Director, Product Design

Everyone’s relationship with money is deeply personal and complex. People’s finances affect their decisions every day, whether it’s to make a purchase or invest in their future. At Affirm, we use design to rethink what personal finance can do for our customers by building experiences that give clarity into those decisions, turning a world of financial limitations into one of possibilities.

Design serves a vital role at Affirm: from building narratives through data to creating products and experiences that help people make important financial choices. As a Product Design Director, you are responsible for guiding the Product Design Team in crafting experiences that solve the problems people struggle with every day. You will uphold high quality standards and help others build the skill sets they need to succeed in our design organization. You will empower your designers to make decisions on the day-to-day, while maintaining the holistic vision of where the team's initiatives are pointing the company and driving them towards it. As the leader of the Direct to Consumer design team, your core role is to reinforce the north star of where DTC design is going at Affirm and let your team's work shine.

The DTC team is constantly developing new ways to bring more value to our millions of users. From new products, different ways to use existing Affirm products, and compelling offers to help people with better ways to pay, we are always thinking across the whole journey of our customers. You will work with hyper-collaborative cross-functional teams, continuously explore new design languages to evolve our brand, and learn deeply about all of our customers to deliver personalized experiences.

What you'll do

• Manage and develop a team of product designers and design managers. This requires setting clear goals, managing project loads, and allocating Product Design resources accordingly to ensure deadlines are met and team members are set up for success.
• Foster a creative, collaborative, and high performing culture that encourages innovation and continuous improvement.
• Translate qualitative and quantitative inputs into a clear direction that guides the team in creating the right experience.
• Effectively communicate recommendations and strategy direction to multiple stakeholders.
• Demonstrate the ability and interest to be an effective ‘hands-on’ player/coach leader.
• Guide the team to develop best practices for ensuring a high bar of quality.
• Guide the team towards simple and intuitive solutions for our customers.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product management, engineering, user research, content design, and product creative to ensure a smooth product development process.
• Work closely with product and design leadership to ensure a cohesive user experience across all products and services.
• Help define and communicate the design strategy and vision for the company.
• Help continue our work in creating a design system that integrates our brand, speeds our development, and creates a high-quality experience for our customers.
• Recruit new designers and actively participate in the hiring process.
• Contribute as a designer when necessary.
• Execute in a fast-paced and highly fluid environment.
• Gauge the performance of individual contributors and managers, and have candid conversations focused on helping them improve.
• Receive feedback and continuously improve yourself as a design leader.

What we look for

• 10+ years of working across a wide range of products, leading design teams, and driving creative solutions.
• A portfolio of relevant design work (from UX design to brand design to visual design identity systems), executed either by yourself or a team that you led, that showcases your ability to inspire stakeholders and ship compelling product experiences that people love.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• A user-centered design approach.
• A highly collaborative, low-ego approach to design and leadership.
• Experience working with engineers, product managers, product marketing managers, brand, content design, and user researchers to drive consistent strategy, vision, and execution.
• Experience building teams of high-quality design talent.
• Ability to simultaneously lead teams across different workstreams and surfaces.
• A track record of developing product vision and strategy, and helping peers translate that into product roadmaps and experiences.
• Experienced knowledge and strong capabilities relevant to design and collaboration software (Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, G Suite, Asana, Notion).
• This position requires either equivalent practical experience or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field

This is a remote role with a requirement for frequent travel to Affirm’s San Francisco office (1-2 times per month) for in-person meetings and collaboration.

Pay Grade - S
Equity Grade - 17
Employees new to Affirm typically come in at the start of the pay range. Affirm focuses on providing a simple and transparent pay structure which is based on a variety of factors, including location, experience and job-related skills.
Base pay is part of a total compensation package that may include equity rewards, monthly stipends for health, wellness and tech spending, and benefits (including 100% subsidized medical coverage, dental and vision for you and your dependents.)
USA base pay range (CA, WA, NY, NJ, CT) per year: $230,000 - $310,000
USA base pay range (all other U.S. states) per year: $203,000 - $283,000
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