Head Of Design Green Card Jobs
Head of Design roles qualify for green card sponsorship under EB-2 for advanced-degree professionals and EB-3 for skilled candidates with a bachelor's degree. Employers file PERM labor certification with the DOL before sponsoring you permanently. Portfolio strength and degree field alignment both affect how your petition is classified.
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Get Access To All JobsKikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI
At Kikoff, our mission is to provide radically affordable financial tools to help consumers achieve financial security. We're a profitable, high growth FinTech unicorn serving millions of people, many of whom are building credit or navigating life paycheck to paycheck. With innovative technology and AI, we simplify credit building, reduce debt, and expand access to financial opportunities to those who need them the most. Founded in 2019, Kikoff is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by top-tier VC investors and NBA star Stephen Curry.
Why Kikoff
This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact.
About The Role
As Head of Design, you will own the design vision, craft, and execution across the company. You will set the quality bar, rebuild the foundation our product is built on, and be a direct partner to senior leadership on the decisions that shape what Kikoff feels like to use. This is not a hands-off role. You will be close to the pixels, close to the product, and close to the team. You will give real feedback on real work, and you will be expected to make the call when designers are stuck in ambiguity.
In This Role, You Will
Lead and Grow the Team
- Manage, coach, and develop the product design team - including hands-on mentorship of junior designers, not just feedback in big meetings
- Own hiring and talent strategy: bring in designers who raise the bar, and shape the org structure that lets them do their best work
- Set a high bar for craft, ownership, and user obsession across the team
- Invest in career growth: clear expectations, honest feedback, and a path forward for every designer on the team
- Go beyond filling headcount. Understand each designer's strengths and place them where they'll do their best work and develop in the desired growth areas.
Own the Design Vision and Quality Bar
- Set the overall design vision for Kikoff - what good looks like, how the team works, how designers grow
- Make the call when there is ambiguity: a great design manager can resolve a design decision when the team is stuck, instead of leaving it open
- Give practical, down-to-earth feedback grounded in visual, UX, and craft fundamentals - not just product framing
- Champion the visual front and push the bar on what Kikoff can look and feel like
Build the Design Foundation
- Build the design system from the ground up so it is something the whole company and our coding agents will want to use
- Define and enforce design patterns across the product to reduce design debt and bring consistency
- Drive the standards that make every screen feel like Kikoff, across product, marketing, and brand surfaces
Drive Cross-Functional Impact
- Be a strategic partner to Engineering, Product, and Marketing as a peer - not a downstream resource
- Bring product design and creative closer together: together ship brand-quality product and product-quality brand
- Take company-wide direction on design, brand, and creative - and translate it into work that benefits product, marketing, and creative at the same time
- Bring user insights into the work: run journey workshops, listen to the user's voice, and make sure the team is designing for real people, not just shipping screens
Reinvent How Design Works in the Age of AI
- Define how the Kikoff design team uses AI - with a clear, hands-on plan, not a slide
- Be hands-on yourself: try new tools, prototype, vibe-code small fixes, and bring back what works to the team to help them adopt it
- Help the team figure out the new workflow together - what to use AI for, what to keep human, and how to keep craft from sliding
You Have
- 10+ years of experience in product design, with substantial time in consumer-facing, mobile-first products
- 7+ years leading and managing design teams - you have grown designers into senior ICs and you have built a team that does great work without you in the room
- Demonstrated experience scaling a design team through a growth phase: you have hired strong designers and you know how to grow a team without losing the craft
- Deep design sense across visual, interaction, and UX - you can engage at the pixel level when it matters and you can give feedback that makes the work better
- A track record of building and rebuilding design systems that the team actually adopts and that hold up as the product grows
- A track record of partnering with product and engineering as a peer, and shipping work that moved the business
- Hands-on fluency with modern AI tooling for design - you have used it, formed real opinions, and have a clear point of view on how it changes the team
- The ability to make your team better every day: through clarity, honest feedback, and trust with strong practitioners
- A sharp eye for brand integrity. You ensure our brand values are deeply woven into the product’s DNA. You can align cross-functional stakeholders on a unified brand vision and ensure that every pixel of the UI speaks our specific visual language.
- Compassion. You care about the people on your team, you listen to ICs, and you pay attention to what designers are saying so the work - and the team - can get better
Nice to Have
- Experience in fintech, consumer credit, or other regulated consumer products
- Experience leading both product design and brand or creative functions, or bringing those teams closer together
- Experience building or scaling a design system that supports both native mobile and marketing surfaces
What We're Like
Scrappy. We move fast and build what we need, not what sounds impressive. We don't cut corners when they matter, and we don't over-engineer when they don't.
Risk-oriented. We make tradeoffs deliberately. A mature team knows the difference between a bet worth taking and one that isn't.
User-obsessed. We talk to users, watch them use the product, and believe that understanding what they actually feel is the only way to design for them. You will be surrounded by people who think this way.
Humble. We know this journey has required timing, circumstance, and the right people showing up. We are grateful, and we don't take it for granted.
Base Range
$260,000 - $374,000 USD
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. Please reference the following for more information.
Kikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI
At Kikoff, our mission is to provide radically affordable financial tools to help consumers achieve financial security. We're a profitable, high growth FinTech unicorn serving millions of people, many of whom are building credit or navigating life paycheck to paycheck. With innovative technology and AI, we simplify credit building, reduce debt, and expand access to financial opportunities to those who need them the most. Founded in 2019, Kikoff is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by top-tier VC investors and NBA star Stephen Curry.
Why Kikoff
This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact.
About The Role
As Head of Design, you will own the design vision, craft, and execution across the company. You will set the quality bar, rebuild the foundation our product is built on, and be a direct partner to senior leadership on the decisions that shape what Kikoff feels like to use. This is not a hands-off role. You will be close to the pixels, close to the product, and close to the team. You will give real feedback on real work, and you will be expected to make the call when designers are stuck in ambiguity.
In This Role, You Will
Lead and Grow the Team
- Manage, coach, and develop the product design team - including hands-on mentorship of junior designers, not just feedback in big meetings
- Own hiring and talent strategy: bring in designers who raise the bar, and shape the org structure that lets them do their best work
- Set a high bar for craft, ownership, and user obsession across the team
- Invest in career growth: clear expectations, honest feedback, and a path forward for every designer on the team
- Go beyond filling headcount. Understand each designer's strengths and place them where they'll do their best work and develop in the desired growth areas.
Own the Design Vision and Quality Bar
- Set the overall design vision for Kikoff - what good looks like, how the team works, how designers grow
- Make the call when there is ambiguity: a great design manager can resolve a design decision when the team is stuck, instead of leaving it open
- Give practical, down-to-earth feedback grounded in visual, UX, and craft fundamentals - not just product framing
- Champion the visual front and push the bar on what Kikoff can look and feel like
Build the Design Foundation
- Build the design system from the ground up so it is something the whole company and our coding agents will want to use
- Define and enforce design patterns across the product to reduce design debt and bring consistency
- Drive the standards that make every screen feel like Kikoff, across product, marketing, and brand surfaces
Drive Cross-Functional Impact
- Be a strategic partner to Engineering, Product, and Marketing as a peer - not a downstream resource
- Bring product design and creative closer together: together ship brand-quality product and product-quality brand
- Take company-wide direction on design, brand, and creative - and translate it into work that benefits product, marketing, and creative at the same time
- Bring user insights into the work: run journey workshops, listen to the user's voice, and make sure the team is designing for real people, not just shipping screens
Reinvent How Design Works in the Age of AI
- Define how the Kikoff design team uses AI - with a clear, hands-on plan, not a slide
- Be hands-on yourself: try new tools, prototype, vibe-code small fixes, and bring back what works to the team to help them adopt it
- Help the team figure out the new workflow together - what to use AI for, what to keep human, and how to keep craft from sliding
You Have
- 10+ years of experience in product design, with substantial time in consumer-facing, mobile-first products
- 7+ years leading and managing design teams - you have grown designers into senior ICs and you have built a team that does great work without you in the room
- Demonstrated experience scaling a design team through a growth phase: you have hired strong designers and you know how to grow a team without losing the craft
- Deep design sense across visual, interaction, and UX - you can engage at the pixel level when it matters and you can give feedback that makes the work better
- A track record of building and rebuilding design systems that the team actually adopts and that hold up as the product grows
- A track record of partnering with product and engineering as a peer, and shipping work that moved the business
- Hands-on fluency with modern AI tooling for design - you have used it, formed real opinions, and have a clear point of view on how it changes the team
- The ability to make your team better every day: through clarity, honest feedback, and trust with strong practitioners
- A sharp eye for brand integrity. You ensure our brand values are deeply woven into the product’s DNA. You can align cross-functional stakeholders on a unified brand vision and ensure that every pixel of the UI speaks our specific visual language.
- Compassion. You care about the people on your team, you listen to ICs, and you pay attention to what designers are saying so the work - and the team - can get better
Nice to Have
- Experience in fintech, consumer credit, or other regulated consumer products
- Experience leading both product design and brand or creative functions, or bringing those teams closer together
- Experience building or scaling a design system that supports both native mobile and marketing surfaces
What We're Like
Scrappy. We move fast and build what we need, not what sounds impressive. We don't cut corners when they matter, and we don't over-engineer when they don't.
Risk-oriented. We make tradeoffs deliberately. A mature team knows the difference between a bet worth taking and one that isn't.
User-obsessed. We talk to users, watch them use the product, and believe that understanding what they actually feel is the only way to design for them. You will be surrounded by people who think this way.
Humble. We know this journey has required timing, circumstance, and the right people showing up. We are grateful, and we don't take it for granted.
Base Range
$260,000 - $374,000 USD
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. Please reference the following for more information.
See all 16+ Head Of Design jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Green Card Sponsorship in Head Of Design
Align your portfolio to PERM job requirements
PERM requires your employer to define the role's minimum requirements before filing. Make sure your portfolio and credentials match those stated minimums exactly, because DOL audits flag discrepancies between advertised requirements and the sponsored worker's actual background.
Verify your degree field supports EB-2 eligibility
EB-2 requires an advanced degree directly related to the position. A Head of Design role typically maps to graphic design, visual communication, or human-computer interaction. If your degree is in an adjacent field, gather employer letters documenting how it meets the specialty requirement.
Target employers with active PERM filing history
Not every company that hires designers sponsors green cards. Use Migrate Mate to filter Head of Design openings by employers who have filed PERM applications, so you're applying where sponsorship is already established rather than negotiating it from scratch.
Ask about priority date strategy during offer negotiations
EB-3 has no annual cap concerns for many nationalities, but priority dates for EB-2 from India and China move slowly. Confirm before accepting an offer whether your employer will file under EB-2, EB-3, or both to protect your place in the queue.
Prepare a comprehensive credential package before PERM begins
Gather transcripts, degree equivalency evaluations for foreign credentials, and a detailed employment history covering all prior design roles. USCIS and DOL both review this documentation during the I-140 stage, and gaps can trigger a Request for Evidence.
Use O*NET to confirm specialty occupation classification
The O*NET occupation profile for art directors and design managers specifies the education and skill requirements DOL uses when evaluating PERM applications. Cross-referencing your job description against O*NET helps your employer write a petition that withstands audit.
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Find Head Of Design JobsHead Of Design Green Card Sponsorship: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Head of Design role qualify for EB-2 or EB-3 green card sponsorship?
It can qualify for either, depending on how your employer structures the job requirements. EB-2 applies when the position requires a master's degree or its equivalent in a directly related field such as design or visual communication. EB-3 covers roles requiring at least a bachelor's degree. Some employers file both petitions simultaneously to hedge against priority date movement.
How does PERM green card sponsorship differ from H-1B for a Head of Design role?
H-1B grants temporary status with a six-year maximum and an annual lottery. PERM-based sponsorship leads to lawful permanent residency with no cap concerns at the EB-3 level for most nationalities. The tradeoff is time: PERM labor certification alone takes six months to over a year, followed by I-140 adjudication and adjustment of status, making the total timeline significantly longer than an H-1B approval.
What documents should I prepare before my employer starts the PERM process?
You'll need official transcripts, a credential evaluation if your degree is from outside the U.S., and a detailed record of every design or creative leadership role you've held. If you're claiming equivalent experience in place of a degree, gather signed employer letters that specifically quantify your years of specialized work and the skills applied.
How can I find Head of Design jobs where the employer already sponsors green cards?
Search for roles using Migrate Mate, which filters job listings by employers with verified PERM filing history. This removes the uncertainty of applying to companies that haven't sponsored before, and lets you focus your outreach on design teams where the sponsorship conversation is already familiar to HR and legal counsel.
Can my employer sponsor me for a green card if I'm currently on H-1B as a designer?
Yes. Your employer can file a PERM application while you remain on H-1B status. Under AC21 portability rules, once your I-140 is approved and your priority date is current or your case has been pending for 180 days, you can change roles or employers without losing your place in the green card queue, provided the new position is in the same or similar occupational category.
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