Principal Visual Designer

We are open to candidates based +/- 3 hours PT

Visual design is a cornerstone of the product design process at MetaLab, and Principal Visual Designers bring a unique and memorable output that pushes the boundaries of how products look and feel—some call it magic.

Principal Designers elevate the quality of our work and evolve the skillsets of those around them. They bring a passion for product design thinking and execute on a variety of project types and product platforms. As the most senior designers at MetaLab, Principal Designers consistently deliver on the most complex tracks of work. They have deep industry knowledge, domain expertise, and help define design quality and process at MetaLab.

Principal Visual Designers define the product experience through art direction, UI design and prototyping for motion and interaction. They translate the character of the product brand, and the intention of the product strategy and UX, into a highly thoughtful and refined visual system.

Your responsibilities:

Major phases of work:

• Lead visual design and art direction for key parts of the product.
• Guide the design of Production Hi-Fidelity: the nitty-gritty detailed layout and interface design of the product flows.
• Lean-in to the design of hero moments of experience: push the boundaries of visual design in the most memorable and important parts of the user journey

Lead in-the work:

• Personally design the most important and challenging parts of the solution.
• Support Product Designers to design alongside you by framing their work with solid design briefs and UX frameworks for the overall product.
• Review Product Designer’s visual design and brand application work and ensure the quality of what the team delivers.
• Prototype new approaches to the work, respectfully declining the status quo pushing both clients and colleagues outside of their comfort zones.

Lively collaboration with your team and clients:

• Collaborate directly with Design Leads and key client team members, presenting your thinking and work effectively in internal meetings and client workshops and presentations.
• Participate with research to generate and evaluate design opportunities, and test solutions using storyboards and prototypes.
• Work hand-in-hand with engineers and product team members to foster innovation and ensure feasibility and fidelity of implementation.
• Help promote an inspiring and inclusive environment for the team.
• If desired, opportunity to coach and mentor other designers.
• Share your knowledge and approach to the craft with the broader design team at MetaLab.

The must-have shortlist:

• 5+ years of product and immersive, experiential design experience at a digital agency or consultancy, ideally in a senior-level role.
• A portfolio that reflects your strengths in exemplary interface design and art direction, but also strong in UX thinking, with at least half the examples specifically in product design (though other forms of interactive design like marketing/experience websites, or e-commerce are welcome).
• Proven experience working through complex areas of a product, navigating around technical business requirements.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and client briefs that lead to more questions than answers.
• Fluent in translating stakeholder goals, user research, and complex user flows into simple UIs.
• Demonstrated mastery of UI/UX principles, best practices, and common design tools (read: Figma). Bonus points for interaction design skills (think After Effects, Principle, or Framer, Origami).
• An ability to define and simplify scope in a way that helps everyone arrive at a deeper understanding and appreciation of the work.
• Able to clearly communicate compelling design rationales internally and for clients.
• Driven to stay ahead of desktop and mobile best practices, developments and trends in web, mobile and iOS design.
• Bonus points if you also have specialized skills in creating key visual assists such as: illustration, 3D models, photography, custom type, etc.