Orca is looking for an experienced Head of Design to shape the future of decentralized finance (DeFi). In this role, you’ll lead design for cutting-edge products in the fast-evolving world of DeFi, driving innovation while delivering seamless, user-friendly experiences. We’re seeking candidates who have experienced that pivotal “light bulb moment” — where they’ve realized the transformative potential of DeFi, whether you’re just beginning your journey or already deeply immersed in the space.

As the design function at Orca grows, this role offers the opportunity to take on larger leadership responsibilities, potentially shaping the design team’s strategic direction and leading cross-functional initiatives. We’re looking for someone who’s eager to get deeply embedded with our team and culture to help scale, optimize design processes, and play a key role in Orca’s success.

What You'll Do

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of designers and UX researchers, fostering a collaborative and creative environment.
• Define and drive the end-to-end product design process, ensuring all deliverables are intuitive, user-centered, and aligned with business goals.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, and Marketing teams to translate complex requirements into elegant design solutions.
• Manage design projects by balancing priorities, coordinating across teams, and ensuring deliverables are met on time.
• Work closely with marketing and product teams to ensure branding is consistent across product experiences and marketing materials.
• Champion user-centric design by leveraging research insights and influencing the development of analytics and metrics to measure design impact on user engagement and product success.
• Stay ahead of industry trends in DeFi and blockchain design, applying cutting-edge practices to continuously elevate our products.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Fine Arts, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience leading and mentoring a design team, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• 6+ years of UX/product design experience, with a proven track record of designing and shipping impactful products.
• A passion for DeFi and crypto: You’ve had the “light bulb moment” where you’ve realized the transformative potential of DeFi — whether you’re just starting to explore the space or have been deeply involved for years.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to inspire creativity and align cross-functional teams.
• Experience managing design projects by coordinating across teams and managing timelines to ensure deliverables are met.
• Expertise in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite.

What Orca offers

• Salary: 140,000 - 180,000 USDC (Range for US employees)
• Token allocation: 75,000 - 110,000 ORCA over 4 years (Range for US employees)
• Opportunity to learn and develop Solana DeFi.
• Flexible work schedule.
• Home office stipend.
• Wellness stipend.
• Option to work remotely or from Orca’s office in New York City.
• Paid subscriptions to GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or other tools that make you more productive.

Our stack

• Rust, PostgreSQL, Timescale
• Node.js, Typescript
• Solana's Geyser plugin, Yellowstone gRPC
• Solana smart contracts written in Rust using Anchor
• AWS ECS and docker to streamline deployments to staging, canary, and production
• GitHub, Linear, Notion, Slack

About: https://orca.so/about

Twitter: https://x.com/orca_so

Discord: https://discord.orca.so

Podcast: https://orcapod.orca.so

Orca is an equal opportunity employer.