Graphic Design Lead

DriveWealth•Chicago, IL

12d•$120,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As the Graphic Design Lead, you will build DriveWealth’s creative production engine from the ground up. This is a critical Design Operations role focused on closing the gap between our brand vision and the high-volume needs of our Sales and Relationship Management teams. You won’t just be designing assets; you will be architecting the infrastructure—templates, intake workflows, and vendor partnerships—that allows our revenue teams to move with speed and consistency. Operating across web, print, events, and video, you will transform ad hoc requests into a repeatable, scalable pipeline. This is a hands-on position for someone who has successfully built creative operations in fast-paced environments and is ready to establish the blueprint for DriveWealth’s internal design group. Success in your first year will be measured by business impact: reducing asset turnaround times to accelerate sales cycles and launching a self-service library that empowers teams to lead with high-fidelity materials. You will lead our first major in-house partner summits while establishing the foundation for a future creative team under your guidance.

Requirements

5+ years of graphic design experience, including time spent building or scaling a creative/design-ops function (templates, intake workflows, approval processes) rather than only executing requests inside one.
Proven track record of owning creative execution end to end in fast-paced environments, from concept through production and delivery.
Experience managing outside vendors, freelancers, or print/production partners, including budget accountability for that spend.
Ability to prioritize effectively across competing stakeholders, focusing on critical business needs over the loudest request.
Client-oriented mindset with an understanding of downstream partner impact.
Strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management, including with Sales and Relationship Management leadership.
Comfort operating in a regulated and compliance-sensitive environment, with the judgment to know everything requires compliance approval before it ships.
Some experience mentoring, reviewing, or managing other designers, or a clear readiness to start; this role is expected to grow into managing a small team.
Transparent, accountable, and responsive communication style.
Commitment to continuous improvement and a "we > I" philosophy.
Unwavering integrity, sound judgment, and respect for operational excellence.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in Financial Services or Fintech.

Responsibilities

Partner across the marketing team to codify brand standards, first within marketing, then across the company.
Map design demand across Sales, Relationship Management, Events, and Marketing: what's being asked for, how often, and where the bottlenecks are today.
Build the intake process: a single way to submit requests, a clear brief format, and a trackable path from request to approval to delivery.
Deliver the requests yourself while the process comes together. This is a hands-on individual-contributor role, not management only.
Build the first version of a self-serve asset library (templates for decks, one-pagers, social) so routine requests don't have to sit in your queue.
Set up a brand review checkpoint so anything partner- or client-facing gets a consistent check before it ships.
Lead creative production for DriveWealth's in-person events, from signage and presentation templates to on-site printed materials.
Track turnaround time and request volume so you can show leadership where the function stands and build the case for the next hire.
Define how work gets delegated and reviewed once you're not the only designer, so growing the team doesn't just scale the bottleneck.