Design System Lead

161 Bay Street (93021), Canada, Toronto,Toronto, Ontario,
Design System Lead
Our Capital One Team
At Capital One, we don't just hire people - we invest in them. We've worked hard to create and foster a culture that values people, collaboration, integrity, and respect for one another. We pride ourselves in being a place of opportunity that empowers our team of disruptors, dreamers, and doers. And we're not your typical bank; we're on a mission to change banking for good by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to the work we do. Antiquated legacy platforms have no place here; we're building a leading information-based technology company where you'll be partnering with other talented people across the organization on complex projects, contributing to the value we deliver every day. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit, and we succeed only when they do.
Our Experience Design (XD) Team is at the forefront of enriching our customers' digital experiences and represents the voice of our customers. We are seeking an exceptional Design System Lead to join our XD team, reporting directly into our Manager of Product Design. The Design System Lead will primarily focus on overseeing our design system, including the contribution strategy related to visual style, UI components, governance, and other design considerations and governance processes.
At Capital One, we champion a thriving environment of collaboration, authenticity and healthy critique, in which we honour diversity of thought, create a culture of belonging, and elevate one another.
Working with us
How do we do things at Capital One Canada? We listen - to our people, and to our customers. We change with the times and have adopted a flexible hybrid model. Associates working in the hybrid model are expected to come into the office 3 days a week across Tuesdays and Thursdays, reserving Mondays and Fridays as company-wide virtual days. As was true before the pandemic, expectations of being in the office will be balanced with personal life flexibility. We recognize that everyone has a unique working pattern so we're open to discussing flexible working arrangements that will best accommodate you.
At Capital One we're committed to diversity, inclusion and belonging . We strive to build a culture where diverse perspectives are valued, innovative ideas are encouraged and inclusive behaviours are embedded in everything we do to positively impact associates. Strive to build a culture where diverse perspectives are valued, innovative ideas are encouraged and to help challenge the status quo and create the best outcomes for everyone.
We're focused on helping associates live well-physically, financially and emotionally. When you join us, we support you and those who are most important to you, offering full coverage for spouses, domestic partners, and dependents. We've designed our benefits program to be flexible, comprehensive and consistent across our organization. From health and fitness center discounts, to training and professional development programs-and much more-you'll discover that Capital One is committed to helping you live your best life.
Capital One Canada is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We consider all qualified applicants and will meet the needs of those requiring reasonable accommodations.
About you

• You have hands-on experience managing and contributing to design systems, including building components, guiding contribution and maintaining component libraries
• You have a strong understanding of user-centred design processes and can easily and effectively balance customer needs with business goals
• You have strong knowledge of mobile design
• Communication and storytelling comes easily to you, and your interpersonal, presentation, and analytical skills allow you to effectively communicate complex ideas and concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels within the organization
• You're an innovator who embraces an environment where you can experiment, learn, and change banking for good
• You think user-first, have a bold design perspective, have an eye for responsive, accessible design, and are rarely satisfied with the first iteration
• You have a mastery in your craft with a passion to extend your knowledge of product design principles, modern design tools, emerging technologies, Agile development, accessibility, and industry practices and trends
• You value collaboration
• You pay attention to detail
• You believe it's not enough to design for user behaviour - you want to take it one step further and make a true impact on our customers
• You possess a thoughtful, inclusive, and empathetic approach to design that meets every customer where they are
• You have experience working closely with Product and Engineering in an agile, iterative, data-informed product development environment
• You have a portfolio of work that demonstrates your experience, expertise, and process of creating human-centred design solutions with measurable results
• You have strong leadership skills and can influence in ambiguous situations while making decisions
• You can think laterally and adapt design methodologies to fit unique project needs.
• You are regularly sought out by and seen as an expert in product design strategy skills by partner teams.
• You have experience building teams through hiring, growing, and retaining high-performing designers

Your key responsibilities
Design System Management

• Lead the team in evolving our design system, and help drive the vision, project management, and contribution strategy related to visual style, UI components, governance, and other design considerations
• Apply a systems-mindset to defining and deploying consistent, reusable components and patterns across our product portfolio
• Help to identify business, design, and development needs, in addition to defining parameters for design system components, creating documentation and governance, and leading teams to create and deploy functional and scalable design components
• Collaborate with other designers and cross-departmentally with product/development teams

Strategy & planning

• Collaborate and communicate closely with key stakeholders and leaders in design, product management, engineering, and marketing to execute best-in-class user experiences, justify decisions, provide escalation management, and drive our OKRs.

• Work cross-functionally with our UX research, marketing, product and tech teams to prioritize, plan, and deliver on business initiatives
• Be a strong advocate for our customers through human-centred design methods
• Brainstorm and help to execute design solutions that bring our products and user experience to another level
• Define standards and best practices for how mobile design is done
• Be a key contributor to our Design System - develop and maintain detailed UI specifications
• Present and communicate design decisions to various stakeholders across the business
• Actively monitor and analyze design and fintech trends to inform our roadmap and future state
• Influence and educate on the importance of design to product teams new to design methods in order to help them integrate UCD into their product cycle.
• Fully autonomous in leading discovery work with minimal guidance/support

Education and experience
Basic requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in HCI/UX, Social Science, Psychology, Research, or other related field, or equivalent experience
• 4+ years of Product Design experience with consumer and mobile products
• 3+ years of experience building and managing design systems, with a strong focus on UI principles and best practices
• 3+ years of experience working with a variety of business partners and delivering outcomes
• 3+ years of experience with design thinking and agile methodologies
• Strong, proven experience designing for mobile apps
• Strong working knowledge of Figma and other modern design tools

Preferred requirements:

• Although this is currently not a people leader role, there is potential in the future to have direct reports. As such, experience building teams through hiring, mentoring, and retaining high-performing designers is preferred.

We may use your information for automated decision making. We may, for certain purposes, render a decision based exclusively on automated processing of your personal information as a part of the candidate screening process.
Capital One Canada is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We consider all qualified applicants and will meet the needs of those requiring reasonable accommodations.
If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at [email protected] . All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.
For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to [email protected]
Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site.
Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).