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Director of Design

San Francisco, CA

Pomelo’s mission is to increase financial access and empowerment for immigrants and their loved ones back home. 

We are proud to be the first financial technology platform to combine consumer credit and global remittances. Our product solves the worst aspects of money transfer by empowering our customers to use credit rather than cash. At the same time, we help immigrants establish their financial future in their new country by building positive credit history with their existing remittance obligations and financially include their loved ones in emerging economies with access to modern financial instruments.

We’re a team of ~45 and are growing our San Francisco headquarters. Our investors include Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures (formerly of Founders Fund, CEO at Opendoor, former COO of Square), Kevin Hartz (Co-founder/CEO of Xoom and Eventbrite) of A* Capital, The Chainsmokers, The Weeknd, and more.

The Role

As the Director of Design, you will be responsible for both product and brand design at Pomelo, developing design strategies that align with our mission and business goals. You will lead a team of designers, foster creativity, and champion design across the company while also rolling up your sleeves and contributing directly to the design work. You will work closely with leadership, engineering, and product teams to deliver user-centered designs that are cohesive, impactful, and aligned with Pomelo’s vision.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead Design Strategy: Own and develop Pomelo’s design vision and strategy across both product and brand design, ensuring alignment with business objectives and company values.
  • Holistic Design Thinking: Use a systems-thinking approach to design, integrating user insights and business goals to create effective, delightful consumer experiences across multiple touchpoints.
  • Design & Validation: Lead the creation and validation of designs through sketches, prototypes, high-fidelity visuals, and user testing. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality implementation and user experience.
  • Hands-on Design Work: Embrace the player-coach mentality, contributing directly to design projects while guiding and mentoring the design team.
  • Collaboration & Advocacy: Partner with leadership and cross-functional teams to advocate for design, driving a culture of collaboration that prioritizes user-centered design across Pomelo.
  • Design System Development: Develop and maintain a cohesive design system that ensures scalability, consistency, and efficiency as we grow.
  • Mentorship & Growth: Foster the professional growth of the design team, providing guidance, constructive feedback, and opportunities for creative development.
  • Team, Culture & Process Building: Develop and scale the team and establish design processes and tools to build an agile, collaborative environment pushes Pomelo’s user experience and brand forward.

What We’re Looking For

  • Proven Product & Brand Design Skills: We believe the best design leaders are strong designers. They are able to do great work themselves and apply their skills and knowledge to bring out the best from their team members. Please provide a portfolio that showcases your expertise.
  • Management Experience. Prior experience leading a design team with 3 or more designers, ideally across both product and brand design
  • Player-Coach Mentality: Ability to lead while still engaging in hands-on design work. You should be comfortable balancing leadership responsibilities with contributing to the execution of key projects.
  • Leadership & Communication: Strong communication and interpersonal skills to inspire and motivate the design team, as well as advocate for design across the organization.
  • Collaboration & Adaptability: Excellent collaboration skills, with a proven ability to work cross-functionally with product, engineering, marketing, and other teams. Resourceful and adaptable, able to thrive in a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment.
  • Systems Thinking: Ability to connect different aspects of the customer experience and create a cohesive and seamless journey within the product and brand.
  • Data-Driven Design: Experience in using qualitative and quantitative data to inform design decisions, ensuring that designs are both user-centered and aligned with business goals.
  • Craftsmanship & Design Judgment: A keen eye for design detail, with strong skills in visual, interaction, written, and systems design. Excellent judgment when it comes to design taste and execution.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Startup Experience: Prior experience an early-stage startup environment
  • Fintech Design Experience: Experience designing for user-facing fintech products is a plus, with a deep understanding of how design impacts user behavior in financial contexts.
  • Education & Experience: B.A./B.S. in Graphic Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Company Values

  • Earn the Trust of Our Customers
  • Be Relentless
  • Integrity in Every Language
  • Show Our Work
  • Leadership at Every Level

Benefits and Perks (FTE)

  • ❤️ A meaningful mission and an opportunity for direct societal impact. We’re putting real money back in the hands of the people who need it most and helping immigrants and their families realize the American dream.
  • 👥 An amazing team and culture. You’ll have peers from both top tech companies (e.g. Cash App, Google, Twitter, Uber) and other successful startups (e.g. Affirm, AfterPay, MemSQL). We empower each other to do great work and continue growing.
  • 💪 Opportunity for major impact, learning, and growth.
  • 🏥 Platinum-level health insurance (medical, dental, vision) — with 100% covered by the company for you and 50% for dependents. Assistance with life insurance. 
  • 👶 Parental leave for the primary or the secondary
  • 🌴 PTO: 3 weeks in your first year, 4 weeks thereafter, plus national holidays
  • ✈️ $1,500 annual travel stipend
  • 😌 $300 annual wellness stipend
  • 🚗 Pre-tax funds towards commuting costs
  • 🗺 Twice-a-year company retreats. Previous trips include skiing in Park City, getting sun and surf in Cabo, Mexico, and a cruise excursion to The Bahamas.
  • 🧳 After 4 years, eligible for a 4-week sabbatical
  • 🍽️ In Office Meals: Lunch, dinner, and snacks provided daily

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