ABOUT me
I came to design drawn by aesthetics—but I stayed for the messy, rewarding challenge of understanding complex systems and solving real problems.
I thrive learning how things work and testing how a system can be updated to create a positive impact.
My journey as a designer began at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia—my hometown—where I completed a Bachelor's degree in Design.
Alongside my studies, I grew up deeply connected to the coffee industry—my family has built businesses in the space for over 50 years. That upbringing gave me a unique fluency in coffee culture and shaped my eye for detail and taught me to appreciate how even the simplest things, like a well-roasted bean, can shape an experience. That early exposure to craft, care, and sensory attention continues to influence how I approach design.
After graduation, I co-founded a coffee subscription venture with two engineer friends, which opened the door to tech and remote work. There, I saw firsthand how technology can scale meaningful experiences and transform businesses. Since then, I’ve worked as a Product Designer across three companies, building thoughtful products while collaborating with global, remote teams.
Outside of work, I find joy in making ceramics, experimenting with watercolors, solving massive puzzles, and sharing coffee with friends—staying close to the things that first taught me to care about craft and simplicity.
Fun fact: I'm certified in Sensory Skills by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and still roast small batches of coffee each year when I visit my family in Colombia.
7+
Years of Product Design experience
7+
Years of Product Design experience
7+
Years of Product Design experience
1M+
Users impacted
1M+
Users impacted
1M+
Users impacted
Muchos
Roasted coffee beans
Muchos
Roasted coffee beans
Muchos
Roasted coffee beans
Deel
Staff Product Designer
2022 — Present
Deel is a $12.5B scale-up for global hiring & payments; $4M to $500M+ ARR in 3 years. Joined in 2022 as Product Designer and promoted to Senior, now Staff Designer. I lead the Fintech experience across contractors, employees, and clients, and provide technical mentorship to 4 designers.
Deel
Staff Product Designer
2022 — Present
Deel is a $12.5B scale-up for global hiring & payments; $4M to $500M+ ARR in 3 years. Joined in 2022 as Product Designer and promoted to Senior, now Staff Designer. I lead the Fintech experience across contractors, employees, and clients, and provide technical mentorship to 4 designers.
Deel
Staff Product Designer
2022 — Present
Deel is a $12.5B scale-up for global hiring & payments; $4M to $500M+ ARR in 3 years. Joined in 2022 as Product Designer and promoted to Senior, now Staff Designer. I lead the Fintech experience across contractors, employees, and clients, and provide technical mentorship to 4 designers.
Actiondesk (Acquired by DataDog)
Senior Product Designer
Jan 2023 - Aug 2023
Joined as the sole designer on a 5-person product team at Actiondesk, a cloud-based spreadsheet application that connected to live data sources. The platform enabled business owners to access and combine data across different stacks with ease. Actiondesk was acquired by Datadog in August 2023.
Actiondesk (Acquired by DataDog)
Senior Product Designer
Jan 2023 - Aug 2023
Joined as the sole designer on a 5-person product team at Actiondesk, a cloud-based spreadsheet application that connected to live data sources. The platform enabled business owners to access and combine data across different stacks with ease. Actiondesk was acquired by Datadog in August 2023.
Actiondesk (Acquired by DataDog)
Senior Product Designer
Jan 2023 - Aug 2023
Joined as the sole designer on a 5-person product team at Actiondesk, a cloud-based spreadsheet application that connected to live data sources. The platform enabled business owners to access and combine data across different stacks with ease. Actiondesk was acquired by Datadog in August 2023.
Torre.ai
Product Designer & UX Researcher
Jul 2020 — Mar 2022
Collaborated with a 4-person design team and lead 2 teams of 6 engineers each. Torre is an AI-driven talent marketplace that matches over 1 million candidates with job opportunities. The platform also features an applicant tracking system (ATS) that helps companies efficiently source and manage candidates.
Torre.ai
Product Designer & UX Researcher
Jul 2020 — Mar 2022
Collaborated with a 4-person design team and lead 2 teams of 6 engineers each. Torre is an AI-driven talent marketplace that matches over 1 million candidates with job opportunities. The platform also features an applicant tracking system (ATS) that helps companies efficiently source and manage candidates.
Torre.ai
Product Designer & UX Researcher
Jul 2020 — Mar 2022
Collaborated with a 4-person design team and lead 2 teams of 6 engineers each. Torre is an AI-driven talent marketplace that matches over 1 million candidates with job opportunities. The platform also features an applicant tracking system (ATS) that helps companies efficiently source and manage candidates.
Arjé Coffee
Co-founder (Roaster, Web designer)
Jul 2019 — May 2021
Co-founded a coffee subscription service offering ultra-fresh, micro-lot specialty coffee. Built the venture from the ground up in collaboration with two engineer friends, handling everything from sourcing great beans to customer experience.
Arjé Coffee
Co-founder (Roaster, Web designer)
Jul 2019 — May 2021
Co-founded a coffee subscription service offering ultra-fresh, micro-lot specialty coffee. Built the venture from the ground up in collaboration with two engineer friends, handling everything from sourcing great beans to customer experience.
Arjé Coffee
Co-founder (Roaster, Web designer)
Jul 2019 — May 2021
Co-founded a coffee subscription service offering ultra-fresh, micro-lot specialty coffee. Built the venture from the ground up in collaboration with two engineer friends, handling everything from sourcing great beans to customer experience.
Maybe I did a decent job introducing myself… or maybe you're still wondering “should I really work with this person?” Totally fair. I figured I’d let others do the talking.
Over the years, I’ve made it a habit to ask for feedback—during performance reviews, project wrap-ups, or just in random Slack messages. What you'll find below is a collection of some of that feedback, from teammates and managers I've had the luck to work with. Think of it as the "behind-the-scenes commentary" on what it's like to work with me. If you're curious what it's like to be coached or mentored by me, you can also check out the reviews people have shared on Leland.
Director of Product Design @Deel
Maria is a designer with exceptional organization skills who is also a team player. Successfully worked in three major teams within the Payments vertical, contributed outside her teams, never missed a deadline, and has been working really hard, which helped the teams to deliver and achieve. Maria does work hard, and she does show a genuine care about everything she does.
Director of Product Design @Deel
Maria is a designer with exceptional organization skills who is also a team player. Successfully worked in three major teams within the Payments vertical, contributed outside her teams, never missed a deadline, and has been working really hard, which helped the teams to deliver and achieve. Maria does work hard, and she does show a genuine care about everything she does.
Director of Product Design @Deel
Maria is a designer with exceptional organization skills who is also a team player. Successfully worked in three major teams within the Payments vertical, contributed outside her teams, never missed a deadline, and has been working really hard, which helped the teams to deliver and achieve. Maria does work hard, and she does show a genuine care about everything she does.
Product Designer @Torre
María is an outstanding designer. My time working with her was full of professional growth. She is constantly learning and unlearning the best design practices and tools to support her team. Her technical knowledge is ahead of the curve, and her collaboration and spec’ing techniques prioritize alignment and increased communication for the team, which leads to high-impact and positive results. She has great attention to detail and is always looking to help others grow together.
Product Designer @Torre
María is an outstanding designer. My time working with her was full of professional growth. She is constantly learning and unlearning the best design practices and tools to support her team. Her technical knowledge is ahead of the curve, and her collaboration and spec’ing techniques prioritize alignment and increased communication for the team, which leads to high-impact and positive results. She has great attention to detail and is always looking to help others grow together.
Product Designer @Torre
María is an outstanding designer. My time working with her was full of professional growth. She is constantly learning and unlearning the best design practices and tools to support her team. Her technical knowledge is ahead of the curve, and her collaboration and spec’ing techniques prioritize alignment and increased communication for the team, which leads to high-impact and positive results. She has great attention to detail and is always looking to help others grow together.
Senior Product Manager @Deel
Maria is iterating at Deel Speed. The transactions redesign was the biggest initiative my team delivered to date. It was not an easy ride: many blockers, fixes, and post-release follow-ups. But Maria managed to process huge amounts of feedback and quickly iterate to propose a better solution. This reduced the turnover between design and engineering, which allowed our team to deliver much faster. Maria is tremendously well organized and pushes me hard to anticipate the work coming next. In order to make sure the 3 teams she works in deliver smoothly, Maria built her own Design roadmap and knows exactly what is coming in the next weeks and months. Maria is constantly demonstrating an obsession with details. I have very high expectations of my teammates regarding this criterion. Maria anticipates my questions and feedback; her design files are clean and easy to navigate, and all comments are resolved when the initiative enters the implementation phase.
Senior Product Manager @Deel
Maria is iterating at Deel Speed. The transactions redesign was the biggest initiative my team delivered to date. It was not an easy ride: many blockers, fixes, and post-release follow-ups. But Maria managed to process huge amounts of feedback and quickly iterate to propose a better solution. This reduced the turnover between design and engineering, which allowed our team to deliver much faster. Maria is tremendously well organized and pushes me hard to anticipate the work coming next. In order to make sure the 3 teams she works in deliver smoothly, Maria built her own Design roadmap and knows exactly what is coming in the next weeks and months. Maria is constantly demonstrating an obsession with details. I have very high expectations of my teammates regarding this criterion. Maria anticipates my questions and feedback; her design files are clean and easy to navigate, and all comments are resolved when the initiative enters the implementation phase.
Senior Product Manager @Deel
Maria is iterating at Deel Speed. The transactions redesign was the biggest initiative my team delivered to date. It was not an easy ride: many blockers, fixes, and post-release follow-ups. But Maria managed to process huge amounts of feedback and quickly iterate to propose a better solution. This reduced the turnover between design and engineering, which allowed our team to deliver much faster. Maria is tremendously well organized and pushes me hard to anticipate the work coming next. In order to make sure the 3 teams she works in deliver smoothly, Maria built her own Design roadmap and knows exactly what is coming in the next weeks and months. Maria is constantly demonstrating an obsession with details. I have very high expectations of my teammates regarding this criterion. Maria anticipates my questions and feedback; her design files are clean and easy to navigate, and all comments are resolved when the initiative enters the implementation phase.
Lead Product Manager @Deel
I truly enjoyed working with Maria Moya: she is super professional and super independent designer (I was working on 3 teams at the same time, and sometimes late on requirements), and I really loved how Maria was taking the initiative, investigating options, took the lead in collaboration with other teams, proposed her solutions and bravely moved forward with designs. I should also note the 1) brilliant work with comments & feedback (Maria understands everything, from the first time & resolves all the comments in the next couple of hours, the unbelievable speed of response) 2) manage your manager, - I loved how Maria proactively asks the questions, sets the meetings & owns the project she works on 3) speed: working on 2 teams at the same time she managed to be always ready with the most complex flows.
Lead Product Manager @Deel
I truly enjoyed working with Maria Moya: she is super professional and super independent designer (I was working on 3 teams at the same time, and sometimes late on requirements), and I really loved how Maria was taking the initiative, investigating options, took the lead in collaboration with other teams, proposed her solutions and bravely moved forward with designs. I should also note the 1) brilliant work with comments & feedback (Maria understands everything, from the first time & resolves all the comments in the next couple of hours, the unbelievable speed of response) 2) manage your manager, - I loved how Maria proactively asks the questions, sets the meetings & owns the project she works on 3) speed: working on 2 teams at the same time she managed to be always ready with the most complex flows.
Lead Product Manager @Deel
I truly enjoyed working with Maria Moya: she is super professional and super independent designer (I was working on 3 teams at the same time, and sometimes late on requirements), and I really loved how Maria was taking the initiative, investigating options, took the lead in collaboration with other teams, proposed her solutions and bravely moved forward with designs. I should also note the 1) brilliant work with comments & feedback (Maria understands everything, from the first time & resolves all the comments in the next couple of hours, the unbelievable speed of response) 2) manage your manager, - I loved how Maria proactively asks the questions, sets the meetings & owns the project she works on 3) speed: working on 2 teams at the same time she managed to be always ready with the most complex flows.
Senior Product Manager @Deel
I would highlight the skill she has to take a broad problem and design it after doing research. She could spin off very fast customer interviews with users, understand their needs, and use their input to design a solution. Additionally, she was also confident in using the user testing tools available in the company to test her solution and improve it. Of the designers I've worked with, she's the one who could do this the fastest; even when there was a tight deadline, she didn't compromise on this.
Senior Product Manager @Deel
I would highlight the skill she has to take a broad problem and design it after doing research. She could spin off very fast customer interviews with users, understand their needs, and use their input to design a solution. Additionally, she was also confident in using the user testing tools available in the company to test her solution and improve it. Of the designers I've worked with, she's the one who could do this the fastest; even when there was a tight deadline, she didn't compromise on this.
Senior Product Manager @Deel
I would highlight the skill she has to take a broad problem and design it after doing research. She could spin off very fast customer interviews with users, understand their needs, and use their input to design a solution. Additionally, she was also confident in using the user testing tools available in the company to test her solution and improve it. Of the designers I've worked with, she's the one who could do this the fastest; even when there was a tight deadline, she didn't compromise on this.
Co-Founder & CEO @Actiondesk (YC S19, Acquired by Datadog)
It was great working with Maria, and I always mention her to my founder friends who are looking for great product designers. She has great taste, can understand complex customer problems, and is great at communicating and managing expectations. She also gets things done fast. Working remotely with a product designer is usually not easy, but Maria made it very easy.
Co-Founder & CEO @Actiondesk (YC S19, Acquired by Datadog)
It was great working with Maria, and I always mention her to my founder friends who are looking for great product designers. She has great taste, can understand complex customer problems, and is great at communicating and managing expectations. She also gets things done fast. Working remotely with a product designer is usually not easy, but Maria made it very easy.
Co-Founder & CEO @Actiondesk (YC S19, Acquired by Datadog)
It was great working with Maria, and I always mention her to my founder friends who are looking for great product designers. She has great taste, can understand complex customer problems, and is great at communicating and managing expectations. She also gets things done fast. Working remotely with a product designer is usually not easy, but Maria made it very easy.
Tech Lead, Engineering @Deel
Maria has given us and continues to give us designs with great attention to detail and is also very quick to incorporate feedback from developers, QAs, and most importantly, stakeholders into her designs. She also does research without being asked so that she can back up her design decisions, which helps motivate the team because they understand the impact and also helps answer questions quickly, as she has seen the data.
Tech Lead, Engineering @Deel
Maria has given us and continues to give us designs with great attention to detail and is also very quick to incorporate feedback from developers, QAs, and most importantly, stakeholders into her designs. She also does research without being asked so that she can back up her design decisions, which helps motivate the team because they understand the impact and also helps answer questions quickly, as she has seen the data.
Tech Lead, Engineering @Deel
Maria has given us and continues to give us designs with great attention to detail and is also very quick to incorporate feedback from developers, QAs, and most importantly, stakeholders into her designs. She also does research without being asked so that she can back up her design decisions, which helps motivate the team because they understand the impact and also helps answer questions quickly, as she has seen the data.
Lead Product Operations Manager @Deel
Maria is an incredible designer and person. Her dedication, drive, and thoughtfulness set her apart. She has achieved remarkable results in payouts, card design, and Advance features, tackling complex tasks with speed and delivering high-quality work. She consistently delivers with minimal guidance, even under tight deadlines. What's even more impressive is how she takes the time to understand the problem before diving into Figma. I'm amazed by her speed and productivity in the payments area. Maria's performance is outstanding, and she has truly raised the bar. With her skills and qualities, I have complete confidence that she is ready to take on the role of a Lead designer.
Lead Product Operations Manager @Deel
Maria is an incredible designer and person. Her dedication, drive, and thoughtfulness set her apart. She has achieved remarkable results in payouts, card design, and Advance features, tackling complex tasks with speed and delivering high-quality work. She consistently delivers with minimal guidance, even under tight deadlines. What's even more impressive is how she takes the time to understand the problem before diving into Figma. I'm amazed by her speed and productivity in the payments area. Maria's performance is outstanding, and she has truly raised the bar. With her skills and qualities, I have complete confidence that she is ready to take on the role of a Lead designer.
Lead Product Operations Manager @Deel
Maria is an incredible designer and person. Her dedication, drive, and thoughtfulness set her apart. She has achieved remarkable results in payouts, card design, and Advance features, tackling complex tasks with speed and delivering high-quality work. She consistently delivers with minimal guidance, even under tight deadlines. What's even more impressive is how she takes the time to understand the problem before diving into Figma. I'm amazed by her speed and productivity in the payments area. Maria's performance is outstanding, and she has truly raised the bar. With her skills and qualities, I have complete confidence that she is ready to take on the role of a Lead designer.
Senior Product Designer, Design System @Deel
Maria has been a great help in the projects I was working on and a pleasure to work with. Always finding time, contributing, and with an excellent eye/level of detail for documentation. The level of detail in the documentation she has contributed to has really helped the team understand how to use things correctly. She is always willing to help.
Senior Product Designer, Design System @Deel
Maria has been a great help in the projects I was working on and a pleasure to work with. Always finding time, contributing, and with an excellent eye/level of detail for documentation. The level of detail in the documentation she has contributed to has really helped the team understand how to use things correctly. She is always willing to help.
Senior Product Designer, Design System @Deel
Maria has been a great help in the projects I was working on and a pleasure to work with. Always finding time, contributing, and with an excellent eye/level of detail for documentation. The level of detail in the documentation she has contributed to has really helped the team understand how to use things correctly. She is always willing to help.
Lead Product Designer @Deel
I appreciate Maria's eagerness to grow, learn, and be very proactive. She did a great job hopping in and out of teams - collaborating with multiple teams and PMs. Her positive attitude, quick updates, and proactivity were appreciated. She has great attention to UI details, adds all the steps of a flow with good detail and clarity, does a great job at user testing, and documenting all her research findings clearly and easily. Since she joined Deel she is setting a new standard - one that is hard to match. :) Stepping up in her craft is key for her. She is very focus, detail-oriented, active, fresh in communication and attitude, open to cross-team collaboration, open to grow, and she is providing good feedback and observations for diff. designs and UX issues.
Lead Product Designer @Deel
I appreciate Maria's eagerness to grow, learn, and be very proactive. She did a great job hopping in and out of teams - collaborating with multiple teams and PMs. Her positive attitude, quick updates, and proactivity were appreciated. She has great attention to UI details, adds all the steps of a flow with good detail and clarity, does a great job at user testing, and documenting all her research findings clearly and easily. Since she joined Deel she is setting a new standard - one that is hard to match. :) Stepping up in her craft is key for her. She is very focus, detail-oriented, active, fresh in communication and attitude, open to cross-team collaboration, open to grow, and she is providing good feedback and observations for diff. designs and UX issues.
Lead Product Designer @Deel
I appreciate Maria's eagerness to grow, learn, and be very proactive. She did a great job hopping in and out of teams - collaborating with multiple teams and PMs. Her positive attitude, quick updates, and proactivity were appreciated. She has great attention to UI details, adds all the steps of a flow with good detail and clarity, does a great job at user testing, and documenting all her research findings clearly and easily. Since she joined Deel she is setting a new standard - one that is hard to match. :) Stepping up in her craft is key for her. She is very focus, detail-oriented, active, fresh in communication and attitude, open to cross-team collaboration, open to grow, and she is providing good feedback and observations for diff. designs and UX issues.
Want to learn more about me or my work? Let's e-meet!
Currently I'm enjoying sunny days in Madrid, Spain.
Want to learn more about me or my work? Let's e-meet!
Currently I'm enjoying sunny days in Madrid, Spain.
Want to learn more about me or my work? Let's e-meet!
Currently I'm enjoying sunny days in Madrid, Spain.