Hire a Designer — Vetted Talent, Fast and Compliant

If you’re searching for how to hire a designer, speed is likely the priority. Teams hire designers to ship products faster, support marketing initiatives, or expand design capacity — whether that’s a UI/UX designer, product designer, or graphic designer.

The biggest challenge usually isn’t finding designers. It’s everything that comes after the candidate is selected. Contracts, worker classification, IP ownership, payroll setup, and local labor laws can quickly slow down hiring — especially across borders. For global roles, these requirements often force teams to choose between speed and compliance.

This is why companies use Deel to hire designers globally. Deel enables teams to hire designers in 150+ countries with locally compliant contracts, built-in IP protection, and payroll, taxes, and benefits fully managed — without setting up local entities.

This guide is for founders, product leaders, and HR teams hiring designers internationally, expanding into new markets, or converting designers from contractors into full-time employees.

Below, we explain which type of designer to hire, how to choose between freelance and full-time, and how to hire designers globally while staying compliant.

What type of designer should you hire?

Different business goals require different design skill sets. Choosing the right role upfront helps prevent mis-hires and speeds up delivery.

Common designer roles include:

• UI/UX designers – focus on user experience, usability, and interface design
• Product designers – own end-to-end design across discovery, UX, and UI
• Graphic designers – support brand, marketing, and visual assets
• Web designers – design conversion-focused websites and landing pages

How much does a designer cost?

Designer compensation varies widely based on location, seniority, specialization, and employment model. Companies hiring globally often see significant differences in cost for designers with similar skill levels.

Instead of relying on rough estimates, teams can use Deel Salary Insights to access real, location-specific compensation data. This helps hiring managers set realistic budgets and align offers with local market expectations.

Once budgets are defined, Deel Compensation allows teams to model offers, compare packages, and build consistent, compliant global pay structures.

What to look for in design candidates

Strong designers combine technical skill, problem-solving ability, and collaboration — especially in remote or distributed teams.

1. Portfolio quality and relevance

A portfolio is the most reliable indicator of capability. Look for:

• Work aligned with your product, industry, or design challenges
• Clear explanations of design decisions and outcomes
• Evidence of ownership across the design process

For UI/UX and product designers, portfolios should show research, iteration, and impact — not just final screens.

2. Skills and hands-on experience

Prioritize demonstrated experience over credentials. Strong designers typically show:

• Proficiency with relevant design tools and systems
• Experience working with engineers, product managers, and stakeholders
• Ability to adapt designs based on feedback and constraints

3. Education as context, not a filter

Formal education can be useful, but many top designers are self-taught or come from non-traditional backgrounds. Treat education as supporting context rather than a primary signal.

4. Communication and collaboration

Designers rarely work in isolation. Assess candidates for:

• Clear communication of ideas and rationale
• Comfort working across time zones and cultures
• Ability to receive and incorporate feedback

Discover how Sardine built a world-class company with Deel.

How to find a top designer

Finding strong designers starts with targeted sourcing. Open platforms can work, but filtering, vetting, and shortlisting candidates often takes significant time.

To reduce sourcing effort, many companies use curated talent sourcing platforms like Deel Talent, which connects businesses with recruitment firms that pre-vet designers across global talent hubs. Candidates are matched based on skills, seniority, and role requirements, helping teams move from search to shortlist faster.

Discover how Glomax Search and KingsRoad accelerated placements with Deel Talent.

See also: 8 Tips to Find and Hire Remote International Talent

Freelance vs full-time designers: what’s right for you?

Choosing between freelance and full-time depends on scope, duration, and how central design is to your business.

Hire a freelance designer if:

• You have short-term or project-based needs
• You need specialized skills for a defined outcome
• You want flexibility without long-term commitment

Freelance designers are typically engaged on hourly or milestone-based contracts. This works well for campaigns, redesigns, or overflow work — but requires careful structuring.

Hire a full-time designer if:

• Design is core to your product or roadmap
• You need long-term ownership and deep collaboration
• The role involves full-time hours and team integration

Why classification and compliance matter

In many countries, long-term or highly managed freelance arrangements can trigger worker misclassification risk. This can lead to fines, back taxes, or disputes over intellectual property — especially when designers work fixed hours, report into managers, or contribute to core product development.

That’s why choosing the right hiring model — and using compliant contracts and payroll from day one — is critical when hiring designers globally.

How to choose the right hiring method

Once you’ve decided on freelance or full-time, the next step is choosing the most compliant way to hire based on role structure and location.

Hiring designers as contractors

Contracting works well for short-term or flexible design needs. However, long-term or highly managed contractor roles can increase misclassification risk.

Companies reduce this risk by using:

• Deel Contractor for locally compliant contractor agreements and payments
• Deel Contractor of Record for added protection in higher-risk engagements
• Deel Worker Classifier to assess whether a role should be contractor or employee

Discover how Project44 saves around $500k a year since switching to Deel.

See also: How to Hire and Pay International Contractors Legally

Hiring designers as full-time employees

For long-term, core roles, full-time employment is often the safest option. Traditionally, this requires setting up a local entity — unless you use an Employer of Record.

With Deel EOR, companies can hire designers as full-time employees globally while Deel manages:

• Locally compliant employment contracts
• Payroll, taxes, and statutory benefits
• Onboarding and ongoing HR administration

Discover how Bitpanda expanded from 3 office hubs to 20+ jurisdictions with Deel.

Step-by-step: how to hire top designers

1. Define the role and budget
   Clarify designer type, seniority, hiring model, and preferred locations.

2. Source candidates strategically
   Use a mix of platforms, referrals, and curated sourcing solutions.

3. Assess portfolios and skills
   Focus on impact, process, and collaboration — not credentials alone.

4. Choose the right hiring model
   Contractor for short-term needs; full-time employment for long-term roles.

5. Verify classification and documentation
   Confirm worker classification, identity, and work authorization where required.

6. Make an offer and onboard efficiently
   Issue compliant contracts, set up payroll or payments, and complete onboarding in one workflow.

Deel centralizes these steps so companies can hire designers globally without increasing legal or operational risk.

See also: Is Deel Worth It? A Complete Look at the Global People Platform

Hire top designers with Deel

Hiring designers globally doesn’t have to mean juggling recruitment agencies, legal advisors, and payroll providers.

With Deel, companies can hire designers in 150+ countries — as contractors or full-time employees — with contracts, payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance handled end to end.

Book a demo to start hiring designers with Deel today.