Summary

The team

We’re building for a new generation of global retail users who expect products that feel trustworthy, modern, and effortless—and design is central to delivering that. We’re looking for a 

 to raise the UX bar, define how people interact with crypto and investments, and build a design culture of consistent excellence.

This isn’t an oversight role. It’s a hands-on, high-impact position for a leader who wants to shape strategy while staying close to the work. Kraken’s Consumer business spans some of the company’s most important product areas:

1. Trading: The Kraken App and retail web experience
2. Payments: Our new money app, Krak
3. Earn: Staking and yield products
4. Equities: Our platform for equities and tokenized equities (xStocks)
5. Inky: Our gamified onchain trading app

As crypto and fintech evolve at breakneck speed, Kraken sits at the center. The Sr. Director will shape experiences millions rely on to trade, invest, stake, spend, and grow their wealth. You’ll bring a strong POV from crypto, wealth, trading, or fintech and translate it into intuitive, high-quality product experiences.

You’ll lead a team of 10 designers, work closely with PMs and engineers, and set the vision, systems, and rituals that drive clarity, speed, and quality across the Consumer portfolio.

This is a rare chance to redefine what great looks like in one of the most important categories in finance.

The opportunity

1. Hands-on leadership: Dive into flows, refine interaction patterns, tighten UX decisions, and coach designers through the actual work. You elevate quality by engaging directly, not by sitting behind reviews.
2. Define and communicate the design vision: Own the long-term UX strategy for Consumer and bring teams along with clear storytelling and crisp direction.
3. Bridge crypto and finance: Create experiences that work for newcomers and sophisticated investors alike, combining simplicity with the trust and rigor expected in financial products.
4. Transform execution quality: Deliver a step-change improvement in usability, clarity, and polish across trading, payments, staking, and investment experiences.
5. Partner deeply with product: Shape problem definitions, refine hypotheses, and collaborate with PMs daily to ensure we solve the right problems with the right level of ambition.
6. Build scalable design processes: Replace ad-hoc workflows with consistent systems for discovery, iteration, critique, and delivery.
7. Drive faster experimentation: Push for more prototyping, more testing, and tighter learning loops without someone needing to nudge the team.
8. Level up the team: Hire, coach, and grow designers while embedding a culture of accountable execution and rigorous critique.
9. Collaborate tightly with engineering: Ensure design intent holds through implementation and that both sides move quickly and intelligently together.

Skills you should HODL

1. Proven team leadership: Experience leading and scaling product design teams of 8-15+ in high-growth, product-led environments.
2. Domain expertise in crypto or trading plus real experience in wealth, investment, or fintech products. You understand trust, risk, decision-making, and the behavioral nuance of financial UX.
3. A strong point of view on design and how it shapes product strategy, not just how it shapes screens.
4. Hands-on design chops: You can jump into Figma, model excellent craft, and push work from good to great.
5. Strong product intuition: You partner with PMs as a peer, not a service function. You challenge assumptions, reframe problems, and clarify priorities.
6. Operational rigor: You install systems that raise the bar every time, not just when you personally touch the work.
7. Outstanding communication: Clear, direct, and persuasive with execs, peers, and ICs.
8. High judgment: Pragmatic about scope and tradeoffs without letting quality slide.
9. Mission drive: Belief in Kraken’s role in accelerating financial freedom and expanding access to global markets.

Skills

• Communications Skills
• Cryptocurrency
• Leadership
• Team Collaboration