Senior Brand Designer

Over 9,000 companies — from scrappy startups to global brands — use our platform to send billions of emails, push notifications, in-app messages, and SMS every day. Customer.io powers automated communication that people actually want to receive. We help teams send smarter, more relevant messages using real-time behavioral data.

Hi, my name is Justin Howie, Head of Brand Studio at Customer.io, and I'm looking for a Senior Brand Designer to join our small, close-knit creative team.

Brand Studio is the creative engine behind how Customer.io shows up in the world, from product launches and campaigns to the website and live events. We move fast, care deeply about craft, and operate at the intersection of strategy and production.

Our team is moving from a production function to a systems and platform team, powered by AI and self-serve tooling. AI sits at the center of how we work, and you'll shape how Brand Studio and the wider company use it for ideation, production, and self-serve creation. You'll own brand design execution across our biggest moments, and you'll build the templates, components, and AI-assisted workflows that let the rest of the company create on brand without waiting on us. You'll work closely with our Brand Designers, Motion Designer, Web Engineer, Product Designers, and Marketers.

This is a senior role with a runway. We're looking for a highly seasoned designer with strong business acumen, who manages up well and mentors others, and who we expect to grow into a Staff or Art Director role once you've proven yourself here.

If you lead with Design Craft, live at the frontier of AI for brand and creative, and want to build systems that help a whole company look and sound like one brand, this role is for you.

• Design Craft with speed — You hold high standards and know how to hit deadlines.
• Curiosity about what's next — You stay on the leading edge of brand and creative, from new AI tools to new techniques, and you share what you learn.
• AI-native by default — You reach for AI first, test what works on real projects, and teach others how.
• Collaboration over silos — You work closely with designers, developers, and marketers, and the output gets better because of it.
• Bias for action — You'd rather ship something great and iterate than wait for perfect, and you're energized by building.
• Clear communication — You ask the right questions, set clear expectations, and keep stakeholders in the loop without being asked.
• Leadership beyond the work — You mentor the people around you, manage up with confidence, and think like an owner of the business.

• Own brand design execution for product launches, using AI-native workflows to take concepts to launch-ready assets in days
• Design website pages, templates, and components in close collaboration with our Senior Web Engineer
• Develop campaign assets for digital and out-of-home advertising, produced with AI-native workflows so we can test more concepts and ship more variants
• Design branded materials for events and conferences, including signage, stage graphics, and collateral
• Build and maintain brand templates and libraries, including Figma libraries, prompt libraries, and custom tooling that turn our guidelines into on-brand output anyone can use
• Own our AI creative stack: choose the tools, set the standards, and share what you learn with Brand Studio and the wider company
• Enable teams across the org through workshops, playbooks, and guardrails that keep AI-assisted work on brand
• Translate briefs from Product Marketing and Demand Generation into creative concepts, executed end to end
• Partner with Product Design to keep brand and product expression aligned
• Mentor designers on the team, give clear critique, and raise the Design Craft bar across Brand Studio
• Work with Brand Studio leadership and senior stakeholders on priorities, tradeoffs, and the business case for creative investment

• 7+ years of hands-on brand or visual design experience, ideally in-house at a B2B SaaS or tech company, with a record of senior-level ownership
• A portfolio that shows range: brand systems, campaign work, product launch design, web and landing pages, event and out-of-home, and AI-assisted work with a clear account of your process
• Expert proficiency in Figma, including building and maintaining components and libraries within a brand system, and fluency in Adobe Creative Suite
• Strong typography and layout instincts, and a track record of turning complex technical concepts into clear, compelling visuals
• Business acumen: you connect design decisions to company goals, make the case for creative investment, and communicate fluently with executives
• The ability to manage up and lead without authority: setting expectations, surfacing risks early, and driving alignment across Marketing, Product, and Exec
• Mentorship experience: you've coached other designers and raised the craft bar around you
• Deep, hands-on experience with AI image and design tools in your production workflow, plus fluency across the AI creative stack (image generation, LLMs, prompt design, workflow automation) with examples of workflows, templates, or tools you've built that help others create on brand

We believe in transparency. Starting salary for this role is $128k–$160k USD (or equivalent in local currency) depending on experience and subject to market rate adjustment.

We know our people are what make us great, and we’re committed to taking great care of them. Our inclusive benefits package supports your well-being and growth, including 100% coverage of medical, dental, vision, mental health, and supplemental insurance premiums for you and your family. We also offer 16 weeks paid parental leave, unlimited PTO, stipends for remote work and wellness, a professional development budget, and more.

See full benefits here →

No gotchas, no trick questions - just a clear, human process designed to help both of us make an informed decision.

1. 30-minute Zoom with a Recruiter
2. 45-minute Zoom with the Head of Brand Studio
3. 30-minute Zoom with a cross-functional leader
4. 45-minute Zoom portfolio review and design exercise with Brand Studio

All final candidates will be asked to complete a background check and employment verifications as part of our pre-employment process.

Customer.io recognizes the stifling impact of systemic injustice on diverse communities. We commit to using our influence to increase inclusion and equity within the tech industry. We strive to build an inclusive team culture, implement bias-free hiring practices, and develop community partnerships to expand our global impact.

Zoom is the only video conference platform that we use, virtual interviews will be conducted using the video capability (i.e., not via the chat), and offers will be extended in writing on official Customer.io letterhead. Please be vigilant in all of your job search activity, and if you have any questions please contact [email protected].

Check out our careers page for more information about why you should come work with us! We believe in empathy, transparency, responsibility, and, yes, a little awkwardness. If you’re excited by what you read — apply now.