Stellar Development Foundation

Senior Design Manager

Stellar Development Foundation

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: San FranciscoCaliforniaUnited States

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Salary

💰 $165,000 - $245,000 per year

Job Level

Tech Stack

About the role

  • Take ownership of creative vision and execution across all channels — digital, social, brand campaigns, activations, and events — ensuring every touchpoint reflects the quality, consistency, and visual ambition of the Stellar brand.
  • Establish and evolve SDF's visual identity and design system, developing brand guidelines and toolkits that enable consistent, on-brand execution across the entire marketing organization.
  • Lead creative output for flagship programs including Meridian 2026 and the Stellar House series, spanning environmental design, event identity, collateral, signage, swag, and digital assets.
  • Direct the design and production of integrated marketing creative — including paid digital, organic social, email, web, and campaign assets — ensuring cohesive brand storytelling across all formats.
  • Manage and mentor a high-performing design team, providing clear creative direction, actionable feedback, and ongoing development support to elevate both their craft and their impact.
  • Own external agency and production vendor relationships end-to-end: briefing, directing, and quality-controlling output across brand, creative, and production partners with minimal supervision.
  • Partner with the Sr. Director of Experiential Marketing and cross-functional stakeholders — including communications, developer relations, partnerships, and product marketing — to deliver integrated creative strategies that serve the full funnel.
  • Pitch and present creative concepts to leadership with clarity and conviction; translate business objectives into compelling, executable creative strategies.
  • Proactively identify and resolve creative bottlenecks; continuously improve team workflows, briefing processes, and production timelines to increase output quality and velocity.
  • Bring a broad view of creative excellence — across media, beyond blockchain and fintech — introducing new visual ideas that keep Stellar's brand fresh and ahead of the curve.
  • Roll up your sleeves and produce polished, on-brand design work yourself — from concept through final deliverable — across digital, campaign, and experiential contexts. This is a making role as much as a leading one.

Requirements

  • 7+ years of design experience, including at least 2 years leading or managing a design team or multi-disciplinary creative function.
  • A hands-on design practice you are proud of — you are still producing high-quality work yourself, not only directing and managing others. Your portfolio reflects both your craft and your leadership.
  • A portfolio demonstrating excellence across brand identity, digital, campaign, and experiential design — with clear evidence of company-wide creative leadership and high-quality output at scale.
  • Deep expertise in building and stewarding brand identity systems — developing guidelines, extending them across channels, and maintaining consistency across a large organization.
  • Experience directing creative output across multiple channels simultaneously — digital, social, campaign, environmental, and event — with a strong command of what great looks like in each.
  • A track record of owning external agency and vendor relationships end-to-end, from brief through delivery, with high standards for quality and an ability to get the best out of creative partners.
  • Expert-level, active proficiency in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign) — you use these tools daily, not just in oversight. Comfortable directing motion, video, and production partners.
  • Experience driving cross-functional creative work with minimal oversight, including developing creative strategy, presenting to senior leadership, and influencing decisions across the org.
  • The ability to write clear, well-structured creative briefs that align stakeholders and get agencies and production partners to the right output efficiently.
  • Strong organizational instincts — you can manage multiple workstreams, anticipate risks, and maintain a high creative bar under deadline pressure.
  • Genuine curiosity about and working knowledge of the blockchain, fintech, or Web3 space — you understand the audience, the culture, and the opportunity.
Benefits
  • Competitive health, dental & vision coverage with most plans covered at 100% for the employee + any dependents
  • Flexible time off + 15 company holidays, including a company-wide holiday break
  • Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for both non-birthing and birthing parents, as well as up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy leave for birthing parents
  • Gym reimbursement ($80 per month)
  • Life & ADD (up to $50K)
  • Short & Long-term disability
  • 401K with 4% match
  • Health & Dependent Care FSA Accounts
  • Commuter benefits with $250/month employer contribution
  • Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly employer contribution
  • Family building benefits through Kindbody
  • Wellbeing benefits (One Medical, Rightway, Headspace)
  • L&D budget of $1,500/year
  • Daily lunch and snacks in the office
  • Company retreats
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools
design experiencebrand identity systemscreative strategycreative directionhigh-quality outputcreative briefsmulti-disciplinary creative functionenvironmental designdigital designcampaign design
Soft Skills
leadershipmentoringorganizational instinctscommunicationproblem-solvingcollaborationcreativitypresentation skillsfeedbackworkflow improvement