Lead Product Designer

Varo is an entirely new kind of bank. All digital, mission‑driven, FDIC insured and designed for the way our customers live their lives. A bank for all of us.

Varo is seeking a Lead Product Designer to join our product design team. This is a pivotal, high‑impact role focused on defining and elevating the customer experience for Varo's core banking products. We’re seeking a true hands‑on leader, committed to delivering pixel‑perfect execution on all design deliverables while simultaneously playing a significant, strategic role in the high‑level product strategy and roadmap definition.

You will be responsible for conceptualizing, validating, and building critical features from the ground up, navigating the speed and ambiguity of a fast‑paced, high‑growth environment. This role is the central point where high‑level product vision meets practical, daily. The Lead Designer is expected to guide cross‑functional product teams, including Product Managers, Engineers, and Marketers, toward cohesive, user‑centered outcomes that strike a balance between core customer needs and Varo's key business objectives.

• Lead end‑to‑end design for the core banking experience. Take complex financial flows and turn them into seamless, trustworthy experiences.
• Manage multiple, large‑scale projects simultaneously, maintaining a holistic perspective in every decision.
• Develop frameworks that enable scalable, data‑driven design decisions across teams.
• Influence decision‑making at the senior leadership level across disciplines, set design direction, and align strategy.
• Partner with leadership to connect design strategy to company goals and measurable outcomes.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, User Research, Data Science, and Operations to define vision and roadmaps, align stakeholders, present to leadership, and deliver outcomes tied to user and business goals.
• Collaborate with user research to run usability tests and gather feedback to validate hypotheses and iterate on features.
• Evangelize design thinking within the company and mentor junior team members as the team grows.
• Grow our design system to ensure consistency across multiple products and platforms.

• 7+ years of product design experience with a proven ability of driving end‑to‑end design across complex, multi‑surface experiences in fast‑paced environments.
• A strong portfolio showcasing your design process, not just final visuals. We want to see how you solve problems.
• Banking domain expertise:
  You are comfortable with ambiguity, move fast, and can pivot when necessary. You are a strategic architect of complex financial workflows.
• You have experience in design systems, both contributing to and maintaining. You don’t just design screens; you design flows and systems.
• Experience leading design through ambiguity and influencing strategy through storytelling and systems thinking. You can guide and persuade executives, engineers, and other stakeholders on your design decisions clearly.
• You have a mentorship mindset and a proven track record of helping other designers grow.
• Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) or equivalent practical experience.

Salary: $125,000 – $175,000 per year. This role is also eligible for a bonus, equity, and competitive benefits.

Varo is an equal opportunity employer. Varo embraces diversity and we are committed to building teams that represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Beware of fraudulent job postings! Varo will never ask for payment to process documents, refer you to a third party to process applications or visas, or ask you to pay costs. Never send money to anyone suggesting they can provide work with Varo. If you suspect you have received a phony offer, please e‑mail  with the pertinent information and contact information.

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