All roles

Career pathway

This document outlines the progression of design roles within slice, detailing how responsibilities expand across levels and disciplines. It serves for understanding expectations, growth stages, and the evolution of scope in both Product Design and Visual Design tracks.

Product Design

Visual Design

Product Design

Visual Design

Associate Visual Designer

Supports visual design tasks and contributes to smaller creative deliverables

Associate Visual Designer

Supports visual design tasks and contributes to smaller creative deliverables

Visual Designer

Executes end-to-end visual design work and maintains consistency across assets and screens.

Visual Designer

Executes end-to-end visual design work and maintains consistency across assets and screens.

Senior Visual Designer

Leads high-impact visual design projects and elevates overall brand quality.

Senior Visual Designer

Leads high-impact visual design projects and elevates overall brand quality.

Lead Visual Designer

Defines visual direction for products, builds scalable design systems, and mentors other designers.

Lead Visual Designer

Defines visual direction for products, builds scalable design systems, and mentors other designers.

Manager

Manages visual designers, oversees quality across projects, and aligns creative output with product goals.

Manager

Manages visual designers, oversees quality across projects, and aligns creative output with product goals.

Senior Manager

Leads multiple visual design teams or a large domain, drives creative strategy, and partners with leadership for cross-org alignment.

Senior Manager

Leads multiple visual design teams or a large domain, drives creative strategy, and partners with leadership for cross-org alignment.

Visual Design

Junior IC Stage

Associate Visual Designer

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Delivering visuals that follow art direction and meet spec requirements

  • Designing assets that are DLS compliant and brand-consistent

Design Ops

  • Designing assets with precision and attention to detail

  • Fluency in design tools and visual design principles

  • Adapting to the slice visual style and asset library

Research & Analytics

  • Finding relevant references for design projects and assets

Problem Solving

  • Identifying, defining and breaking down problem statements

  • Taking in multiple perspectives and suggesting practical solutions

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Coordinating with product and engineering teams to deliver solutions

  • Openly receiving feedback and adjusting designs accordingly

  • Being self-aware and understanding how their interactions impact others

Communication

  • Clear written and verbal communication

  • Articulating design choices at a fundamental level

Ownership

  • Taking ownership of task execution in accordance with decided timelines

Business Inclination

  • Keenness to know business requirements and vision

  • Keenness to know product and market context

  • Asking relevant questions

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Visual Designer

All in Associate Visual Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Understanding the slice design system and adherence to style guides

  • Ensuring designed assets fit product context and meet user needs

Design Ops

  • Deliveriing production-ready files consistently and with quality

  • Exploring alternatives and iterating on visuals quickly

  • Completing small and mid scale projects by themselves

Research & Analytics

  • Staying up to date on design trends

  • Translating information into pertinent design iterations

Problem Solving

  • Measuring the importance & severity of problem statements

  • Having multiple solution approaches and rationale for a recommendation

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Sharing updates and seeking input regularly from teammates

  • Decisioning based on briefs from internal and external stakeholders

  • Being flexible with scope changes

Communication

  • Proactive communication for effective completion of projects

  • Demonstrating dependability in team and stakeholder interactions

  • Consumable documentation for others to reference

Ownership

  • Making and committing to decisions

  • Prioritising end goals and project completion

Business Inclination

  • Demonstrating basic awareness of product goals and market context

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Senior Visual Designer

All in Visual Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Building consensus amongst teammates on design decisions

  • Strong understanding of technical and business aspects

  • Articulating rationale balancing business goals and design guidelines

Design Ops

  • Designing across the product spectrum, considering cross-product dependencies and edge cases

  • Completing large-scale projects and asset groups by themselves

  • Supporting and guiding junior designers on skills, direction and tools

Research & Analytics

  • Introducing fresh ideas, trends and new tools

  • Using the knowledge of industry and existing products for decisioning

  • Understanding qualitative and quantitative reasonings to help make product decisions

Problem Solving

  • Tackling ambiguous briefs

  • Anticipating issues, suggesting solutions and applying feedback with minimal oversight

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Working with product, marketing and techs to align vision and execution

  • Taking a stand for design decisions when needed with reasoning

  • Managing feedback from multiple functions, resolving conflicting needs

Communication

  • Identifying future needs and ensuring stakeholders are informed in advance

  • Explaining design concepts to diverse audiences, presenting to leadership

Ownership

  • Taking end-to-end ownership of their projects and participating strategically in other tasks

  • Leading decisions for their charter and having rationale behind them

Business Inclination

  • Creating relevant design assets based on understanding of business goals

  • Seeking out product data to analyse asset performance

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Senior IC Track

Lead Visual Designer

All in Senior Visual Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Driving design direction for large product areas or brand pillars

  • Driving alignment between team-level goals and broader product goals

Design Ops

  • Establishing and upholding visual design standards

  • Leading large-scale, cross-functional design initiatives with high complexity

  • Balancing velocity with craft excellence in delivery

Research & Analytics

  • Translating brand and product research insights into visual strategies

  • Proactively analysing industry trends to inform future design directions

  • Embedding research into the team’s design workflow

Problem Solving

  • Tackling complex, cross-domain briefs and structuring them for teammates

  • Leading the discourse to identify the most appropriate solution

  • Anticipating long-term design implications of current decisions

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Leading and influencing cross-functional design initiatives

  • Mentoring other designers, raising the team's bar for design craft

  • Mediating conflicts diplomatically, modelling resilience during setbacks

Communication

  • Leading communication with key stakeholders and the leadership

  • Ensuring solutions are understood in the most effective manner

Ownership

  • Owning design quality and direction across a portfolio of initiatives

  • Awareness of organisational goals and strategic direction

  • Setting priorities, ensuring critical deliverables are met on time

Business Inclination

  • Framing design outcomes in terms of brand value and product impact

  • Shaping brand perception through design execution

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Manager track

Manager Visual Design

All in Senior Visual Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Understanding of our product ecosystem

  • Setting and translating design vision into design objectives for their team

  • Driving alignment between team-level goals and broader org goals

Design Ops

  • Managing team-level processes, efficiency and consistency

  • Ensuring adherence to design systems, accessibility and quality standards

  • Balancing velocity with craft excellence in delivery

Research & Analytics

  • Translating brand and product research insights into visual strategies

  • Proactively analysing industry trends to inform future design directions

  • Embedding research into the team’s design workflow

Problem Solving

  • Helping their team scope and refine problem statements

  • Coaching designers on evaluating trade-offs between business, user and technical constraints

  • Anticipating long-term design implications of current decisions

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Managing a small team of designers, their performance and growth

  • Facilitating collaboration between design, product and engineering at the pod level

Communication

  • Representing the team’s design work to cross-functional stakeholders

  • Providing clear, actionable feedback and design rationale in internal reviews

Ownership

  • Taking responsibility for the quality and of their team’s design output

  • Ensuring projects are delivered according to to scope and timeline

  • Modelling accountability in decision and commitment making

Business Inclination

  • Framing design outcomes in terms of brand value and product impact

  • Shaping brand perception through design execution

  • Casading business objectives and understanding to team members

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Senior Manager Visual Design

All in Manager Visual Design +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Shaping visual design strategy across multiple product areas or initiatives

  • Shaping internal design culture and strategy

  • Advising on structure, scaling and processes for growing design teams

Design Ops

  • Leading design spanning multiple products or touch-points

  • Driving consistency, accessibility, and quality standards across teams

  • Building leadership capabilities within their design org

Research & Analytics

  • Defining frameworks and bringing in new and relevant research practices

  • Propagating emerging design practices, strategic experimentation

Problem Solving

  • Tackling problem statements that have impact across the product ecosystem

  • Finding clarity in high ambiguity, proposing bold, scalable solutions

  • Negotiating design trade-offs at scale

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Initiating and leading team-wide design initiatives

  • Supporting the growth of designers and their craft across teams

  • Navigating high-level conflicts and managing relationships

Communication

  • Presenting to the leadership effectively and getting closure quickly

  • Creating efficient processes for design, hand-off, QA and documentation, ensuring team adherence

Ownership

  • Influencing and enhancing team-wide quality, consistency and efficiency

  • Taking responsibilty of the quality and delivery of multiple design pods

  • Switching between roles and procedures to facilitate org priorities

Business Inclination

  • Guiding team decisions toward both user and business value

  • Incorporating business metrics and strategic context into resource allocation

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

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slice design handbook

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made with ❤️ and ☕️

✦

slice design handbook

✦

made with ❤️ and ☕️

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