Lead Visual Designer

Earnest’s mission is to make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone. We empower past, present, and soon-to-be students to maximize their financial futures through thoughtful guidance and impactful products. We build tools that help people feel in control of their financial future, including... • Private student loans - low rates, people-first service, and flexible payments. • Student loan refinancing - break free from high interest rates or monthly payments. • Scholarships - access to thousands of scholarships to help students pay less. The Lead Visual Designer position will report to The Head of Design. As the Lead Visual Designer, you will • Take a leadership role in developing a specific experience (e.g., a user path for Earnest Growth, an event booth design) from the initial stages of research and concept development to the final stages. • Implement a clear, refined, inclusive, and transparent design process that is consistently utilized to produce high-quality results in collaboration with product designers, marketing teams, external agencies, growth experts, and internal brand stakeholders. • Guide and mentor team members on effective contribution methods. • Propose innovative documentation tools or frameworks to enhance the accessibility and ease of updating brand and design systems content. • Own the visual identity of our internal design system. • Independently devise improved approaches for organizing and constructing UI templates and toolkits. • Drive quality control, the right amount of process at the right time, in order to deliver high quality work in a seamless collaborative fashion. • Embrace challenges and consistently work in uncertain or constrained situations. Push on those situations to make them less uncertain or constrained in the future. • Demonstrate continuous visible progress based on feedback. Your Impact • Growth - Partner closely with marketing and Growth to design and create a strategy for everything from marketing assets to website landing pages to provide a best in class top of the funnel experience with high engagement and conversion. • Brand - Own the brand identity of Earnest and work with delivery partners to bring it to life. Work with different parts of the org from marketing to product adopt the new brand. • Design systems - Own the visual identity of the in-house Nucleus Design System. About You • Proficiency in Figma • Experience building responsive web and mobile experiences • Deep understanding of visual craft, execution, holistic and systems thinking • Experience designing WCAG compliant, accessible interfaces • Experience using a range of design skills to deliver compelling design solutions to systematic problems • Experience writing documentation and usage guidelines that teach designers and engineers how to adopt our brand • Documentation and checklist to maintain brand quality across surfaces • Ability to set visual design strategy and set metrics for the team • Willing to travel to the Oakland office monthly to collaborate with other Earnies Where • This role will be based in San Francisco, CA. • While you’ll enjoy the flexibility of remote work, we also love to see our Earnies face-to-face! We ask you to join us at our Oakland office 3 times a month for team collaboration and some fun. It's a chance to connect, share ideas, and maybe even some coffee together! About Us What makes an “Earnie” culture • Drivers – Drivers are satisfied by making things happen, not coming along for the ride. They feel a strong sense of ownership for their projects and teams and demand high standards from themselves and others. • Humility – Humble team players check their egos and consider the team’s needs above their own. They are self-aware of their strengths and opportunities for improvement. • Growth Mindset – People with a growth mindset approach challenges and failures as learning opportunities. They seek feedback to improve, give feedback to others, and genuinely want to perform well. Earnies are committed to helping students live their best lives, free from the stress of student debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together! Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including • Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans • Mac computers + work from home stipend to set up your home office • Monthly internet and phone reimbursement • Employee Stock Purchase Plan • RSUs • 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match • Robust tuition reimbursement program • $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world • Competitive days of annual PTO • Annual “my day” • Pet insurance! • Competitive parental leave • Plenty of Earnest swag, optional in person team gatherings, picnics, celebrations, and plenty of fun virtual events At Earnest, we are committed to building an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging enables us to move forward with our mission. We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage anyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for. Earnest provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status disability or genetics. Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance. A little about our pay philosophy We take pride in compensating our employees fairly and equitably. We are showcasing a range of your potential base salary. The successful candidate’s starting pay will also be determined based on job-related qualifications, internal compensation, and budget. This range may be modified in the future. Pay Range $211,000—$241,000 USD