Brand Design Manager

Paystack’s mission is to power African ambition. Over 200,000 of some of the most renowned businesses in Africa including the likes of MTN, Burger King, UPS, PiggyVest, Crocs, Under Armour, and many others use Paystack’s modern payments gateway.

In just over 9 years, our team has introduced a steady cadence of innovation within the online payments landscape, such as automated recurring payments, the ability for customers to pay directly from their bank accounts, automated chargebacks, and much more. We’ve been acquired by Stripe and are doubling down on the mission to help build out Africa’s payments infrastructure.

At Paystack, we believe that we will win by recruiting talented people and giving them the space, resources, and support to do the best work of their lives. We hire skilled people who are both clever and kind, treat them with respect, and give them the means to succeed.

About the role

We're looking for an experienced Brand Design Manager to lead and elevate Paystack's visual identity across all touch-points. In this role, you'll mentor and manage a talented team of brand designers and web experience engineers.

At Paystack, we believe that exceptional design is a competitive advantage. Our visual identity is often the first touchpoint customers have with our brand, and we need someone who can ensure that this experience is consistently outstanding, memorable, and reflective of our values. Your work will directly impact how businesses across Africa perceive Paystack, and by extension, influence their decision to trust us with their payments.

What makes this role unique is the blend of creative leadership and strategic thinking required. You'll not only be responsible for the quality and consistency of our design output but also for connecting design decisions to business outcomes. You'll be the bridge between our brand team and other departments, helping everyone understand the value of thoughtful design in building trust with our customers.

Day-to-day, you'll divide your time between mentoring your team, reviewing designs, collaborating with marketing and product teams, and working with leadership to develop our visual strategy. You'll manage complex projects with multiple stakeholders, ensuring timely delivery while maintaining exceptional quality. You'll help refine our design systems, maintain brand consistency, and push creative boundaries when appropriate.

This is a full-time role and you’ll report to the Creative Director. The successful candidate will ideally be physically located in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire or South Africa, although we might make exceptions for great candidates.

We’ll trust you to:

• Hire, mentor, and manage a team of brand designers and web engineers, providing clear direction, constructive feedback, and opportunities for growth
• Build a cohesive team vision and foster a collaborative, innovative design culture
• Ensure consistent implementation of Paystack's visual identity across all touch-points including website, marketing materials, social media, and product interfaces
• Collaborate with marketing, product, and leadership teams to understand business goals and translate them into compelling visual strategies
• Establish and refine design processes, workflows, and quality standards for the team
• Manage complex projects with multiple stakeholders, effectively coordinating timelines, resources, and expectations while ensuring design deliverables meet deadlines without sacrificing quality
• Keep the team updated on industry trends and best practices in brand design and digital experiences
• Represent the design team in cross-functional meetings and advocate for design thinking throughout the organisation
• Understand how brand design principles can be systematically implemented across various platforms, creating consistency between brand and product experiences
• Collaborate effectively with the product design team, bridging brand guidelines with product design systems when necessary
• Actively champion the team's work and value to the broader organisation

You'll thrive as the Brand Design Manager if you:

• Have 8+ years of design experience with at least 2 years in a management or team lead role
• Possess a strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in brand identity, digital design, and visual storytelling
• Have experience building and directing high-performing design teams
• Deeply understand the strategic role of design in business growth and customer perception
• Excel at communicating design decisions and their business impact to both creative and non-creative stakeholders
• Have experience working with international or cross-cultural brands, preferably in African markets
• Have strong design skills that inform your leadership, with the understanding that while this role is primarily focused on management, occasional hands-on contributions may be needed in high-priority situations
• Demonstrate exceptional attention to detail while maintaining a view of the bigger picture
• Can adapt your management style to support team members with different skills and experience levels
• Demonstrate exceptional organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple high-priority projects simultaneously
• Excel at stakeholder management and can navigate complex organisational dynamics while advocating for design excellence
• Are passionate about mentoring designers and helping them grow in their careers
• Are open-minded, friendly, and demonstrate high emotional intelligence in team interactions
• Have a willingness to listen to different perspectives before making decisions

While this is not strictly required, it would be a plus if you:

• Have a background in engineering or research, as it brings valuable additional perspective to design leadership