Lead Thumbnail Designer

A Impact Media; A distancia; MXN 754,000 - 1,294,000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

A leading media company is seeking a Lead Thumbnail Designer to build and lead a team of designers focused on creating impactful YouTube thumbnails. This role involves managing, mentoring, and ensuring high design quality for various clients. The ideal candidate should have extensive design experience and be proficient in tools like Photoshop and Illustrator. With a competitive salary range and a fully remote setup, this position offers great opportunities for professional growth and team development.

Servicios

Flexible time off

Professional development budget

Potential health insurance reimbursement

Monthly wellness allowance

Home-office stipend

Formación

• 6+ years of professional design experience with 2+ years managing creative teams.
• Proven track record leading, developing, and scaling design teams.
• Experience creating high-performing YouTube thumbnails with proven CTR results.
• Expert-level proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Figma.

Responsabilidades

• Manage and mentor a team of thumbnail designers to drive quality and performance.
• Design high-impact thumbnails for VIP clients.
• Collaborate with management on client strategy and creative direction.
• Maintain a high first-approval rate for designs.

Conocimientos

Leadership

Design Strategy

Communication

Photoshop

Illustrator

Figma

Data-driven Design

A/B Testing

Descripción del empleo

Lead Thumbnail Designer | Remote

As the Lead Thumbnail Designer at Knwn Local, you will build and develop a team of 5‑10+ thumbnail designers who create scroll‑stopping visuals that drive channel growth for America’s top real‑estate leaders.

This is a player‑coach leadership role where you’ll spend a portion of your time managing, mentoring, and building systems, and the rest hands‑on designing complex projects. You’ll own design quality standards, team development, and creative operations across the agency, partnering closely with Pod Managers, Creative Director, and leadership on strategic initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development: Directly manage 5‑8 thumbnail designers; conduct weekly 1‑on‑1s focused on skill development and performance; lead bi‑weekly team design reviews with constructive feedback and best practice sharing; build comprehensive onboarding programs and training materials for new hires; create career development pathways with clear promotion criteria; conduct performance reviews and manage accountability through the Clarify Instrument Coach‑Decide framework; handle hiring (writing JDs, screening portfolios, conducting interviews, making offers); build long‑term relationships with designers through proactive retention and engagement strategies; conduct skip‑level meetings with junior designers to assess team health.
• Creative Excellence & Standards: Design high‑impact thumbnails per month for VIP clients and complex projects; own and evolve agency‑wide creative quality standards, brand guidelines, and style guides; establish QA processes that maintain 90%+ first‑approval rate across all designers; lead A/B testing strategy and performance analysis across the entire client portfolio; serve as final creative approval for all thumbnails before client delivery; drive creative innovation through monthly experimentation initiatives and "Good Flops"; create and maintain design team's template library and asset management systems.
• Strategic Collaboration & Systems: Partner with Pod Managers on client strategy and creative direction for key accounts; present creative strategy and performance insights in monthly client strategy calls; collaborate with executive leadership on agency‑wide creative vision and initiatives; build scalable workflows, capacity planning, and resource allocation systems; create performance dashboards tracking team metrics (CTR, approval rates, turnaround times); document best practices, SOPs, and knowledge base for the design function; contribute to quarterly planning, annual strategy summits, and company OKRs.
• Results & Impact: Maintain 90%+ first‑approval rate across all designers; achieve designer retention >85% annually; bring new designers to 80% capacity within days through training systems; increase team capacity utilization without burnout; ensure 100% on‑time delivery; maintain zero client escalations due to design quality issues; achieve agency‑wide thumbnail CTR averages of 5‑10% and 95%+ on‑time delivery.

Requirements

• Leadership & Design Experience: 6+ years of professional design experience with 2+ years managing creative teams; proven track record leading, developing, and scaling design teams of 5+ people; minimum 3+ years creating high‑performing YouTube thumbnails with proven CTR results; experience hiring designers, conducting performance reviews, and managing accountability; portfolio showcasing thumbnails that contributed to channel growth (include CTR data).
• Technical & Strategic Skills: Expert‑level proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Figma (portfolio required); deep understanding of YouTube algorithms, CTR optimization, and viewer psychology; data‑driven approach with ability to interpret analytics and translate into design strategy; experience with A/B testing methodologies, performance analysis, and optimization; strong presentation skills for client‑facing strategy calls and executive meetings; understanding of creative team economics (capacity planning, resourcing, budgeting).
• Communication & Cultural Leadership: Exceptional written and verbal communication for feedback, presentations, and documentation; demonstrated ability to give feedback that accelerates growth and elevates work quality; extreme ownership—takes full accountability for team results; proactive curiosity—anticipates problems and asks better questions; mission focus—obsesses about client success and team development over personal recognition.

Compensation & Growth

Salary range: $42,000 – $72,000 USD per year, depending on experience and team size managed. Fully remote with flexible time off and company‑wide holiday breaks. Professional development budget for courses, plugins, and creative tools. Potential health insurance reimbursement after a 30‑day trial period (options include Medical, Dental, Vision). Potential for monthly wellness allowance and home‑office stipend. Leadership development program and access to industry‑leading tools, plugins, and AI‑assisted editing software. Clear career progression with transparent promotion criteria.

About Knwn Local

Knwn Local helps America’s top real‑estate leaders (ranked by the Wall Street Journal Real Trends) attract more clients and grow their brands through strategic YouTube presence. Our clients manage $30M–$300M+ in real‑estate teams and brokerages. We’re scaling from 55+ to 200+ channels with the mission of helping agents dominate their local markets through long‑form video content that builds trust and authority.

Core Values: Extreme Ownership, Beyond Excellence, Proactive Curiosity, Mission Focus.

Location

100% Remote.

Apply

If you’re ready to build a world‑class design team and multiply your creative impact 10x by developing others, please submit your application through the platform. Pay $42k – $72k+ USD per year.