Thumbnail Designer

PlotPointe; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

PlotPointe is seeking a Lead Thumbnail Designer to own the visual front door of every long-form video published on YouTube. This senior, leadership role combines elite individual output with building and guiding a team that scales with our publishing volume.

You will set visual standards, run A/B tests, analyze YouTube Studio data, and hire a thumbnail team that matches your bar. The role demands strong collaboration with writers, editors, and channel leads to align thumbnails with story hooks

Qualifications

• 4+ years designing thumbnails for storytelling channels at scale.
• Demonstrated personal track record of 8 to 10%+ CTR on channels delivering 1M+ views per video.
• Steady-state experience producing 20+ thumbnails per week.
• Fluency with YouTube Studio analytics, A/B testing methodology, and CTR benchmarking by niche.
• Experience leading or training designers, with the appetite to build a team further.
• Strong communication skills and confidence working across editorial, production, and channel leadership.
• Experience using AI tools.

Responsibilities

• Drive a sustained 9%+ CTR across the long-form publishing slate of roughly 48 videos a month.
• Designing thumbnails personally at lead-level quality while building the systems that allow a team to match your bar.
• Recruiting, training, and managing a thumbnail team that grows alongside our channel portfolio.
• Setting visual standards across typography, facial expression direction, contrast logic, composition, and asset prep workflows.
• Running A/B testing as a default behavior. Designing the test, reading the result, and iterating fast.
• Turning impression, CTR, and average view duration data into design decisions.
• Collaborating with writers, editors, and channel leads to align thumbnails with story hooks and audience intent.
• Owning quality control across every thumbnail that ships under PlotPointe channels.
• Building a sourcing pipeline of strong designers you can grow the team with.

Skills

YouTube thumbnail design

A/B testing methodology

YouTube Studio analytics

Visual storytelling and hook design

Team leadership and mentorship

High-volume creative production

AI tools

Tools

Adobe Photoshop

Job description

The Role

We are hiring a Lead Thumbnail Designer to own the visual front door of every long-form video PlotPointe publishes on YouTube. This is a senior, leadership-level role for a designer who can sustain elite individual output while building and leading a team that scales with our publishing volume. PlotPointe ships around 48 long-form YouTube videos a month, and the bar for every one is a 9% click-through rate. You will design at that bar, run A/B tests as a default operating rhythm, read YouTube Studio data fluently, and within months hire and lead a thumbnail team built around your standards.

What You'll Be Responsible For

• Driving a sustained 9%+ CTR across the long-form publishing slate of roughly 48 videos a month.

• Designing thumbnails personally at lead-level quality while building the systems that allow a team to match your bar.

• Recruiting, training, and managing a thumbnail team that grows alongside our channel portfolio.

• Setting visual standards across typography, facial expression direction, contrast logic, composition, and asset prep workflows.

• Running A/B testing as a default behavior. Designing the test, reading the result, and iterating fast.

• Turning impression, CTR, and average view duration data into design decisions.

• Collaborating with writers, editors, and channel leads to align thumbnails with story hooks and audience intent.

• Owning quality control across every thumbnail that ships under PlotPointe channels.

• Building a sourcing pipeline of strong designers you can grow the team with.

What We're Looking For

• 4+ years designing thumbnails for storytelling channels at scale.

• Demonstrated personal track record of 8 to 10%+ CTR on channels delivering 1M+ views per video, supported by analytics you can speak to.

• Steady-state experience producing 20+ thumbnails per week.

• Fluency with YouTube Studio analytics, A/B testing methodology, and CTR benchmarking by niche.

• Experience leading or training designers, with the appetite to build a team further.

• Strong communication skills and confidence working across editorial, production, and channel leadership.

• Experience using AI tools

What You Bring

Candidates should bring a portfolio of high-CTR work backed by performance data, examples of design decisions defended with analytics, and the operational maturity to lead a team without losing the individual bar. We care about how you communicate, how you give feedback to junior designers, and how you carry yourself inside a high-volume publishing schedule where decisions move daily.

Skills

• YouTube thumbnail design

• A/B testing methodology

• YouTube Studio analytics

• Adobe Photoshop and Creative Suite

• Visual storytelling and hook design

• Team leadership and mentorship

• High-volume creative production