VP, Digital Design

Role Overview

• Act as a key member of the Digital Leadership Team, influencing enterprise strategy and advocating for the value of design in shaping differentiated user experiences and business outcomes
• Define and champion a bold, forward-looking vision for design that aligns with Thrivent’s mission and digital transformation objectives, positioning design as a core enterprise capability, integrating behavioral finance principles to inspire trust and financial confidence in clients and advisors.
• Serve as the senior-most design leader responsible for setting enterprise design strategy across all digital touchpoints, including Client Experience (DCX), Advisor Experience (DAX), and Money Canvas; driving business growth, innovation, and advisor/client satisfaction.
• Drive integration of design strategy into Thrivent’s Product Operating Model, ensuring alignment from strategic planning through execution.
• Champion design as a strategic differentiator—positioning Thrivent at the forefront of human-centered, technology-enabled financial services.
• Establish and evolve a robust Design Operations (DesignOps) function that supports process efficiency, talent management, enables consistent delivery, and design systems at scale.
• Serve as a central orchestrator between Product, Technology, Marketing, Compliance, and Data teams to ensure that design is embedded seamlessly into cross-functional workflows.
• Ensure collaboration and consistency across all digital platforms and experiences, fostering alignment through shared principles, tools, and practices.
• Lead the recruitment, development, and retention of top-tier design talent; establish Thrivent as a destination employer for mission-aligned designers.
• Establish clear performance expectations, growth paths, and development opportunities to promote engagement and career mobility.
• Act as the connective tissue between design, research, and product strategy—ensuring insights and voice of customer data directly shape roadmap and delivery priorities.
• Influence and align stakeholders at all levels—from scrum teams to the executive committee—on the value of design and user-centered thinking.
• Define and enforce design standards and principles that drive consistency, accessibility, and excellence across all digital channels and touchpoints.
• Oversee the evolution and adoption of Thrivent’s “Midwest Design System,” ensuring alignment across teams and improving design velocity, quality, and scalability.
• Instill a mindset of experimentation and innovation; promote the use of data, behavioral insights, and research to inform design decisions and demonstrate business impact.
• Partner with internal research and behavioral science teams to ensure Money Canvas and other proprietary experiences remain industry-leading in usability, empathy, and outcomes.
• Establish accountability and performance measurement frameworks to ensure individual and team effectiveness aligns with business outcomes.
• Create scalable governance structures for managing design initiatives, team capacity, prioritization, and delivery across a growing portfolio of work.
• Integrate behavioral insights, data analytics, and financial wellness principles into the design lifecycle to strengthen Thrivent’s value proposition and deepen customer engagement.
• Lead innovation efforts by incubating new interaction patterns, digital capabilities, and service models that differentiate Thrivent in the marketplace—particularly through signature programs like Money Canvas.
• Models Thrivent’s leadership competencies – Model the Way, Rally the Team, and Deliver Outcomes.
• Supports and/or develops an environment in which Thrivent employees and colleagues are focused on continuous improvement, exceptional employee engagement, and an unwavering commitment to our clients.
• Shapes and/or supports a culture that represents the Thrivent purpose, promise and values, ensuring that Thrivent’s trust and reputation remain strong with its clients.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or equivalent work experience in design
• 10+ years relevant business experience, including in principal designer or similar
• Understand fundamentals of iterative development, software development process and procedures
• Expertise in the principles of Agile Product Management, stakeholder management, market and user research, technology management, and process design
• High level of organization and attention to detail
• Passion and understanding of new technology and trends
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and influence skills among all organizational levels; strong facilitation and executive communications skills
• Has supervisory experience
• Proven success developing business cases, roadmaps, and enterprise level strategy
• Strong ability to effectively manage and resolve conflicting priorities
• Expertise in developing and delivering product strategy, articulated in terms of value and outcomes with relevant and compelling metrics and measurements
• Adept at financial management to administer budgets across multiple products and ensure the product meets its requirements for return on investment
• Experience leading large, complex organizational initiatives.
• Proven experience in leading and influencing cross-functional teams
• Expertise with foundational product management tools, techniques and principles across discovery, design, build, release, and measure cycle.
• Proven success in developing and leading product teams in multiple contexts.

Benefits

• various bonuses (including, for example, annual or long-term incentives)
• medical, dental, and vision insurance
• health savings account
• flexible spending account
• 401k
• pension
• life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance
• disability insurance
• supplemental protection insurance
• 27 days of Paid Time Off each year
• Sick and Safe Time
• 10 paid company holidays
• Volunteer Time Off
• paid parental leave
• EAP
• well-being benefits
• other employee benefits