Head of Design, Ello

• We’re looking for an experienced creative leader who thrives at the intersection of imagination and execution
• You’ve shipped beautiful, high-impact products and built teams and AI-enabled systems and processes that made that possible
• You’re excited about working in person in San Francisco
• You’re hands-on when needed, and you see AI as critical leverage for your craft
• Most of all, you care deeply about creating joyful, meaningful experiences for kids
• 7+ years of experience in creative production, preferably across mobile apps, games, or interactive experiences
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team through multiple product cycles, from concept to delivery
• A practiced leader of visual storytelling with a strong portfolio in illustration, animation, and UI
• Comfortable managing and mentoring creative teams while being hands-on when needed
• Experienced in coordinating cross-functional teams, including artists, animators, PMs, engineers, and marketers
• Deeply organized and proactive with excellent project management skills
• Exceptional written and visual communicator with high emotional intelligence and collaborative energy
• Expertise with tools like Figma, Linear, Notion, and Drive, as well as genuine curiosity about and engagement with AI design tools

Desirable

• We’re looking for a Head of Design to lead Ello’s creative vision and scale our design practice across product, marketing, and content
• You’ll shape how our AI teacher looks, feels, and behaves—guiding a growing team and ensuring design excellence at every level
• With engineering velocity moving faster than ever, your role is critical: we need a design culture that not only keeps up with rapid iteration, but actively fuels it
• You’ll help us build a design culture that can match the ambition of Ello’s vision for innovation and growth, raising the bar for product quality, design maturity, and cross-functional collaboration
• This is a high-impact, high-ownership role that blends creative vision, operational excellence, and people leadership
• You will report directly to Ello’s Co-Founder & CTO, Catalin Voss, and collaborate closely with our other Co-Founders, CEO Tom Sayer and CXO Elizabeth Adams
• In this role, you’ll serve as both a creative compass and a strategic leader—helping us imagine, define, and build magical learning experiences for kids around the world
• Company-Wide Creative Direction & Design Culture
• Uphold, institutionalize, and elevate Ello’s creative direction and principles across product and marketing
• Maintain a high-quality visual bar and ensure consistency across illustration, animation, and interface design
• Lead team critiques and feedback loops to foster continuous improvement
• Build and strengthen Ello’s design culture, including training, upskilling, and mentoring team members outside the design team (e.g., engineering and marketing)
• Champion design excellence across the company and help instill design best practices cross-functionally
• Design Leadership across Product and Marketing
• Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering leadership to shape product direction and user experience
• Collaborate closely with Marketing leadership to shape our go-to-market and lifecycle marketing
• Champion a deep understanding of our users—their needs, motivations, and challenges—and ensure every experience we design is intuitive, purposeful, and grounded in real customer insight
• Creative Operations & Production Strategy
• Set the strategic direction for how creative production is structured — including how AI tools are embedded into illustration, animation, and asset workflows — and ensure the pipeline runs smoothly, scales efficiently, and reflects our design standards
• Maintain visibility across creative timelines and flag risks before they become blockers, serving as the connective tissue between design, engineering, product, and marketing
• Provide oversight on briefs, scopes of work, and delivery standards for contract teammates and vendors, ensuring quality and consistency across all production output