[Hiring] Lead Thumbnail Designer @A Impact Media

Role Description

As the Lead Thumbnail Designer at Knwn Local, you'll 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 60-80% of your time managing, mentoring, and building systems, and 20-40% hands-on designing complex projects.

• Own design quality standards, team development, and creative operations across the agency.
• Partner closely with Pod Managers, Creative Director, and leadership on strategic initiatives.
• Your success is measured not by how many thumbnails you design, but by how well your team performs, grows, and delivers results that drive client success.
• This role is perfect for someone who loves developing designers as much as designing itself.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development (50-70% of role)
  • Directly manage 5-8 thumbnail designers conducting 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 designer hires.
  • Create career development pathways with clear promotion criteria for design team members.
  • Conduct performance reviews and manage accountability through the Clarify Instrument Coach Decide framework.
  • Handle hiring (writing JDs, screening portfolios, conducting interviews, making offers).
  • Build 2-5+ year relationships with designers through proactive retention and engagement strategies.
  • Conduct skip-level meetings with junior designers to assess team health and identify early warning signs.
• Creative Excellence & Standards (20-30% of role)
  • Design 15-30 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 (10-20% of role)
  • Partner with Pod Managers on client strategy and creative direction for key accounts.
  • Present creative strategy and performance insights in Monthly Client Strategy Calls with clients.
  • 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.

Requirements

• 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).
• Comfortable with difficult conversations (performance issues, firing, conflict resolution).
• 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).
• 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; never blames or makes excuses.
• Beyond Excellence - Sets impossibly high standards and inspires team to exceed them.
• Proactive Curiosity - Anticipates problems, asks better questions, and stays ahead of needs.
• Mission Focus - Obsesses about client success and team development over personal recognition.

Results

• Your design team consistently maintains 90%+ first-approval rate across all designers.
• Designer retention rate exceeds 85% annually with clear development and career progression.
• New designers productive at 80% capacity within 30-60 days through your training systems.
• 100% of direct reports show measurable skill improvement quarter-over-quarter.
• Team operates at 80-90% capacity utilization - productive output without burnout.
• Zero client escalations due to design quality issues or missed deadlines from your team.
• Agency-wide thumbnail CTR averages 5-10% (significantly above platform benchmarks).
• 95%+ on-time delivery rate across your entire team's project portfolio.
• Design workflows, templates, and style guides documented and adopted agency-wide.
• Your team generates innovative thumbnail strategies that drive agency-wide adoption.
• Design function viewed as strategic partner by Pod Managers and leadership.
• Successfully contribute to client strategy with design insights that drive performance.
• Client satisfaction scores remain >4.5/5 for design quality and communication.
• At least 1-2 designers promoted or advancement-ready annually due to your mentorship.
• Leadership views design as a strategic differentiator, not just an execution function.

Compensation & Growth

• Starting Range: $42,000 - $72,000 USD/year depending on experience and team size managed.
• Fully Remote.
• Flexible Time Off policy & Company Wide Holiday Breaks.
• Professional development budget for courses, plugins, and creative tools.
• Potential Health Insurance Reimbursement (after 60-90 day trial period options including Medical, Dental, Vision).
• Potential to earn Monthly wellness allowance.
• Potential to earn Home office stipend for equipment and software.
• Leadership development program.
• Access to industry-leading tools, plugins, and AI-assisted editing software.
• Clear career progression with transparent promotion criteria.

Location

100% Remote

Who We Are

Knwn Local helps America's top real estate leaders attract more clients and grow their brands through strategic YouTube presence.

• Our clients manage $30M-$300M+ 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.
• Our Core Values: Extreme Ownership, Beyond Excellence, Proactive Curiosity, Mission Focus.

To Apply

If you're ready to build a world-class design team and multiply your creative impact 10x by developing others, please submit:

Application Link

Pay: $42k - $72k+ USD a year