--- title: 'Lead Graphic Designer at Ello' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-graphic-designer-ello-san-francisco-0xdxvx8qpy8e' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Lead Graphic Designer at Ello - **Company:** Ello - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Posted:** 2026-09-02 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/ello/cddfc034-3c77-409a-8d31-568e477298ec ## Job description Job Description Lead end-to-end design across product, brand, and user experience for children’s education app, including product research, prototyping, playtesting, iteration, and developer handoff to create engaging, educational, and conversion-focused experiences. Conduct brand and user research to define personas and inform design decisions, while continuously expanding product features in collaboration with literacy experts and engineers. Develop and maintain a cohesive brand identity and design systems through market research, concept creation, and testing, ensuring consistency across all touchpoints. Design and optimize web interfaces and onboarding flows using UI/UX principles to enhance usability and conversion, partnering closely with marketing and development teams. Create and animate brand characters and UI assets to drive engagement, while also supporting marketing and internal initiatives through landing pages, printed materials, and cross-functional design guidance to maintain brand consistency. ## Requirements Bachelor’s or foreign equivalent in Graphic Design, Human Computer Interaction or closely related design field and 2 years experience as Graphic Designer, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Product Designer, Illustrator, Animator or closely related role. Alternatively, will accept four years experience as Graphic Designer, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Product Designer, Illustrator, Animator or closely related. The position requires the following special skills: Two (2) years experience with: (i) Web Design; (ii) Brand research, market analysis, brand identity, concepts and implementation; (iii) Adobe Creative Suite - Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Acrobat; and (iv) Figma and LottieFiles; One (1) year experience with (i) Product Design, including user research, wireframing, prototyping, interaction design, and development of user flows for digital products or platforms; (ii) UI/UX design, including prototyping and user flows, preparing assets for testing; and (iii) Illustration and animation work. Any suitable combination of education, training or experience is acceptable. Salary $161,387 to $200,000 per annum Work Location 24 Shotwell Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Apply To apply, please submit your application through this link https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/ello/cddfc034-3c77-409a-8d31-568e477298ec/application. At Ello, diversity is a moral imperative and a competitive advantage. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, skin color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We plan and structure our interviews to assess skills and experience directly. If you need accommodations throughout the interview process, please contact recruiting@ello.com. ## About Ello ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Ello provides an AI-powered reading coach for children in kindergarten through third grade, using speech recognition and adaptive learning to improve literacy. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series unknown; raised $15M, Y Combinator Winter 2020 batch) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: 2020 - **Founders**: Catalin Voss (CTO), Dr. Elizabeth Adams (CEO), Tom Sayer (CXO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Educational technology (EdTech) / AI-powered literacy - **Target customers**: B2C – parents of early readers (K–3rd grade); also expanding into schools and international markets - **Mission statement**: "To unlock the limitless potential within all children." ## Products & Services - **Ello App (AI Reading Coach)**: A subscription-based mobile app that listens to children read aloud, provides real-time corrections, encouragement, and adaptive book recommendations. Uses proprietary Adaptive Learn™ technology and world-leading child speech recognition. - **Decodable E-Books**: A library of exclusive, phonics-leveled e-books designed to match a child’s reading ability. A free public library of 700+ e-books is also available. - **Adaptive Learn™ Engine**: The proprietary AI system that personalizes instruction based on each child’s performance and interests. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available - **Key Metric**: Total Funding – $15M (raised in September 2023, per TechCrunch) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (Winter 2020 batch); lead investor(s) in the $15M round not specified in available sources - **Growth Signals**: Team size of ~45 employees (as of YC profile); expanding internationally with a Product Manager role based in Nairobi, Kenya; recognized as a Public Benefit Corporation; cited as "world's first 1:1 AI teacher" and "world leading child speech recognition." ## Competitive Advantages - **Proprietary AI engine (Adaptive Learn™)** that adapts to each child’s ability and interests in real time - **World-leading child speech recognition** – built specifically for young voices and reading patterns - **Science of Reading** – all content and coaching methods are grounded in decades of phonics and literacy research - **Decodable books** – books are leveled to match the child’s phonics stage, unlike most children’s e-books - **Evidence-based instruction** – co-founded by a clinical psychologist specializing in child development ## Strategic Focus - **Global expansion** – establishing a presence in Nairobi, Kenya (job posting for Product Manager) - **Deepening AI capabilities** – improving the 1:1 AI teacher experience and expanding the Adaptive Learn™ system - **Scaling content library** – adding more decodable e-books and supporting pre-readers and higher grade levels - **Building the team** – actively hiring for AI/ML, design, and product roles to support growth ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven**: Everyone at Ello is dedicated to solving one of the most important issues – ensuring all children learn to read, with a strong sense of purpose. - **Culture of Care**: Small, tight-knit team that values honesty, empathy, and diversity; team members are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work. - **Impact & Delight**: Work combines urgent social impact with making learning fun for children. - **Work policy**: Hybrid/office presence in San Francisco and Nairobi; roles are listed with location requirements (e.g., Product Manager in Nairobi, AI/ML Engineer in SF). - **Notable perks**: Not explicitly listed, but the company is a Public Benefit Corporation, and the engineering culture emphasizes AI/ML innovation and real-world impact. ## Sources 1. [ello.com](https://www.ello.com/) 2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/ello) 3. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ello) 4. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/07/ai-reading-coach-startup-ello-raises-15m/) 5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/elloinc) ## Other roles at Ello - [Creative Strategy Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/creative-strategy-lead-ello-san-francisco-9149ve2bpbhp) — San Francisco, CA - [Kenya Growth Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/kenya-growth-lead-ello-nairobi-x6sw87kcakc1) — Nairobi, Kenya - [AI/ML Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-ml-engineer-ello-san-francisco-a57d125hq59c) — San Francisco, CA - [General / Opportunistic Application](https://feeny.ai/job/general-opportunistic-application-ello-san-francisco-dxz9m8h18kvy) — San Francisco, CA - [Lead Graphic Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-graphic-designer-bjak-new-york-19hc4g1gjktq) — New York, NY - [Lead Graphic Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-graphic-designer-bjak-seoul-1f218s0z998p) — Seoul, South Korea - [Lead Graphic Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-graphic-designer-nord-security-vilnius-7x4qp0x4ytwm) — Vilnius, Lithuania