Onsite VP, Digital Design

Posted 23 hours ago

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About the role

  • VP of Digital Design focusing on unifying design strategy and elevating user experience at Thrivent. Key responsibilities include leadership in design innovation and operational excellence across digital services.

Responsibilities

  • Act as a key member of the Digital Leadership Team, influencing enterprise strategy and advocating for the value of design in shaping differentiated user experiences and business outcomes
  • Define and champion a bold, forward-looking vision for design that aligns with Thrivent’s mission and digital transformation objectives, positioning design as a core enterprise capability, integrating behavioral finance principles to inspire trust and financial confidence in clients and advisors.
  • Serve as the senior-most design leader responsible for setting enterprise design strategy across all digital touchpoints, including Client Experience (DCX), Advisor Experience (DAX), and Money Canvas; driving business growth, innovation, and advisor/client satisfaction.
  • Drive integration of design strategy into Thrivent’s Product Operating Model, ensuring alignment from strategic planning through execution.
  • Champion design as a strategic differentiator—positioning Thrivent at the forefront of human-centered, technology-enabled financial services.
  • Establish and evolve a robust Design Operations (DesignOps) function that supports process efficiency, talent management, enables consistent delivery, and design systems at scale.
  • Serve as a central orchestrator between Product, Technology, Marketing, Compliance, and Data teams to ensure that design is embedded seamlessly into cross-functional workflows.
  • Ensure collaboration and consistency across all digital platforms and experiences, fostering alignment through shared principles, tools, and practices.
  • Lead the recruitment, development, and retention of top-tier design talent; establish Thrivent as a destination employer for mission-aligned designers.
  • Establish clear performance expectations, growth paths, and development opportunities to promote engagement and career mobility.
  • Act as the connective tissue between design, research, and product strategy—ensuring insights and voice of customer data directly shape roadmap and delivery priorities.
  • Influence and align stakeholders at all levels—from scrum teams to the executive committee—on the value of design and user-centered thinking.
  • Define and enforce design standards and principles that drive consistency, accessibility, and excellence across all digital channels and touchpoints.
  • Oversee the evolution and adoption of Thrivent’s “Midwest Design System,” ensuring alignment across teams and improving design velocity, quality, and scalability.
  • Instill a mindset of experimentation and innovation; promote the use of data, behavioral insights, and research to inform design decisions and demonstrate business impact.
  • Partner with internal research and behavioral science teams to ensure Money Canvas and other proprietary experiences remain industry-leading in usability, empathy, and outcomes.
  • Establish accountability and performance measurement frameworks to ensure individual and team effectiveness aligns with business outcomes.
  • Create scalable governance structures for managing design initiatives, team capacity, prioritization, and delivery across a growing portfolio of work.
  • Integrate behavioral insights, data analytics, and financial wellness principles into the design lifecycle to strengthen Thrivent’s value proposition and deepen customer engagement.
  • Lead innovation efforts by incubating new interaction patterns, digital capabilities, and service models that differentiate Thrivent in the marketplace—particularly through signature programs like Money Canvas.
  • Models Thrivent’s leadership competencies – Model the Way, Rally the Team, and Deliver Outcomes.
  • Supports and/or develops an environment in which Thrivent employees and colleagues are focused on continuous improvement, exceptional employee engagement, and an unwavering commitment to our clients.
  • Shapes and/or supports a culture that represents the Thrivent purpose, promise and values, ensuring that Thrivent’s trust and reputation remain strong with its clients.

Requirements

  • Master’s degree or equivalent work experience in design
  • 10+ years relevant business experience, including in principal designer or similar
  • Understand fundamentals of iterative development, software development process and procedures
  • Expertise in the principles of Agile Product Management, stakeholder management, market and user research, technology management, and process design
  • High level of organization and attention to detail
  • Passion and understanding of new technology and trends
  • Excellent communication, collaboration, and influence skills among all organizational levels; strong facilitation and executive communications skills
  • Has supervisory experience
  • Proven success developing business cases, roadmaps, and enterprise level strategy
  • Strong ability to effectively manage and resolve conflicting priorities
  • Expertise in developing and delivering product strategy, articulated in terms of value and outcomes with relevant and compelling metrics and measurements
  • Adept at financial management to administer budgets across multiple products and ensure the product meets its requirements for return on investment
  • Experience leading large, complex organizational initiatives.
  • Proven experience in leading and influencing cross-functional teams
  • Expertise with foundational product management tools, techniques and principles across discovery, design, build, release, and measure cycle.
  • Proven success in developing and leading product teams in multiple contexts.

Benefits

  • various bonuses (including, for example, annual or long-term incentives)
  • medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • health savings account
  • flexible spending account
  • 401k
  • pension
  • life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance
  • disability insurance
  • supplemental protection insurance
  • 27 days of Paid Time Off each year
  • Sick and Safe Time
  • 10 paid company holidays
  • Volunteer Time Off
  • paid parental leave
  • EAP
  • well-being benefits
  • other employee benefits

Job title

VP, Digital Design

Job type

Experience level

Lead

Salary

$224,486 - $336,729 per year

Degree requirement

Postgraduate Degree

Location requirements

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