Job details

Design Manager (Product Design Lead)

About Clutch

Clutch is a vertical SaaS fintech company revolutionizing digital onboarding for credit unions. Our mission is to enhance the financial well-being of American consumers by connecting them to the lowest cost of debt. Credit unions, although not widely recognized in tech circles, are substantial financial institutions that prioritize community and offer superior loan products.The average American household carries over $155,000 in debt. Unlike fintech lenders and for-profit banks that often provide high-interest loans, credit unions operate as non-profit entities, offering more affordable loans. Clutch, backed by Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), is a mission-driven company developing software that empowers credit unions to deliver exceptional digital experiences to the 130 million consumers they serve across the country.

About the Role:

At Clutch, design is not just a department; it's the driving force behind our mission. We believe that a seamless user experience can empower credit unions to compete and offer a superior banking experience to everyday people. By designing intuitive experiences, we help credit unions guide their members towards financial freedom, translating to significant savings that can be redirected towards personal dreams and goals.

We are seeking a hands-on Design Manager to lead our product design team. This role is ideal for someone excited by the strategic challenge of building new products while also being deeply involved in shipping ambitious, high-quality designs. Our ideal candidate has a profound passion for user-centered design, backed by experience in product design within fast-paced tech startups. They should have a proven track record of managing a small design team through the complete product lifecycle, from ideation to launch.

As a design leader, you will mentor designers and collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, sales, and customer success.

Your Responsibilities

You will report directly to the Head of Product and manage our team of 3 (and growing) designers while setting design strategy
Leadership and Mentorship: Lead and expand the product design team, delivering impactful human-centered experiences that meet user needs and business goals. Mentor team members, helping them grow their skills and career paths while maintaining high design standards and practices.
Strategic Vision: Develop and drive design strategy, balancing long-term vision with short-term objectives. Make strategic decisions on design priorities and trade-offs to ensure cohesive and consistent user experiences across multiple products.
End-to-End Design: Craft end-to-end user journeys and develop design principles to align teams on the right experiences. Drive the creation of our design system to support efficient and effective design and development processes.
Design Process Oversight: Strategize and oversee the design process, ensuring seamless integration of user research, wireframing, prototyping, and high-fidelity designs into the product development lifecycle. Run and improve team processes like design critiques and design jams.
Collaboration and Communication: Partner with Product and Engineering leads to improve design processes and execution. Communicate design direction, trade-offs made, and design rationale to accelerate alignment and enthusiasm across the company.

Skillset you will bring

Experience and Craft: 7+ years of product design experience, including 1-2 years leading designers. A portfolio showcasing high-quality work that demonstrates experience designing elegant and visually engaging solutions to complex problems.
Proven Leadership: A track record as a craftsperson with the ability to teach others, earning respect from the team. Ability to provide constructive feedback and foster a culture of healthy design critique.
Breadth of Design Experience: Proficiency in designing for the entire product process from strategy to pixel, demonstrating a range of skills from high-level flows to detailed interactions.
Strategic and Analytical Thinking: Mastery in solving unstructured problems with many dependencies, articulating simple directions for complex challenges. Ability to set and drive strategic design vision and align it with business goals.
Balancing Quality and Speed: Ability to balance an iterative approach and urgency to solve customer pain points with long-term vision, ensuring high-quality user experiences.
Adaptability: Deep curiosity and interest in fintech, with adaptability in a fast-paced startup environment. Comfortable juggling multiple products and orchestrating direction.
Collaboration: Experience collaborating with product managers, engineers, and go-to-market teams.

Why join the Product Design team at Clutch?

Design is Strategic Partnership: Designers are strategic partners in product innovation and planning to launch.
Collaborative Environment: Work and learn with passionate, talented, and supportive colleagues.
Diverse Opportunities: Engage with both consumer and enterprise products, with opportunities for team rotation to stay engaged and grow.
Trusting Culture: A trusting, open environment that fosters the best work and fun together.
Company Growth: Be an early team member of a well-funded and high-growth startup with 8+ years of runway, backed by A16z and CMFG ventures.
Impactful Work: Create a significant impact in the credit union and fintech landscape.
Stellar Team: Work with a stellar team of experienced professionals and founders with a proven track record.
Global Reach: Collaborate with international colleagues and markets in the USA, Brazil, Argentina, and Germany.
(Please note that we are unable to sponsor H1B visas currently)

Benefits and Perks: