Senior Manager Content Designer (Individual Contributor)

Overview Senior Manager Content Designer (Individual Contributor)

We are seeking a future-focused Senior Manager of Content Design (Individual Contributor) to join our team. In this role, you will sit at the intersection of language, product strategy, system logic, and emerging technology, ensuring our digital experiences scale cleanly while maintaining an uncompromising standard of craft.

This is not a traditional copywriting or purely embedded writing role. Instead of focusing only on isolated product screens, you will focus on building the foundational tools—including content design systems, voice guidelines, and structured prompt libraries—that empower broader product design teams to handle day-to-day writing tasks independently. You will own the high-level strategy, taxonomy, and rationale for complex content problems, while using AI tools to scale that core design intent across multiple domains and platforms. As automated tools redefine interface and text production, you will transition from a traditional asset creator to a logic planner, experience auditor, and automation coach. Depending on the project, you will oscillate between being deeply embedded in high-leverage initiatives and serving as a consultative expert to other teams.

Key Responsibilities & Competencies

• Foundational Content Systems & Governance: Build, govern, and maintain comprehensive content design libraries, terminology standards, and voice guidelines. Create structured prompt criteria and automated writing guardrails that enable teams to draft baseline copy that aligns with brand standards.

• Strategic Content Architecture: Lead high-leverage, complex content initiatives, owning the underlying logic, user flows, and taxonomy. Focus on the overarching communication strategy and ensure that automated outputs remain accurate, clear, and accessible.

• Consultative & Embedded Partnership: Work flexibly across product lines to solve complex design problems and influence strategy. Embed deeply within high-impact initiatives when needed, while acting as a consultative peer to upskill product designers and scale content standards across the organization.

• Quality Assurance & Narrative Auditing: Serve as the final guardian of narrative quality across live product experiences by performing rigorous evaluations to ensure independent builders do not create a fragmented or incoherent customer journey.

• Cross-Functional Pod Leadership: Act as a core catalyst within a dedicated cross-functional pod, serving as a strategic partner to engineering, product, and enterprise teams. Partner seamlessly with Enterprise Design Systems teams to ensure local content systems align or intentionally deviate from macro enterprise standards.

• Practice Maturation & Enablement: Act as a mentor and consultant for the design team to mature the content discipline. Lead workshops, facilitate onboarding, and coach product designers on scaling their systemic thinking and integrating automated content tools safely into their daily workflows.

Expected Outputs

• Scalable Content Design Systems: Living, accessible content libraries, taxonomy rules, and design token schemas implemented across design tools and repositories.

• AI-Native Content Guardrails: Playbooks, logic schemas, and prompt criteria that dictate how automated tools generate standard layouts and microcopy without losing brand integrity.

• Journey Optimization & Gap Analysis: Thorough gap analyses and "North Star" roadmaps that align content strategy with overarching business intent and technical scalability.

• Systemic Documentation: High-fidelity spec sheets, terminology guidelines, and clear documentation governing the interaction between human design intent and automated execution.

• Contribution Frameworks & Enablement Programs: Scalable onboarding materials, contribution guardrails, and educational workshops that upskill product teams on using advanced tokens and AI-assisted design tooling.

Basic Qualifications

• At least 8 years of experience in a Content Design, Content Strategy, or Product Design role.

• At least 6 years of experience building, maintaining, or contributing to multi-level design systems or content governance models.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least 10+ years of experience in content design, content strategy, or UX writing.

• Demonstrated experience building or maintaining content systems, prompt libraries, or automated frameworks within design and development pipelines.

• Deep experience partnering with product managers, engineers, and business leaders to shape strategy, roadmaps, and operating models.

• Proficiency with design and prototyping tools, such as Figma, with a strong understanding of how content elements map to advanced system components and tokens.

• Experience operating in an internal consultative or agency model, managing multiple stakeholders and balancing competing priorities across complex environments.

At this time, Capital One will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

McLean, VA: $200,700 - $229,100 for Sr. Manager, Design

New York, NY: $219,000 - $249,900 for Sr. Manager, Design

Richmond, VA: $182,500 - $208,300 for Sr. Manager, Design

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.

Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website . Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.

This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.

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Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).