Mgr, Design Systems and Operations

Thrivent•Minneapolis, MN

11d

About The Position

As the Manager of Design Systems & Design Operations at Thrivent, you will be the strategic leader responsible for the vision, governance, and long-term health of our design system and how we work as design team. You will set the direction for how design systems enables our products across a range of experiences, establish the standards that define our visual and interaction quality, and build the operational frameworks that enable a high-performing team to execute with consistency and speed. You will support a broad design organization that serves Thrivent's prospects, clients, and financial advisors, ensuring that every digital experience, across every audience, reflects a cohesive and intentional design language. By championing a unified visual system and our design operational practice, and collaborating with Product and Engineering, you will create the foundation that allows product teams to move faster, build more consistently, and deliver experiences that earn trust at every touchpoint.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Interaction Design, UI/UX Design, Visual Design, Web Product Design, or related field
8+ years of design experience; at least 5 years in product design or design systems; at least 3 years in a people management role
Demonstrated experience leading design systems strategy — including governance models, adoption, and alignment across product and engineering teams
Experience building design operations for a team or a practice: process design, tooling strategy, and cross-functional workflow management
Strong understanding of visual design principles with the ability to evaluate quality, set standards, and guide a team's output without being the primary executor
Ability to lead and inspire a team of 4-5, making prioritization and resourcing decisions like a business owner
Excellent communication and influence skills, with experience presenting design strategy to directors and VP-level stakeholders
Familiarity with modern design and systems tooling (e.g., Figma, design tokens, Storybook, or equivalents) and agile product team models

Nice To Haves

Experience leading a design system at enterprise or multi-brand scale
Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and their application within a design system
Strategic design thinking with a track record of contributing to org-level design strategy
Experience in financial services, ideally wealth management

Responsibilities

Set the vision and strategy for the design system.
Define the long-term direction for Thrivent's design system — including its visual language, governance model, and contribution - and align that vision with broader Thrivent product and brand strategy.
Lead Design Operations.
Establish and continuously refine the operational frameworks, processes, and tooling that govern how the design team works - ensuring the team can deliver quality outcomes at scale without unnecessary friction.
Lead and develop design talent.
Manage and grow a team of product designers, design operations experts and design system contributors.
Foster a culture of craft excellence, shared accountability, and continuous improvement.
Own visual, interaction and systems standards.
Set the quality and consistency bar within out Design System.
Document decisions for how to use the elements to scale and push design excellence across a range of products.
Establish decision-making frameworks for when components evolve, how new patterns get introduced, and how the system stays aligned with implementation.
Align design systems investment to business priorities.
Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to ensure design systems work is sequenced to support roadmap needs, reduce friction in delivery, and create long-term leverage across the organization.
Communicate design strategy with confidence.
Represent the design systems practice to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders — articulating the value, tradeoffs, and direction of design investments in a way that builds trust and drives alignment.
Focus the team on highest-impact work.
Make clear prioritization and resource decisions, cutting low-return activities and directing team capacity toward the work with the greatest impact on product quality and delivery efficiency.
Recruit, develop, and sustain high performers.
Build a team with complementary strengths in systems thinking and craft.
Invest in career development, mentorship, and a team environment where people do their best work.