Design Manager

Wise-Digital-Partners-1; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision after 30 days

401(k) match

Training & coaching

Flexible remote schedule

Career advancement

Job summary

WISE Digital Partners is seeking a Design Manager who leads by designing, owning the design on high-value website builds, and setting the creative bar for the team. You will balance hands-on design (about 60%) with coaching, process improvement, and offshore team leadership, shaping a design-to-development pipeline that blends human expertise with AI-assisted workflows.

You will guide the team towards consistent, high-quality output while ensuring projects stay on schedule and align with client

Qualifications

• At least 3 years of UI/UX and web design experience, agency background preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in Figma, design systems, and UI kits.
• Strong understanding of responsive web practices.
• Portfolio of high-converting websites with strong visuals.
• Ability to articulate design decisions and give constructive feedback.
• Experience guiding other design resources.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end design on select website builds.
• Set the visual standard by producing designs, not just describing them.
• Lead and mentor the offshore design team.
• Review work and provide clear feedback for improvements.
• Collaborate with writers, SEOs, developers, PMs, and account managers.

Skills

UI/UX design

Figma

Design systems

Responsive design

Portfolio that converts

Tools

Figma

Job description

Are you a strong web designer who wants your eye to shape more than your own work?

We are looking for a Design Manager who leads by designing. You will own the design on some of our highest-value website builds, and you will set and hold the creative bar for everything else our design team produces.

WHO WE ARE

WISE Digital Partners is a fully remote digital marketing agency named to the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies three years running (2024-2026). We provide digital marketing strategy, technology, and services for growth-ready businesses across professional services (legal, accounting, and adjacent industries) and home services (plumbing, HVAC, and adjacent trades). We work with over 100 clients and are on a path to double revenue over the next two years.

We launched in 2019, are based in San Diego, and have been fully remote since day one. Our leadership team is made up of agency veterans, many of whom have worked together across multiple agencies.

We've built proprietary technology that powers performance across our client sites. And we're rebuilding how websites get made: an evolving design-to-development pipeline paired with AI-assisted workflows that we are actively developing rather than just talking about. You would be joining that work in progress as we blend the best in human expertise with AI innovation.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Design. Own end-to-end design on select website builds, from homepage direction through full-site execution. You will set the visual standard by producing it, not by describing it.
• Set the bar. Review and approve design work before it reaches clients. Give clear, specific feedback that improves the work and teaches the designer something. Serve as the escalation point when a design problem gets stuck.
• Lead the team. Manage our offshore design team in partnership with our Design Lead. Understand each designer’s strengths, close the gaps, and raise the ceiling on what the team can produce without you in the room.
• Push the process. Help us get better at combining AI-assisted production with real human design judgment. Strengthen our creative briefs, our quality checks, and our market and industry references. Own final approval on design process changes.
• Collaborate. Partner with copywriters, SEO and paid media specialists, developers, project managers, and account managers to deliver strong work on scope and on schedule.

THE SHAPE OF THE ROLE

This role is roughly 60% hands-on design and 40% review, coaching, and process work. That balance will move as the team's standard rises and less of your time goes to correction, but design work will never drop below half of this seat. If you want to stop designing and manage full time, this is not the right role.

You will lead our four-person offshore design team. You will start with two direct reports, including our Design Lead, and take on the full team as you ramp. Our Design Lead runs day-to-day coordination: work assignment across active builds, the team's weekly rhythm, and first-line review. You own the creative standard, each designer's development, and final approval on design work before it reaches a client.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• At least 3 years of UI, UX, and web design experience, with agency experience strongly preferred
• Advanced proficiency in Figma, including work with design systems and UI kits
• A deep understanding of responsive web practices
• A portfolio of websites that look genuinely good and are built to convert. We do not chase the flashiest work on the internet, and neither do we sacrifice looks in the name of performance
• Fluency with the visual conventions of the industries we serve. Work samples in professional services or home services are strongly preferred
• The ability to articulate why a design decision is the right one, and to give constructive feedback that makes someone else’s work better
• Comfort receiving and synthesizing feedback from non-designers, including clients
• The ability to juggle multiple brands and projects, and to prescribe the right design solution within real constraints of time, budget, and technology
• Experience guiding other design resources, whether staff, freelance, or white label

NICE TO HAVE

• Hands-on exploration of AI tools in a design or creative workflow, and an eagerness to lead continued explorations with our team
• Exposure to brand identity work, though this role is focused on web
• Comfort communicating asynchronously, including walking through design work on video

WHAT WE OFFER YOU

Partnerships work both ways. Here is what you would get in return.

• Eligibility for medical, dental, and vision benefits after 30 days of employment, subject to plan terms
• 401(k) with company matching, subject to plan terms
• Access to training and coaching to help you thrive
• The opportunity to work with a world-class digital marketing team
• A flexible remote schedule outside of required meetings and core collaboration hours
• Opportunities for advancement and expanded responsibilities
• The ability to help great businesses across a wide range of industries grow