solutions

* Cross-functional collaboration, design systems for rapid scaling, user research, AI-powered workflows, and Forus's operating principles

3) How long does the process take?

Plan for about 3 to 5 weeks end to end, depending on scheduling of the in-person onsite in New York and any take-home exercise turnaround. Forus emphasizes moving fast, so timelines can compress.

4) How should I prepare?

* Curate a portfolio that shows range across consumer-grade polish and complex enterprise or workflow problems, and be ready to defend every decision with clear rationale.

* Study Forus's mission and the four principles (Do the math, Expand the solution space, Spit it out, Raise the bar together) and map STAR stories to each.

* Practice a design exercise out loud, especially simplifying ambiguous healthcare or AI workflows, and prepare to talk design systems and speed.

* Use Nora AI to rehearse: Standard Mode for the recruiter screen, Behavioral Mode for portfolio storytelling and values fit, Technical Mode for design exercises and tradeoffs, and Salary Negotiation Mode for the offer stage.