Open to Senior Design Lead & Director roles
I lead brand and marketing design, and the systems that scale it.
I’m Phil, a design leader with 20+ years across brand, marketing, web, and digital experiences, and 8+ years leading designers at 2U / edX. I hold a high bar for craft, build the systems that let great work scale across many brands, and bring AI into the workflow where it genuinely helps.
20+
years in brand, marketing, web, and digital design
90+
partner brands supported by one multi-brand system
30%
increase in design velocity after moving teams to Figma
50+
digital launches led or supported
What I lead
Four things I’m hired to get right.
01
Brand & creative direction
Deciding what’s worth making and why, then holding a high craft bar across web, marketing, and campaign work for 90+ partner brands.
02
People & design teams
Hands-on critique, coaching, and real career paths. I stay close to the work and grow designers into senior and principal roles.
03
Systems that scale the work
Libraries, templates, tokens, and governance that help teams launch faster across many brands without losing quality or consistency.
04
AI-powered creative workflows
Bringing AI into ideation, research, content, visual exploration, and production, with the review standards and training that make it reliable.
Selected work
Brands, launches, and the systems behind them.
Design Systems · 2U
Scaling design systems across 90+ partner brands
When 2U merged four business lines, I founded its first Design Systems team and built a multi-brand system, plus the training, governance, and culture that keep it alive.
25% design efficiency
30% faster turnaround
30% less QA time
Design Systems · edX Enterprise
Scaling design foundations for edX Enterprise
A lean, adoption-first Figma system aligned to WordPress constraints, built with PMs and engineers rather than handed to them.
14% efficiency gain
Adoption trending to 100%
The starting point
Her biggest challenge wasn’t effort. It was fear of being wrong.
Design Management · 2U
Developing designers through craft, confidence, and trust
How I coached a cautious mid-level designer through two promotions to Principal Product Designer, and what it taught me about leading at scale.
2 promotions
Mid-level → Principal
How I lead
Craft and care aren’t a trade-off.
01
Stay close to the work
Design leaders should be in the critique, not just the status meeting. I coach on craft, not taste.
02
Create safety without lowering the bar
Growth needs both trust and challenge. People do brave work when it’s safe to be wrong early.
03
Meet designers where they are
Coaching is personal. I learn what each person wants from their career and shape the work around it.
04
Advocate, don’t just evaluate
Growth speeds up when leaders create opportunities and say people’s wins out loud, in the right rooms.
Kind words
From people I’ve led and worked beside.
About
A designer at heart who loves building teams.
I believe my success is measured by the success of my team. I set a high bar for craft and pair it with the most positive, growth-minded environment I can build.
I’m from South Texas and now live in Indianapolis with my wife, our two dogs Maple and Foxy, and Boogie the cat. Off the clock I’m making music, playing soccer, or looking for the nearest beach.
Lately I’m also helping teams adopt AI-assisted workflows, from ideation and research to visual exploration and production, so creative capacity grows without lowering the bar.
Experience
Senior Design Systems Manager
2U / edX
2018 – Now
Digital Design Manager
IDEA Public Schools
2014 – 2018
Owner & UI/UX Designer
Barrel Roll Creative
2012 – 2014
Web Designer
MPC Studios
2011 – 2012
BFA, Graphic Design
University of Texas–Pan American
Education
Let’s talk
I’m looking for my next Senior Design Lead or Design Director role: leading brand and marketing design, the people who make it, and the systems and AI-enabled workflows that help it scale.