Pocket FM
Pocket FM

Lead Thumbnail Designer

May 28, 2025
Full-time
Remote · India
Mid-Senior level
Designer
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With 100+ bn minutes streamed annually, 120 minutes of daily average listening time, and 6+ billion total audio plays on our platform, Pocket FM is on a mission to build the world’s largest AI-powered audio streaming platform. Rapid growth in the US and India, with strong momentum in Europe and LATAM.

We operate across diverse geographies, tackling complex challenges that require leaders who can navigate ambiguity and drive impact. The goal of the role is to build and lead the thumbnail strategy function — not just approving designs, but setting up a creative system with guidelines, benchmarking, KPIs, and team process optimization for scalable, data-driven, and genre-specific thumbnail design. You will manage in-house design teams and external agencies, balancing cost, quality, and efficiency. You'll also benchmark designs against leading platforms and handle the end-to-end design process, from planning to agency onboarding, ensuring scalability and high-quality production

What you’ll do

  • Own the end-to-end thumbnail design strategy for audio shows across genres (romance, thriller, comedy, etc.)
  • Establish genre-specific creative direction and maintain brand consistency
  • Build and document a Thumbnail Design SOP with parameters per genre (color palette, composition, emotion cues, CTA elements, etc.)
  • Create brief templates and approval frameworks to reduce rework and randomness
  • Mentor and guide the internal design team, provide structured feedback
  • Ensure high-quality creative output with attention to market and platform trends
  • Set up KPIs for design effectiveness (CTR, engagement, bounce rates)
  • Build a dashboard/reporting system for thumbnail performance by genre/show/team member
  • Lead and scale the team, run reviews, and ensure alignment with product, content, and marketing teams
  • Balance cost, quality, and throughput between in-house and external agencies, optimizing design workload.
  • Conduct research to identify top agencies, analyze visual content trends, and evaluate agency portfolios.
  • Onboard and pilot test new agencies to ensure quality, cost-effectiveness, and design alignment. Manage agency performance post onboarding

What we’re looking for

  • 6–12 years of experience in design strategy, art direction, or creative ops
  • Strong command of visual storytelling, emotional design and digital design principles
  • Proven experience setting up design systems, creative guidelines, and team processes
  • Strong understanding of user behavior, especially in content or entertainment apps
  • Prior experience with A/B testing, CTR optimization, and performance-based design
  • Tools: Adobe Creative Suite, Midjourney, Photoshop, Figma

Ideal candidate has

  • Experience leading creative processes and systems — not just execution
  • Exposure to thumbnail or content visuals on streaming/audio platforms
  • Deep understanding of genre-based audience expectations (e.g. thrillers vs romance)
  • Strong blend of creative flair + analytical thinking