This Director role leads design systems, design operations, and Bank design, owning governance, standards, and tooling that scale consistent client and advisor digital experiences. The leader manages a team of managers across these functions and drives AI-enabled design practices to improve quality, delivery speed, and business impact at Thrivent.
What you'll do
- Own enterprise design system strategy, governance, standards, tooling, and adoption roadmap
- Establish and govern enterprise mobile design standards with product and engineering leaders
- Lead Bank Design team and evolve mobile design capabilities
- Balance and coordinate experience across client and advisor products, channels, platforms
- Own design operations and design system for client and advisor experience
- Lead Bank product design team, aligning design with product and business strategy
- Champion integration of AI into design workflows and processes
- Use design methods to solve execution problems and identify new value opportunities
- Drive development of new practices across multiple workstreams
- Frame and prioritize research initiatives to inform strategic decisions
- Use storytelling and persuasion to connect strategy and vision with practicality
- Develop holistic understanding of organizational context and line of business strategy
- Define problems with cross-functional leads and manage managers
- Recruit, develop, and sustain a high-performing design team
- Support a culture of continuous improvement and employee engagement
- Model Thrivent's leadership competencies
What we're looking for
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in interaction design, UI/UX design, web product design, or web development
- 12+ years experience in a related field
- 5-8 years experience in UX, interaction design, product innovation and research in a product development team
- Working knowledge of emerging AI design tools and technologies
- Proven experience leading and mentoring design teams
- Significant management experience, ability to recruit and hire top talent
- Strong leadership skills to motivate and inspire teams
- Ability to drive development of innovative design practices with a strategic mindset
- Strong strategic communication skills connecting vision with day-to-day practicality
- Strong ability to influence outcomes across all levels of the organization
- Holistic understanding of organizational context and line of business strategy
- Experience in talent management, recruiting, hiring, and professional development
- Experience in annual and ad hoc headcount planning and securing budget
Nice to have
- Strategic design thinking contributing to overall design strategy
- Knowledge and experience working in diversified financial services
- Experience working within a product operating model at scale