Senior Designer, Lifecycle

About Upstart

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload.

Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California;
Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas.

Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you!

As a growing Creative team, we touch every corner of the growing Upstart business. We sit within Growth, designing for impact across all channels and verticals, elevating the brand, and seeking to be thought-leaders in our industry and beyond. We are currently working hard and fast to meet the company’s needs while building a culture of creativity that will empower the continued evolution and success of our work.

In short, we’re darn good but we’re looking for teammates to help us rise to greatness!

As Senior Designer of Lifecycle at Upstart, you’ll partner closely with the Product and Lifecycle Marketing teams, as well as your fellow Creative team members to create best-in-class experiences across the customer lifecycle, from future to current borrowers. You’ll take ownership over how the Upstart brand shows up across email, push, rich push, SMS, and in-app surfaces, ensuring design excellence and consistency at every touchpoint.

You’ll elevate the craft of design, inspire creative excellence, and help move the brand forward with fresh thinking and purposeful execution.

This role is available in the following locations:
Remote

This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones.

As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

• Lead the creative vision and execution across email journeys, push notifications, SMS, and in-app surfaces, ensuring design excellence and consistency across all borrower touchpoints.
• Create synergies across Lifecycle journeys by identifying gaps, optimizing design modules, and guiding the development of scalable systems that drive efficiency, consistency, and strengthen the brand.
• Stay informed on Lifecycle testing results, applying learnings to future assets and proactively suggesting new creative tests to improve performance, execution, and brand affinity.
• Partner cross-functionally and within Creative to concept, design, and deliver high-performing campaigns that integrate insights and testing outcomes to drive measurable results.
• Maintain ownership of design best practices for Lifecycle channels, ensuring assets meet accessibility, usability, and technical standards while proactively identifying opportunities to enhance performance.
• Help bring creative learnings and innovations back to the broader Creative team (and beyond) to drive cross-channel synergy and inform brand-level strategy.

• 5+ years of professional experience in design and creative services.
• Proven track‑record of success leading and executing design across Lifecycle channels.
• Comprehensive knowledge of channel‑specific creative best practices for conversion and measurement.
• Expert‑level proficiency in design software (Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, etc)
• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Visual Communications, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.