Senior Illustrator, YouTube Design System

Company: Google
Location: San Bruno
Posted on: April 4, 2026

Job Description:

Minimum qualifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience. 6 years of visual design experience in product design or UX/UI design. Experience developing, executing, implementing, or managing brand identity guidelines, visual systems, or illustration style guides. Experience in creative and art direction, defining new and system-wide illustration style. Experience creating high-quality illustration, or animation work. Include a portfolio, website, or any other relevant link to your work in your resume (providing a viewable link or access instructions). Preferred qualifications: Experience creating high-quality illustration and animation work in a flexible range of styles across a variety of formats. Experience managing and scaling creative production using in-house resources, vendors, and AI pipelines. Experience in art direction, with the ability to support the definition of a new, system-wide illustration style. Knowledge of design systems and how to translate brand strategy into cohesive and scalable visual guidelines. Knowledge of brand guidelines, cultural sensitivities, and legal/licensing rules for creative content. Ability to find, work with, and manage artists and vendors from a community-based context. About the job At Google, we "Focus on the user and all else will follow." Our Visual Designers weave space, typography, color, and iconography to help people successfully navigate our products, ensuring they are beautiful and accessible. You will join our multi-disciplinary UX team, collaborating with Engineering and Product Management, to leverage user insights and create industry-leading products. As a Visual Designer, you will rely on user-centered design methods to craft industry-leading user experiences from concept to execution. You will collaborate with your design partners to leverage and evolve the Google design language to build beautiful, innovative, inspired products that people love to use. In this role, you will be responsible for supporting the development and implementation of a new illustration style for all of YouTube, shaping the visual language for users. You will create original artwork, manage cross-functional stakeholders, and direct external creative partners. You'll advance the growth of a scalable pipeline for generating visual assets, leveraging a blend of in-house talent, external artists, and AI-driven methods. At YouTube, we believe that everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share, and build community through our stories. We work together to give everyone the power to share their story, explore what they love, and connect with one another in the process. Working at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and boundless creativity, we move at the speed of culture with a shared goal to show people the world. We explore new ideas, solve real problems, and have fun — and we do it all together. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $159,000-$231,000 bonus equity benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google . Responsibilities Define and lead a new illustration and animation style for YouTube, establishing high-fidelity guidelines to ensure brand consistency and creative excellence. Create original, high-standard visual work that serves as a benchmark for the team, delivering direct creative output for key projects. Build and manage a scalable production model to meet global demand, overseeing a mix of in-house talent, external vendors, and AI-powered pipelines. Lead the production process, tracking all project requests, documenting launch metrics, and coordinating with community-based artists. Organize and manage the visual assets, ensuring seamless technical exports across various formats, colorways, and platform themes.

Keywords: Google, Alameda , Senior Illustrator, YouTube Design System, IT / Software / Systems , San Bruno, California