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management

Posted Apr 24

Head of Design

at Kikoff

San Francisco, United StatesOn-site

Responsibilities

  • Manage, coach, and develop the product design team - including hands-on mentorship of junior designers, not just feedback in big meetings
  • Own hiring and talent strategy: bring in designers who raise the bar, and shape the org structure that lets them do their best work
  • Champion the visual front and push the bar on what Kikoff can look and feel like Build the Design Foundation
  • Build the design system from the ground up so it is something the whole company and our coding agents will want to use
  • Define and enforce design patterns across the product to reduce design debt and bring consistency
  • Drive the standards that make every screen feel like Kikoff, across product, marketing, and brand surfaces Drive Cross-Functional Impact
  • Define how the Kikoff design team uses AI - with a clear, hands-on plan, not a slide
  • A track record of building and rebuilding design systems that the team actually adopts and that hold up as the product grows
  • A track record of partnering with product and engineering as a peer, and shipping work that moved the business

Requirements

  • Kikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI
  • With innovative technology and AI, we simplify credit building, reduce debt, and expand access to financial opportunities to those who need them the most.
  • We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships.
  • Give practical, down-to-earth feedback grounded in visual, UX, and craft fundamentals - not just product framing
  • Bring user insights into the work: run journey workshops, listen to the user's voice, and make sure the team is designing for real people, not just shipping screens Reinvent How Design Works in the Age of AI
  • Help the team figure out the new workflow together - what to use AI for, what to keep human, and how to keep craft from sliding You Have 10+ years of
  • experience in product design, with substantial time in consumer-facing, mobile-first products
  • experience scaling a design team through a growth phase: you have hired strong designers and you know how to grow a team without losing the craft
  • Hands-on fluency with modern AI tooling for design - you have used it, formed real opinions, and have a clear point of view on how it changes the team
  • The ability to make your team better every day: through clarity, honest feedback, and trust with strong practitioners
  • Compassion. You care about the people on your team, you listen to ICs, and you pay attention to what designers are saying so the work - and the team - can get better Nice to Have •
  • Experience in fintech, consumer credit, or other regulated consumer products •
  • Experience leading both product design and brand or creative functions, or bringing those teams closer together •

Experience

  • 7+ years leading and managing design teams - you have grown designers into senior ICs and you have built a team that does great work without you in the room Demonstrated

Benefits

  • We're a profitable, high growth FinTech unicorn serving millions of people, many of whom are building credit or navigating life paycheck to paycheck.
  • As Head of Design, you will own the design vision, craft, and execution across the company.
  • Go beyond filling headcount. Understand each designer's strengths and place them where they'll do their best work and develop in the desired growth areas. Own the Design Vision and Quality Bar
  • Set the overall design vision for Kikoff - what good looks like, how the team works, how designers grow
  • You can align cross-functional stakeholders on a unified brand vision and ensure that every pixel of the UI speaks our specific visual language.
  • Risk-oriented. We make tradeoffs deliberately. A mature team knows the difference between a bet worth taking and one that isn't. User-obsessed.
  • Base Range $260,000 — $374,000 USD
  • Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Additional details

  • At Kikoff, our mission is to provide radically affordable financial tools to help consumers achieve financial security.
  • Founded in 2019, Kikoff is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by top-tier VC investors and NBA star Stephen Curry. Why Kikoff:
  • This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products.
  • Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact. About the Role
  • You will set the quality bar, rebuild the foundation our product is built on, and be a direct partner to senior leadership on the decisions that shape what Kikoff feels like to use.
  • You will be close to the pixels, close to the product, and close to the team.
  • You will give real feedback on real work, and you will be expected to make the call when designers are stuck in ambiguity.
  • Set a high bar for craft, ownership, and user obsession across the team
  • Invest in career growth: clear expectations, honest feedback, and a path forward for every designer on the team
  • Make the call when there is ambiguity: a great design manager can resolve a design decision when the team is stuck, instead of leaving it open

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