Design Job at Tempo in San Francisco

Location

San Francisco

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

On-site

Department

Design

Tempo is a layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoins and real-world payments, born from Stripe’s experience in global payments and Paradigm’s expertise in crypto tech.

Tempo’s payment-first design provides a scalable, low-cost predictable backbone that meets the needs of high-volume payment use cases. Our goal is to move money reliably, cheaply, and at scale. Our north star is simplicity for users : fintechs, traditional banks, merchants, platforms, and anyone else looking to move their payments into the 21st century.

We\u2019re building Tempo with design partners who are global leaders in AI, e-commerce, and financial services : Anthropic, Coupang, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Mercury, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, Visa, and more.

We\u2019re a team of crypto-optimists, building the infrastructure needed to bring real, substantial economic flows onchain. Our team primarily works in-person out of our San Francisco and NYC offices. We like to move fast and swing for the fences — join us!

The Role

Tempo is looking for a Designer to shape and grow the design function across both brand and product. This is a senior, multidisciplinary role for a designer with a strong foundation in systems thinking, interface design, and visual communication—comfortable working between protocol architecture, UX, and brand storytelling.

You\u2019ll be responsible for developing and maintaining Tempo\u2019s design system, leading key product and brand initiatives, and building the foundations of a high-craft, in-house design team. This is a hands-on role with broad creative scope : from developer-facing interfaces to visual frameworks, launch communications, and foundational brand design. You\u2019ll work closely with Tempo\u2019s founders, engineers, and early users—alongside design partners at Paradigm and Stripe—to define how Tempo looks, works, and explains itself to the world.

Tempo is built for developers, infrastructure teams, and fintech platforms—not speculation. The design challenges here are complex : how to express trust and usability in a new financial primitive; how to translate protocol features into familiar concepts; how to bring clarity to systems that are early and evolving.

Design is essential—not just in how Tempo is used, but in how it is understood.

This role is based in San Francisco, with regular in-person work expected. Tempo is a small, early-stage team working closely together on foundational systems and interfaces—so proximity, clarity, and creative iteration are essential. We support flexibility within the day-to-day, but this is not a remote position.

Responsibilities

Define and maintain Tempo’s visual identity and design system, covering everything from product UI to marketing surfaces, motion, and documentation.

Lead the design of core product experiences—developer dashboards, reference apps, onboarding, analytics tools, and public documentation.

Create clear, compelling visual storytelling to help explain Tempo’s architecture, stablecoin use cases, and value proposition to technical and non-technical audiences.

Collaborate closely with the engineering team to prototype and implement UI, refine interaction patterns, and ship polished product surfaces.

Work with Paradigm and Stripe’s design leadership to ensure alignment on brand tone, design quality, and creative direction.

Scale a small internal design team—mentoring and hiring both brand and product designers as the team grows.

Collaborate with external partners—motion designers, illustrators, developers—on launches, campaigns, or exploratory work.

Contribute to the long-term vision of design at Tempo : how we work, what we prioritize, and how we build trust through design.

Qualifications

10+ years of experience across brand and product design, ideally in startups, infrastructure companies, or design-forward technical teams.

Experience working on B2B or developer-facing products, with a strong understanding of how to make complex systems legible through design.

A portfolio that demonstrates a high level of craft, clarity, and system-level thinking—across interfaces, identity systems, and narrative storytelling.

Fluency in typography, layout, and composition—with the ability to move between static, interactive, and motion-based mediums.

Strong communication skills—able to structure narratives visually and articulate design decisions to technical and non-technical collaborators.

Experience building or contributing to componentized design systems in Figma or code, and collaborating closely with engineers.

Comfort working in a fast-paced, early-stage environment—able to take initiative, handle ambiguity, and operate both strategically and tactically.

Interest in payments, crypto infrastructure, financial tooling, or the future of digital money is a plus—but not required.

Attributes

Razor-sharp thinker with precise command of language

Concise, evidence-based storytelling ability

Excellent organizational and logistical skills

Intense curiosity and open-mindedness

Scrappiness; willingness to roll up sleeves

Growth mindset

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