Principal Designer

Lead is a fintech building banking infrastructure for embedded financial products and services. We operate an FDIC-insured bank headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.  Additionally, we have offices in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, and New York City, where our technical, product, design, and legal teams operate.

We are built for a constantly evolving financial landscape, where new ventures and technological advancements emerge daily. Guided by a team of entrepreneurs and technologists with decades of experience navigating intricate banking and payments regulations, Lead blends regulatory and technological expertise to help our fintech partners scale their operations with compliance and creativity.

Simply put, Lead offers the essential attributes that every fintech seeks in a partner bank. First, unparalleled technical expertise from a distinguished team of developers with an extensive understanding of the banking and payments systems. Second, oversight expertise, automated compliance systems, and bespoke program management to navigate the ever-shifting regulatory landscape. Finally, a commitment to transparency and operational rigor to ensure everyone’s money does what it’s supposed to do. 

Role Description:

As a foundational member of the design team, you’ll help shape the future of financial technology while creating banking experiences that are intuitive, seamless, and exceptional. You’ll partner with leaders across UX, product, engineering, and other teams to deliver cohesive, user-focused designs that make an impact. Passion for brand, craft, and innovation will be at the heart of your work.

In this role, you’ll own the end-to-end user experience for one or more product verticals. From concept to execution, you’ll drive the design vision, contributing to the evolution of Lead’s design system and setting the standard for design excellence. We’re looking for someone who thrives on turning ideas into reality—whether it’s creating zero-to-one product ideas or scaling established solutions.

You’ll shape product strategy, dream up intricate UX ecosystems, and inspire teams to push boundaries creatively and technically.

This is a unique opportunity to define a brand, create groundbreaking products, and make a lasting mark in the financial technology space.

• Build World-Class Experiences: Help shape the future of financial products by transforming traditional digital banking processes into efficient, scalable, and beautifully crafted experiences.
• Craft Visual Identity: Help define and evolve a unified visual language and interaction guidelines that strengthen brand consistency.
• Define Design Systems: Build and refine scalable design systems to ensure consistency and efficiency across platforms.
• Collaborate Across Teams: Work with product managers, engineers, and UX writers to deliver user-focused, impactful designs.
• Champion User Needs: Develop user flows, wireframes, and prototypes that balance user goals, business objectives, and technical constraints.
• Think Strategically: Contribute to product roadmaps, refine design processes, and share knowledge through documentation and presentations.
• Prototype and Iterate: Test and validate design ideas with conceptual models and prototypes, ensuring usability and feasibility.
• Own Execution: Manage the entire product design lifecycle, from research and ideation to implementation and launch.
• Innovate with Impact: Identify unmet needs, uncover design opportunities, and create experiences that redefine how users interact with financial technology.
• Enhance Scalability: Implement tools and processes that streamline workflows and support a growing portfolio of products.
• Advocate for Excellence: Uphold design best practices while looking for opportunities to improve and elevate design standards.
• Deliver Exceptional Quality: Create products known for their ease of use, reliability, and elegant, cohesive design.

• 12+ years of product design expertise, including leadership roles, with a strong focus on end-to-end design execution.
• Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, or a related field (Master’s preferred), or equivalent professional experience.
• A stunning portfolio showcasing user-centered design solutions for web and mobile, with an eye for polish and usability.
• Mastery of visual and interaction design, UX/UI, typography, and branding, with impeccable attention to detail.
• Experience leading 0-to-1 product initiatives and scaling solutions in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity, breaking down complex problems, and delivering actionable, impactful design solutions.
• Fluency in best practices for fintech experiences and design, as well as a deep understanding of user-centered design principles and methodologies, ensuring solutions are tailored to meet user needs and enhance their experience.
• Demonstrated success in promoting a culture of creativity, and driving cross-functional collaboration with engineering, product, and business stakeholders.
• Ability to present ideas with confidence, articulate design rationale, and influence stakeholders at every level.
• Fluent in Figma, its prototyping tools, and all of the tools du jour. 

• At Lead, we design our benefits to support company culture and principles, to foster an efficient and inspiring work environment, and to create the conditions for our team to give their best in both work and life
• Competitive compensation based on experience, geographic location, and role
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401k Matching, and other wellness benefits, including FSA, HSA and HRA
• Paid parental leave
• Flexible vacation policy, including PTO and paid holidays
• A fun and challenging team environment in a dynamic industry with ample opportunities for career growth 

If you’re ready to make waves in fintech, redefine what’s possible, and have a blast doing it, we want to hear from you!

*Lead Bank is proud to have an inclusive culture committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

*Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

**Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. Pay is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on geographical market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone 1: $207,000 - $240,000 (SF/Bay Area, NYC, Seattle)

Zone 2: $185,000 - $211,000 (LA, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Diego, DC)

Zone 3: $172,000 - $200,000 (Other US Metros)

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