Head of Brand Design

Special•New York City, NY

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Special is a new kind of holding company focused on transforming critical industries with AI to maximize the efficiency of American taxpayer dollars. They acquire and operate businesses that form the backbone of the American economy and use their proprietary operating system, SpecialOS, to improve efficiency. Special is backed by prominent investors and has a small, technical, and systems-oriented team where everyone is an individual contributor. The company values a strong work ethic and clear communication. This role will serve as the lead designer for the entire holding company, covering Special's brand surfaces (website, marketing materials, announcements), SpecialOS, and Figure Health (their first vertical). The designer will collaborate directly with founders, engineers, and operators to create user-friendly experiences from complex operational processes. Design is a high priority at Special, and this role offers significant range, allowing the designer to work on diverse projects from clinician workflows to brand systems for new vertical launches.

Requirements

Shipped meaningful brand design work and/or product features on web/mobile
Care deeply about craft, clarity, and user experience
Comfortable working in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where the org and the product are both being built in real time
Interested in real-world industries — healthcare, services, the physical economy — not just consumer software
Embrace new design and engineering workflows, including AI-assisted tooling
Communicate clearly and collaborate well across disciplines, including with non-technical operators

Nice To Haves

Front-end development skills; ability to turn your designs into production
Strong portfolio demonstrating product thinking, execution, and range across product and brand
Experience translating design requirements from non-technical users
Familiarity with modern design and prototyping tools, including AI-native ones
Brand and visual identity work alongside product design
Experience working closely with engineers and founders in early-stage environments
Video editing experience

Responsibilities

Design end-to-end experiences across Special's brand, SpecialOS and Figure Health brand surfaces
Deeply understand the operators who use our OS every day — including time in the field at our vertical companies
Rapidly explore and prototype using both traditional and AI-assisted design tools
Partner closely with engineering to ship polished, production-quality experiences
Build and maintain the design system that scales across the holding company and every vertical we enter
Shape Special's external brand and visual identity as the company grows