Founding Creative Director / Design Lead

Founding Creative Director / Design Lead
Location: San Francisco, CA or Phoenix, AZ | Work Style: Full-time In-Person

The Role & Mission
Our client is building the financial infrastructure for the next generation of education finance, specifically targeting the $1.5T of Education Funds currently available in the US. They are enabling families to access the $900B US public education budget, which is being opened up so parents can control an average of $7,500 per child per year through state-funded Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). The product is a high-trust system consisting of a charge card, reimbursement engine, and education vendor marketplace.

As the Founding Creative Director , you will be the first design hire at a company that has raised $16M from top-tier VCs and angels. You won't be executing a roadmap handed to you; you will be building the design function from zero, establishing the visual identity, and shaping the core product experience alongside the co-founders.

The Design Challenge
The Design Challenge:

The Benchmark: Think Stripe (trust through clarity) meets Duolingo (warmth and engagement), rather than traditional fintech UI.

Low Digital Literacy: You must design for families who are not digital natives, distilling compliance‑grade complexity into an experience that feels as intuitive as a consumer app.

Systems Thinking: You will own every external‑facing touchpoint—from the mobile app UX and design tokens to film, social content, and investor decks.

High Intensity: This is an in‑person company where the team works together in the office six days a week.

Your Profile
This is a role for a product designer with founder instincts - not a brand or campaign creative.

Experience: 4–8 years in product design, with a strong preference for founding or early‑stage startup experience.

Technical Excellence: You are a Figma power user with a track record of building design systems and component libraries from scratch.

Mobile‑First: You have successfully shipped production mobile apps on iOS, Android, or React Native.

Systems Over Aesthetics: You think in user journeys and system architecture before aesthetics, seeing product, brand, and voice as one cohesive system.

Customer Obsession: You are willing to go to users’ homes and onboard them 1:1 to gain deep, researched empathy for their needs.

High Output: You have the conviction to defend design decisions but can iterate rapidly with new information.

Sector Expertise: Experience in regulated or high‑trust consumer products (fintech, healthtech, or edtech) is highly valued.

Pedigree Signal: A background from top design programs (e.g., RCA, RISD, Parsons, Stanford d.school) or experience on elite teams at Stripe, Apple, Airbnb, or Figma is strongly preferred.

Commitment, Compensation & Benefits
This will be a big commitment, and we're aiming high. It needs to be something you are energised about taking on, or this isn't the team for you.

Competitive Salary: $120,000 – $200,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

Generous Founding Equity: We compensate you well with equity.

Top‑Tier Backing: We've raised $16M from top‑tier VCs and angels.

Relocation Support: You are willing to relocate to San Francisco, CA, or Phoenix, AZ, and travel to visit customers. We're an in‑person company and are in the office together.

Comprehensive Visa Sponsorship: If you do not have a visa, we can support you.

Unmatched Impact: The rare opportunity to directly shape how the $900B US Public Education budget is being opened up for parents to take control of their portion (avg. $7.5k/kid/year).

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