Design Director, Visual Systems

OKX•San Jose, CA

About The Position

We're looking for a Design Director of Visual Systems to own the visual language, creative quality, and brand coherence of OKX's product experiences. The core mandate: build and scale the visual infrastructure that ensures brand intent translates into what users actually see in the product. OKX has strong Brand and Product Design teams — and the opportunity now is to bring them closer together through shared visual infrastructure. We need someone who can build that connective layer: shared visual systems, shared language, and a creative infrastructure that ensures brand strategy is embedded into every screen from the start. You'll lead and grow a global team of visual designers, set art direction across product and campaign work, and define the visual systems and frameworks that let us scale quality without scaling headcount linearly.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in visual design, with a portfolio that demonstrates concept-driven work, art direction, and brand-led product design — not just execution. Experience building or contributing to visual systems, design languages, or brand-in-product frameworks is strongly valued.
Proven track record leading and developing a design team — hiring, mentoring, and raising the creative bar across the group.
Deep expertise in art direction with the ability to define and maintain a cohesive visual system across illustration, motion, iconography, and layout — and the systems thinking to make it scalable.
A background that blends agency and in-house product experience — you're equally comfortable in campaign mode and product mode.
Strong understanding of how brand strategy translates into product experiences, and the ability to architect visual systems that are both brand-compliant and technically scalable.
A systems thinker and strategic operator — you think in terms of tiered prioritization, reusable frameworks, tokens, and tradeoffs. You solve problems through infrastructure, not just more people.
AI-native in your design practice — you actively use AI tools in your creative workflow for ideation, visual production, asset generation, or systematic design work. This isn’t about curiosity; it’s about having hands-on experience integrating AI into how you and your team produce work at scale.

Nice To Haves

Experience in crypto, fintech, or other fast-moving, highly regulated industries where trust, clarity, and speed all matter.
Experience leading design across globally distributed teams, particularly in APAC.
Fluency in Mandarin — valuable for working with cross-functional partners and stakeholders in the region.

Responsibilities

Build the visual systems layer. Define and maintain the visual language that governs how OKX looks and feels — spanning illustration, motion, iconography, color, typography, and layout. Architect these as scalable, programmable systems that integrate with the broader Design System and Content System, not as one-off assets.
Bridge brand and product. Build a working model between Visual Systems and the Brand Design organization — one based on co-creation, not handoffs. Translate brand direction from go-to-market campaigns into in-app experiences, so users encounter one coherent visual identity from landing page to core product flow.
Set creative direction. Bring a strong, opinionated point of view on art direction, design rationale, and visual storytelling. Own the creative bar for product and campaign work. Ensure the visual systems you build encode this point of view so quality scales beyond your direct involvement.
Lead and grow the team. Mentor and develop visual designers across experience levels. Raise the standard from tactical asset production to systems-oriented, concept-driven design. Hire well. Create a culture of craft, critique, and creative ambition.
Build reusable creative infrastructure. Design scalable templates, token-driven visual frameworks, and component-level creative guidance that the team can deploy across evergreen campaigns, product launches, and growth experiments — reducing rework and increasing speed without sacrificing quality.