Skip Navigation

Principal Associate, Senior Product Designer

Job ID R186405 Location Toronto, Ontario
161 Bay Street (93021), Canada, Toronto,Toronto, Ontario,

Principal Associate, Senior Product Designer

At Capital One, we don’t just hire people - we invest in them. We’ve worked hard to create and foster a culture that values people, collaboration, integrity, and respect for one another. We pride ourselves in being a place of opportunity that empowers our team of disruptors, dreamers, and doers. And we’re not your typical bank; we’re on a mission to change banking for good by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to the work we do. Antiquated legacy platforms have no place here; we’re building a leading information-based technology company where you’ll be partnering with other talented people across the organization on complex projects, contributing to the value we deliver every day. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit, and we succeed only when they do.

Our Experience Design (XD) Team is at the forefront of enriching our customers’ digital experiences and represent the voice of our customers. We are seeking an exceptional Senior Product Designer, Principal Associate to join our XD team, reporting directly into our Manager of Product Design. At Capital One, we champion a thriving environment of collaboration, authenticity and healthy critique, in which we honour diversity of thought, create a culture of belonging, and elevate one another. 

About you

  • You have a strong understanding of user-centred design processes and can easily and effectively balance customer needs with business goals 

  • You have strong leadership skills and can influence in ambiguous situations while making decisions

  • You have experience building teams through hiring, mentoring, and retaining high-performing designers

  • Communication and storytelling comes easily to you, and your interpersonal, presentation, and analytical skills allow you to effectively communicate complex ideas and concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels within the organization

  • You’re an innovator who embraces an environment where you can experiment, learn, and change banking for good

  • You think user-first, have a bold design perspective, have an eye for responsive, accessible design, and are rarely satisfied with the first iteration

  • You have a mastery in your craft with a passion to extend your knowledge of product design principles, modern design tools, emerging technologies, Agile development, accessibility, and industry practices and trends 

  • You value collaboration

  • You pay attention to detail

  • You believe it’s not enough to design for user behaviour - you want to take it one step further and make a true impact on our customers

  • You possess a thoughtful, inclusive, and empathetic approach to design that meets every customer where they are

  • You have strong knowledge of mobile design

  • You have a track record designing for and contributing to design systems

  • You have experience working closely with Product and Engineering in an agile, iterative, data-informed product development environment

  • You have a portfolio of work that demonstrates your experience, expertise, and process of creating human-centred design solutions with measurable results

  • You have experience building teams through hiring, growing, and retaining high-performing designers

  • You can think laterally and adapt design methodologies to fit unique project needs.

  • You are regularly sought out by and seen as an expert in product design strategy skills by partner teams.

Your key responsibilities

Strategy & planning 

  • Collaborate and communicate closely with key stakeholders and leaders in design, product management, engineering, and marketing to execute best-in-class UX and product strategies, justify decisions, provide escalation management, and drive our OKRs.

  • Work cross-functionally with our UX research, marketing, product and tech teams to prioritize, plan, and deliver on business initiatives

  • Be a strong advocate for our customers through human-centred design methods

  • Brainstorm and help to execute design solutions that bring our products and user experience to another level

  • Define standards and best practices for how mobile design is done 

  • Be a key contributor to our Design System - develop and maintain detailed UI specifications

  • Present and communicate design decisions to various stakeholders across the business

  • Actively monitor and analyze design and fintech trends to inform our roadmap and future state

  • Influence and educate on the importance of design to product teams new to design methods in order to help them integrate UCD into their product cycle.

  • Fully autonomous in leading discovery work with minimal guidance/support

Lead & develop teams

  • Build and manage your own team of Product Designers through mentoring, coaching and elevating skills

  • Provide oversight and guidance for your team from discovery through to launch - leveraging crits, collaboration, and other HCD methodologies and practices

  • Balance hands-on practice with stepping back to let your team grow and develop their skills 

  • Work to remove any potential roadblocks that may prevent your team from working effectively, and seek out opportunities to improve efficiency models

  • Help to manage the intake process, prioritization, and allocation of resources to ensure designers are on projects and initiatives that complement and stretch their skills, long term goals, and provide growth opportunities

  • Lead the team in evolving the Design System, processes, governance models, and best practices

  • Navigate conflict resolution within your team as well as within projects, teams and partner relationships

Education and experience

Basic requirements:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in HCI/UX, Social Science, Psychology, Research, or other related field, or equivalent experience

  • 4+ years of Product Design experience with consumer and mobile products

  • 1+ year of experience leading/mentoring Product Designers with a proven track record of growing design talent 

  • 3+ years of experience with design thinking and agile methodologies

  • 3+ years of experience in product design and delivering actionable insights to leadership

  • Strong, proven experience designing for mobile apps 

  • Strong working knowledge of Figma and other modern design tools

Preferred requirements:

  • 4+ years of experience working on consumer and mobile products

  • 3+ years of experience working with a variety of business partners and delivering outcomes

We may use your information for automated decision making. We may, for certain purposes, render a decision based exclusively on automated processing of your personal information as a part of the candidate screening process. 

Capital One Canada is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We consider all qualified applicants and will meet the needs of those requiring reasonable accommodations.

If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@capitalone.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com

Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site.

Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).

Who We Are

At Capital One, we’re building a leading information-based technology company. Still founder-led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to banking. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit. We are succeeding because they are succeeding.

Guided by our shared values, we thrive in an environment where collaboration and openness are valued. We believe that innovation is powered by perspective and that teamwork and respect for each other lead to superior results. We elevate each other and obsess about doing the right thing. Our associates serve with humility and a deep respect for their responsibility in helping our customers achieve their goals and realize their dreams. Together, we are on a quest to change banking for good.