Instagram is seeking a designer to lead our icon and illustration programs. You'll own the holistic icon system and illustration style that billions of users interact with daily - creating new artwork, maintaining and refreshing our asset libraries, designing brand logos, and delivering guidance to cross-functional partners. You're a conceptual thinker who communicates big ideas in small spaces. You have a clear, informed perspective on iconography and illustration, and it shows in your work. You think systematically about how a brand icon system holds together - from the grid and stroke weight to the personality and meaning of each symbol. You will work independently but also collaborate closely with product designers, engineers, marketing, and product staff, providing art direction to other artists and designers.
Responsibilities
Lead and maintain Instagram's iconography system - developing new icons, refreshing existing ones, and ensuring consistency across the full library
• Drive Instagram's Illustration and Iconography Intake program - fielding requests from cross-functional partners, prioritizing work, and delivering high-quality assets on schedule
• Define and evolve icon and illustration style guidelines, ensuring they align with Instagram's broader brand identity system
• Concept, iterate, polish, and deliver final icon and illustration assets in production-ready formats (Figma, SVG, Adobe Illustrator - live-stroke and expanded versions)
• Partner with product design and engineering teams to ship icons and illustrations in the product, ensuring assets work at all sizes and contexts
• Present design rationale and system-level decisions to stakeholders, building alignment and defending craft standards
• Identify opportunities to innovate on the icon/illustration system - improving efficiency, introducing new styles, or leveraging AI to accelerate production
• Provide art direction and mentorship to other illustrators and designers contributing to the icon system
Minimum Qualifications
• 8+ years of experience in iconography, illustration, or visual design with a focus on systematic icon/illustration programs
• A portfolio showcasing high-quality icon systems, illustration work, and brand visual assets - demonstrating both systematic thinking and individual craft quality
• Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Figma, and vector-based design workflows
• Experience defining and scaling icon or illustration systems across large product ecosystems with multiple surfaces
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple concurrent requests, and deliver production-ready assets with clean file organization
• Strong understanding of designing for constrained, space-limited product environments across platforms (iOS, Android, web)
• Experience presenting work clearly to stakeholders, inviting feedback, and iterating efficiently
Preferred Qualifications
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
• Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
• Familiarity with accessibility standards for iconography (sizing, contrast, and labeling)
• Experience delivering high-volume icon libraries for software products at scale
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
• Knowledge of UX/UI design principles and how iconography integrates with product design systems
• Experience with animation or motion design for icons (Lottie, SVG animation, After Effects)
