Design Program Manager

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Design Program Manager

role at

Lead

Lead is a fintech building banking infrastructure for embedded financial products and services. We operate an FDIC-insured bank headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, with 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.

Simplify, Lead offers the essential attributes that every fintech seeks in a partner bank : unparalleled technical expertise from a distinguished team of developers; oversight expertise, automated compliance systems, and bespoke program management; and a commitment to transparency and operational rigor to ensure everyone’s money does what it’s supposed to do.

Role Description

We’re looking for a

Design Program Manager

to help us scale design at Lead—across product, brand, and marketing. This is a senior operational role embedded within the Design team, with a broad view across the company and a sharp focus on making sure design runs well.

You’ll bring structure and clarity to the way we plan, prioritize, and execute work. You’ll help manage competing demands, evolving needs, and creative teams that care deeply about craft. You’ll keep design system efforts on track—from managing contribution workflows to coordinating cross‑functional adoption. You’ll work across Product, Engineering, and Marketing to keep design efforts aligned with real timelines and priorities, navigating ambiguity, making trade‑offs explicit, and moving work forward without losing quality or context. This role is well‑suited to someone who brings calm and structure to complex, fast‑moving environments.

In This Role You Will

Program & Project Management

Build and improve project workflows—from planning and prioritization to handoff and QA.

Drive initiatives from brief to launch : clarify scope, track milestones, flag risks, and keep us on time.

Monitor project health across multiple tracks, reporting status, risks, and decisions as needed.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

Be the go‑to for all things design operations : triage requests, align timelines, and manage communications.

Partner with PMs, engineers and internal stakeholders to connect the dots between product, design, and business goals.

Help stakeholders understand what’s needed, what’s possible, and what’s next.

Creative & Vendor Operations

Own creative production processes, especially for marketing and sales collateral.

Grow and manage a bench of vendors, freelancers, and agencies to flex with demand.

Ensure design intent carries through execution—QA, redlines, and implementation reviews included.

Design System & Production Support

Help evolve and maintain our design system, ensuring consistency across tools and surfaces.

Coordinate documentation, track contributions, and support adoption across teams.

Pitch in on occasional production needs—from campaign assets to internal decks.

Strategic Enablement

Help the team prioritize work, make trade‑offs, and communicate clearly across stakeholders.

Lead operational initiatives that improve team efficiency, morale, and output.

Define and measure success for tools and processes—iterate based on what’s working.

Qualifications

5–8+ years in design operations, creative production, or program management.

Experience supporting both product and brand / marketing design.

Strong understanding of UX / UI principles and the end‑to‑end design lifecycle.

Familiarity with marketing / production design workflows—including vendor and asset management.

Experience managing or contributing to design systems.

Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Proactive, organized, and able to bring structure to shifting priorities and ambiguous asks.

Proficient in tools like Linear, Asana, Figma, Notion, and GSuite.

Bonus : experience in fintech, B2B SaaS, or regulated environments.

What We Offer

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.

Zone 1 : $210,000 - $260,000 (SF / Bay Area, NYC)

EEO Statement

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.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. 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.

Seniority level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Design, Art / Creative, and Information Technology

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