Director – Visual Design

Director – Visual Design

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in visual design, with at least 3+ years in a leadership role managing design teams in a tech or product-driven environment.
• A strong, diverse portfolio demonstrating expertise in visual design, with examples of web and mobile product designs, brand work, and design systems.
• Proven ability to lead and inspire cross-functional teams, managing multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining a high standard of design excellence.
• Ability to think strategically and translate business and user needs into innovative design solutions.
• Strong understanding of design systems, branding, and user interface design.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with experience working closely with engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders to bring design vision to life.
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on delivering high-impact solutions in a fast-paced environment.
• Mastery of standard design tools such as Figma, Adobe Creative Suite and a willingness to learn new tools.
• Excellent visual design skills, including a strong understanding of typography, color theory, composition, and branded experiences.
• A willingness to jump into design work at multiple stages of development, with a keen eye towards weaving it all together coherently.
• Keen attention to detail and a passion for simplifying complicated systems.
• Excellent written and spoken communication; ability to clearly defend design choices with clear rationale.
• Egoless, with a clear focus on collaboration over individual accolades.
• Strong organizational, multi-tasking, and time management skills and the ability to work independently.
• Interest in DIY / crafting experiences and a keen interest in gaining an understanding of and empathy for Cricut’s users.
• Proven ability to partner with UX designers, UX researchers, software developers and QA to ensure user needs are met and designs are implemented correctly.
• Experience working in an Agile environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, information design, fine art, or relevant field. Graduate degree is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the visual design vision and strategy for the company’s software experience, ensuring a consistent, innovative, and user-centered design language across all platforms.
• Manage, mentor, and inspire a growing team of designers, providing clear direction, feedback, and career development opportunities. Cultivate a collaborative and inclusive design culture.
• Work closely with creative, brand, marketing, and industrial design teams to evolve the company’s software visual identity. Oversee the creation and maintenance of scalable design systems that can be applied across multiple platforms.
• Partner with product management, engineering, marketing, and other teams to ensure design solutions align with business goals, technical constraints, and user needs. Lead design discussions and advocate for design excellence.
• Oversee the design process from concept to execution, ensuring high-quality design work is delivered on time. Provide hands-on design work when necessary and ensure design specifications are implemented accurately.
• Advocate for user-centered design principles, leveraging user research and data to inform design decisions. Ensure that designs are not only visually stunning but also solve real user problems and enhance the overall user experience.
• Stay up-to-date with emerging design trends, tools, and technologies. Introduce innovative design techniques and tools to the team that enhance productivity and the quality of output.
• Effectively communicate design concepts, strategies, and rationale to both internal stakeholders and external partners. Present and defend design decisions to leadership, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Participate in every stage of the user-centered design process – visualize possibilities early in the design process to facilitate communication, create graphics to support user-testable prototypes, and deliver pixel-perfect visual designs that are implementation-ready.
• Leverage, extend and maintain the integrity of the Cricut brand in collaboration with our Creative Team (who are responsible for packaging, marketing, etc.).
• Balance work on several design projects simultaneously, bringing system’s thinking and a clear understanding of relationships between different aspects of the software to ensure visual coherence.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree is a plus.