# Cristina Whiteley

> Strategic Product Design Leader | 15+ yrs Driving Global Experiences (Visa, Facebook, Genentech) | Expertise in storytelling and communication | Award-Winning Background in Film & Storytelling (Academy Award, Life of Pi)

Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/cristina

Senior Product Design Leader with 15+ years of experience driving strategy, innovation, and team growth at global scale. I led Visa’s first global invoicing platform handling billions in transactions, directed UX for emerging technologies, shaped cross-platform experiences for WhatsApp’s 2.5B+ users, and built and scaled design practices and teams at Genentech. 

Drawing on my background in Design, Creative Writing, Digital Media, and an Academy Award–winning film project (Life of Pi), I use storytelling to influence collaborators, align teams, and craft strategies that connect business goals with user needs.

Today, I’m focused on opportunities where I can drive product strategy, lead high-performing teams, and shape the future of digital experiences at the intersection of design and emerging technologies like AI.

## Work Experience
### Lead Product Designer - Director Level @ Visa
Jan 2022 – Present | California, United States
Led and scaled design teams at Visa across high-impact, technically complex initiatives—EV charging, global client invoicing, payment portals, and a variety of client/employee portals. Brought deep strategic thinking to product and UX decisions, shaping long-term vision and execution plans. Mentored designers in strategy, research, and execution while fostering strong cross-functional alignment. Championed design maturity through new processes, career development efforts, and global collaboration initiatives.

### Product Designer @ WhatsApp
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area
Led design for high-impact, cross-platform features serving 2.5B+ WhatsApp users. Delivered scalable solutions under complex design and technical constraints, achieving 80%+ success in usability testing. Improved team efficiency by streamlining stakeholder collaboration across Design, Product, Engineering, Research, and Data. Mentored a Lead UX Researcher and shaped research strategy to align product goals with user needs.

### Senior UX Leader (mission-driven work on sabbatical) @ Entrepreneurial Sabbatical
Jan 2018 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco, California, United States
Leveled up as a design leader by taking on high-impact roles with mission-driven startups—building teams, scaling UX processes, and driving strategic product decisions. This strategic sabbatical deepened my expertise in entrepreneurial thinking, rapid team building, and end-to-end product strategy.

Key Leadership & Strategy Accomplishments:

Led Design & UX Strategy for a nonprofit startup as part of the core leadership team, partnering directly with the CEO to shape company direction and product vision.

Built and mentored a remote team of 11 Junior UX Designers, establishing growth frameworks and accountability systems that fostered both individual development and team cohesion.

Architected scalable UX processes and accessibility standards from zero to one, creating cross-functional collaboration frameworks that supported rapid organizational growth.

Served as UX Advisor for a leadership coaching startup, driving experience strategy and design that directly impacted client outcomes and business growth.

Explored entrepreneurial ventures that expanded my product thinking, strategic design capabilities, and understanding of building sustainable user experiences outside traditional corporate constraints.

This focused period of mission-driven work has enhanced my ability to operate at the intersection of design, strategy, and leadership—making me uniquely positioned to drive both user experience excellence and business impact in my next role.

### Lead UX and Design Strategist @ Roche
Jan 2014 – Jan 2018
Leading UX for a global department of 300 cross-functional IT professionals, serving approximately 50,000 end-users.  


UX Lead and Practitioner:
Overseeing quality and implementation of all UX work across department 
User and stakeholder research
Presenting research so that it resonates with stakeholders and engineers
Guiding decision-making based on user research
Wireframing
Prototyping
User-testing
High-fidelity mockups
Leading co-creation sessions so that our designs would leverage knowledge from multiple areas of expertise and be feasible for our Engineers
Seeing through implementation
Mentoring UX Designers 
Establishing processes and workflows of design team
Giving feedback on design work and ensuring UX effectiveness 
Also led and created cross-disciplinary global team of 10 UX Advocates to spread our UX message (business value) across every region of our IT organization (5+ countries). Training/coaching each Advocate while leveraging their experience to strengthen our UX Strategy.


UX Leadership & Business Strategy:
Create global business strategy and organizational structure for UX across all regions (NA, EMEA, APAC, LATAM).  
Ensure UX vendors, in-house teams, and cross-functional employees align with our departmental UX Strategy.
Engage and guide executive leadership, stakeholders, and business partners in UX as a strategic model for IT success.
Tailor large, complex information into audience-appropriate messaging
Hold workshops to engage cross-functional teams in the UX mindset and process.  
Monitor the employee experience of engaging with UX Design in projects, strategize to ensure organizational UX Maturity growth each year.
Created online department-wide UX training.


Co-created Genentech & Roche UX Community, to spread the word about the business benefits of UX Design.  It’s open to any department and any role interested in UX Design. 

Member of Design Thinking Group for Roche.

### Associate Lead, Technical Director and Designer (Feature films) @ Rhythm & Hues
Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 | Los Angeles, CA
Proud member of Oscar-winning team, responsible for resolving highly complex enterprise software challenges to create stunning visuals, creating improved business process workflows and distributing to global teams, collaborating with development, collaborating with management in cross-disciplines. Evangelized UX improvements for enterprise solutions with highly complex technology in global multi-million dollar projects.

Life of Pi  (Oscar 2013, Visual Effects)
Alvin & the Chipmunks III
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Hop
Devil May Cry (Commercial)

### Design Consultant @ Cristina Whiteley
Jan 2007 – Jan 2010 | Los Angeles, CA
Projects:  print, web, award-winning music video, television & film

- Independent design consultant for various industries requiring digital media design and planning
- Strategic planning to align design with business goals, tight timelines, budgets and resources
- Worked independently while enrolled full-time in 2nd college degree on full scholarship (Digital Media)

### Designer (Print and Digital Media) @ Accenture (through Schawk)
Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 | Los Angeles, CA
- In-house, sole designer for multimillion dollar projects with agency’s top client, Accenture (Southern California)
- Turned 100-page text documents into branded, attractive, easy-to-follow presentations with quick turnaround
- Served as an integral part of Accenture's project teams & meetings to accurately interpret complex business concepts and convert into digestible graphics and language
- UX sketching & wireframing
- Oversaw project management for all Southern California creative services
- Liaised with Executives of several departments, locally and internationally, for all assignments 
- Provided support to remote coworkers across the US
- Utilized Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, PowerPoint, and traditional production finishing skills
- Proofread all outgoing materials and contributed new or edited language

### English Teacher and Digital Media Teacher (adults) @ EF Education First
Jan 2005 – Jan 2006 | Cal State Northridge, CA
Taught: English (all levels), Design Principles, Photography, Layout Design, Film, Editing, Drama 

- Successfully pitched, created, and became Lead for new Digital Media Department
- Started as English Teacher to hundreds of adult professionals from several countries, advanced to teaching custom curriculum for advanced students in:  Digital Media, Design, and Drama
- Authored course material and curriculum in English, Design, and Drama
- Coordinated school-wide talent show with several varying personalities, language capabilities, and talents

### Development Coordinator @ National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Jan 2001 – Jan 2002 | Los Angeles, CA
Development Coordinator to VP of Development. Drafted and edited grant proposals & presentations, streamlined Donor Outreach projects, created databases and mail merge setups for heavy mass mailings to donors, strategized to define fund-raising techniques.

### Executive Assistant @ Various businesses
Jan 1998 – Jan 2001 | San Jose, CA
Executive Administrative Assistant / Office Manager in contracted positions at companies such as Deloitte & Touche, Samsung Electronics, and Stanford Hospital. Right hand to VPs of Marketing and Communications. Event planning, employee reimbursement, Accounts Payable/Receivable, office supply inventory, designed more effective systems for office procedures, created templates and databases, proofread proposals and presentations, extensive scheduling. Collaborated with staff to create, edit, and refine spec sheets, brochures, and ads. Coordinated with executives on a daily basis to manage multiple tasks and special projects.


## Education
### B.A. in English, Creative Writing, and Teaching.
UCLA

### User Experience Design
BAVAC

### A.A. in Digital Media
FIDM

### Professional Studies in 3D Graphics:  Lighting & Rendering
Gnomon


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cristinawhiteley

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Source: https://flows.cv/cristina
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/cristina/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-02-23