About Us and Why We’re Hiring

We build “You Need a Budget,” the best budgeting software around. (But people in the know call us YNAB, which is pronounced “why-nab”). For more than a decade, people have been buying YNAB and then telling their friends what a difference it has made in their lives. Google us, or read some of our reviews on the app store, and you’ll see what we mean. We love building something that literally changes people’s lives, and we have an impressive (if we do say so ourselves) ecosystem of apps, live classes, and stellar support.

Now we need our next visual designer to bring the same attention to detail to our branding, marketing, and educational materials.

You come to the table with some experience under your belt. You know how to uphold meticulous brand guidelines. You catch color mismatches that are mere shades off, you bristle at poor kerning, and you know that good design is in the details. You feel just as comfortable with the pen tool as you do responsive breakpoints. You also love to dream and get that our dream is to build a brand that is fun, smart, and approachable.

Requirements (these are real, actual requirements):

• At least two years of experience working in marketing design.
• Experience working within strict, existing brand guidelines.
• Experience editing and working with vector artwork.
• Experience doing time-sensitive production work.
• Experience designing responsive web pages.
• Ability to work and communicate effectively in a remote environment.
• Your home base must be located +/- two hours from Central Standard Time.

That’s a super-brief intro of what you’ll be working on. But first, you need to know if you’ll even like working with us. We think you will.

We’re profitable, bootstrapped, and growing. YNAB started in 2004 and we haven’t taken any outside funding—we’re in it for the long haul. We have one overarching requirement when it comes to joining our team: our Core Value Manifesto has to really click with you. If you’re nodding emphatically while reading it, you’d probably really like it here, and we can’t wait to hear from you!

But first, let’s talk about life at YNAB and then we’ll go into more detail about what we’re looking for.

Who You’ll Be Working With:

Lindsey, our Chief Marketing Officer, is in charge of getting the word out about YNAB, and always finds a fun way to do that. Like our YNAB mix-tape, where-in she wrote and re-recorded budgeting-related lyrics to pop-songs. (We suggest reading the rest of this description while listening to that album.)

Reema, our Marketing Production Manager, keeps all the balls in the air while wearing many different hats, basically, if there is a need, yo, she’ll solve it (and yes, that was a seamless incorporation of Vanilla Ice lyrics).

Lauren is our brand owner, and is possibly the most prolific, versatile designer that has ever lived (eat your heart out, Leo Da Vinci!!!). Illustration? Check. Print design? Definitely. Web Design? Yep. She even taught herself motion design in like a week and made an explainer video for us that lived on our site for several years. But she’s also possibly the most humble person that has ever existed, which is why you also might not know that she’s a published Fantasy author and was once ranked as a top ten Symmetra player. She’s great.

Marian, our visual designer, is single-handedly responsible for almost all of the illustrations you see on our blog/Facebook/Instagram posts and was the creator of the cutest mascot in the world (at least we like to think so!), Banksy the Piggy Bank. She also designed all the beautiful emails that you may have received when you signed up for YNAB. Did we mention that she’s bi-lingual and vamos a terminar esta descripción en Español para ver si tu eres bilingüe también.

How You’ll Work at YNAB

We work really hard to make working at YNAB an amazing experience (we’ve even been named Fortune’s #1 Best Small Company to Work For) and have a team full of truly exceptional people—the kind you’ll be excited to work with. Here’s how we operate:

Live Where You Want

We’ve always been a fully remote team, and have people all over the world. For this particular position, however, we're looking for someone within +/- two hours of Central Standard Time, due to the high amount of synchronous coordination needed with the rest of the team. Anywhere within those time zones is okay, though. Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection.

No Crazy Hours

We rarely work more than 40 hours per week. There have been a few occasions where things got a little crazy and people had to log some extra hours. But then they took some extra time off, so it all balances out. We work hard and smart but we’re in this for the long haul, no need to go crazy on the hours.

Take Vacation (Seriously)

We want you to take vacation. In fact, we have a minimum vacation policy of three weeks per year. Five weeks feels about right (plus two extra weeks for Holiday break). It’s important to get out and do something. We’ll look forward to seeing pictures of your vacation in our #office_wall Slack channel.

The YNAB Retreat

When the pandemic isn’t keeping us from traveling, we get the teams together once a year to catch up on spreadsheets and powerpoints in a Best Western conference room. Just kidding. So far, we’ve done Costa Rica, a gigantic cabin in the mountains, a beach house in the Outer Banks, a ranch in Montana, and most recently, Laguna Beach. We work together, play together, and reinforce the bonds we’ve made as a team and company. Every year, we leave refreshed, motivated, and excited for the year ahead together.

Up Your Game

We’re serious about helping you improve your craft. We budget for it (hey-o!). Think conferences, online courses and subscriptions, dedicated time away from work to learn something new… it’s really up to you and your manager. But we love to see our people growing.

International is Absolutely Okay

If you are Stateside, we’ll set you up as a W2 employee. If you’re international, you’ll be set up as a contractor. (Employee or contractor, it’s all the same to us. You’re part of the team!) As mentioned, we have some time zone restrictions for this role, but as long as you're within +/- two hours of Central Standard Time, we're good!

Benefits

For our U.S. employees, we offer fantastic health, dental, and vision insurance, where we cover 100% of the premium for you and your family. (No need to check your vision, you read that right, 100%. Although if you did need to check your vision, we’ve got you covered!)

We also have a Traditional and Roth 401k option. YNAB matches your contributions, up to six percent of your paycheck. Matches vest immediately. (Are you a personal finance junkie like our founder, Jesse? He set up YNAB’s 401k to have the lowest fee structure possible, where all plan costs are paid by YNAB, not your retirement nest egg. The investment funds available are fantastic, passively-managed, ultra low-cost index funds. You’re not a PF junkie? Trust us, it’s awesome.)

Other Tidbits

• Once you start, we DEMAND (in a friendly, ALL CAPS IS YELLING way) that you fill out your “Bucket List” spreadsheet with 50 items. (That’s harder than it sounds!)
• The bucket list really helps in deciding what we should give you for your birthday and the holidays.
• We have a bonus plan based on profitability. You’ll be in on that from day one. YNAB wins, you win. That kind of thing.
• We’re all adults. There’s no need to punch a clock, or ask for permission to take off early one afternoon to go see the doctor. We look at what you accomplish, not how long you sit (have you tried standing?) in front of a computer.
• We want you firing on all cylinders so we’ll set you up with a shiny new computer and replace it every three years.
• Did I mention we make a huge, positive difference in people’s lives? You may not think that matters much, but then a few months down the road you’ll realize it’s made your job really, really enjoyable. Don’t underestimate this one!

If this sounds like your ideal environment, read on because now I want to talk about you. You will play a big, big part in helping the YNAB brand come to life and reach wider audiences. I’ll only say that six more times.

Now, back to you, our new Visual Designer…

As a visual designer at YNAB, you’ll be a prized resource for our marketing team, churning out ads, landing pages, and supplementary graphics while maintaining the YNAB brand. You’ll work alongside our writer and web developer to help maintain our website, and you’ll lend your design skills to a variety of cross-team projects that span the YNAB ecosystem. You will be our boots on the ground, protecting our brand with your pixel-perfect attention to detail.

What Success Looks Like:

The marketing team marvels at your ability to think big and execute quickly on the smallest of tasks. You roll up your sleeves and deliver what’s needed, sometimes before the team even asks for it. Other designers can’t stop praising you for your museum-worthy ads and strict approach to file management. You’ll probably make our CEO cry from time to time. Your campaigns are so beautiful he can barely look at them without bringing out a tissue. You also make us laugh. We like to laugh.

You take direction from multiple teams, and communicate freely. You understand that great communication and time management is critical to your success in a remote work environment. When you say it will be done, it will be done. Your teammates don’t even have to think about it.

You know a great designer loves the very smallest parts of the job. Some call it pixel pushing. Others call it production work. We call it craft. You love seeing your designs come to life in the browser and communicate easily with developers, including in HTML and CSS. Because that’s how it’s done.

Finally, the success of a designer at YNAB hinges upon the ability to approach design as holistic problem-solving for both creative and business goals. We work collaboratively here and you’ll listen to (devour, really) ideas, questions, and critiques from teammates with grace and patience.

That said, you know your stuff and can eloquently and logically explain design decisions. You see this type of exchange as critical to the success of yourself and our company: it is through sharing ideas and being open to the brilliance of others that we arrive at the best solutions.

You are our ideal candidate if:

• You have at least two years of experience working in marketing design.
• You are intimately familiar with design software, especially Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
• You understand the value of brand consistency and always ensure that your work upholds existing standards—even if they’re at odds with your personal style.
• You may not be an illustrator, but you know the pen tool in and out and can manipulate vector art assets without breaking a sweat.
• You are productive and independent, able to produce high quality work within tight deadlines.
• You’re not a coder, but you have a solid knowledge of the tech side of web design. You understand web standards and are a champion of good usability.
• You have experience designing responsive web pages and running A/B tests.
• You strive to continuously improve your craft, enjoy learning from others, and find joy in exploring new techniques, tools, and skills.
• You are an excellent communicator and understand how crucial it is for remote work.
• You believe in good file management and version control, and have experience working within shared file libraries.

Bonus points if:

• You already use and love YNAB.
• You have a working knowledge of HTML and CSS.
• You have experience working in Figma.
• You could write a bit of placeholder copy, no sweat.
• You love to draw and could illustrate in a predefined style in a pinch.
• You can communicate in English and Spanish.

Some things you'll be doing at YNAB:

• Working with our content team to brainstorm and produce ad campaigns.
• Using existing components to design new landing pages or update old ones.
• Creating supplementary assets for blog posts (such as infographics).
• Maintaining a shared library of artwork that is used across the company.
• Serving as a design resource for various cross-team projects, creating everything from one-sheets to social media posts—if someone needs it, you’ve got it handled!

YNAB is an equal opportunity employer. We believe diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences to be critical to our success and are passionate about creating a welcoming, supportive, and collaborative environment for all employees. All are encouraged to apply as we continue to grow a smart, hard-working, and diverse team who love working together to build something that matters.

How to Apply:

• Apply here by 11:59PM PST on Sunday February 28, 2021. Firm. It’s a real deadline—the kind you love.
• Attach a PDF of your cover letter. In your cover letter, please introduce yourself and explain why this position is of interest to you, and why you would be a great fit. Please also address this question: We love a designer with a perspective. What’s yours? Feel free to touch on your beliefs on how design should be done, or why it’s important.
• If you have a prepared resume, attach it in PDF form. If you don’t have a resume because you aren’t even sure you’re looking to change jobs, that’s fine! An informal list of your work and education history are all we’re looking for.
• Please include a design portfolio as outlined in the next section (if you are linking to an online portfolio or Dropbox folder, include the url in your cover letter).

The Portfolio:

We greatly appreciate receiving work as a personal portfolio website, Dropbox folder, or PDF. Please do not send a Behance or Dribbble link unless you cannot do otherwise.

Please include:

• Examples of marketing campaign content, landing pages, ads, and other assets.
• Examples of responsive web design.
• Examples of vector assets you have created.
• A peek into your design process (wireframes, interviews, sketches).
• Links to any live work.

Important Notes:

• Please state the role you played on each project and specify if any parts of the design were NOT created by you.
• Please include personal work ONLY IF LABELED AS SUCH. We value real work with real stories over perfect spec work.

P.S. If you’re not interested in or available for this position, but know someone who is, we would really appreciate it if you passed this along!