Staff Visual Designer - Design Systems

About the role

This role focuses on refining and implementing Mercury's core visual design language, encompassing typography, color systems, and iconography. The Staff Visual Designer will be responsible for delivering significant improvements to the design system, ensuring a high standard of visual craft across all products. This involves working closely with brand and other design leaders to integrate a consistent and expressive aesthetic into the user experience.

A key aspect of this position is setting the benchmark for design quality within the organization. The designer will develop guidelines and reference materials, and actively coach product designers, offering direct feedback to enhance their craft. This leadership extends to partnering with design systems designers and engineers to ensure that visual components are scalable and effectively integrated into the product.

Success in this role means not only shipping foundational design improvements but also fostering a culture of high visual craft. The Staff Visual Designer will represent design systems and visual excellence in discussions with various stakeholders, including engineering and leadership, ensuring that visual design principles are consistently applied and understood throughout the company.

The salary range for US employees is between $228,700 and $285,900 USD.

Skills that matter here

• visual design: This role requires extensive experience in visual design to redefine and implement the company's design language.
• typography: Expertise in typography is essential for making foundational improvements to the design system.
• color systems: The designer will be responsible for enhancing and implementing the company's color systems.
• iconography: This position involves refining and shipping improvements related to iconography within the design system.
• design tools: Proficiency in various design tools is necessary for creating and iterating on visual designs and prototypes.
• front-end prototyping: The ability to perform front-end prototyping with React is required to build and test design components.

Who this role suits

• Someone with a decade or more of visual design experience, particularly in establishing foundational systems.
• A designer who enjoys mentoring and providing direct feedback to help others grow their craft.
• An individual who excels at managing stakeholders and thinking systematically about design challenges.
• A person with a strong portfolio demonstrating high-craft visual design and systems work.

From the employer

Responsibilities

• Redefine and ship large, foundational improvements to Mercury’s design language (type, color, iconography).
• Partner with Brand and other craft leaders to integrate expressive moments into the product.
• Set the craft bar for the design organization and build systems, guidelines, and references.
• Actively coach product designers on their craft, providing direct feedback.
• Collaborate with design systems designers and engineers for scalable components.
• Represent design systems and visual craft in discussions with Brand, Engineering, and design leadership.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in visual design, with expertise in typography, color systems, and iconography.
• A portfolio showcasing foundational systems work and high-craft visual design.
• Experience in coaching or mentoring designers.
• Strong systems thinking and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent communication and presence.
• Proficient in design tools and front-end prototyping with React.
• Affinity for AI-assisted prototyping; motion design skills are a plus.

Conditions

• Competitive base salary and equity (stock options/RSUs).
• Salary ranges for US employees: $228,700 - $285,900 USD; for Canadian employees: $216,200 - $270,200 CAD.
• Commitment to diversity and equal opportunity employment.
• Reasonable accommodations provided throughout the recruitment process.