Manager, Brand Design

Job Description

Articulate is the leading SaaS provider of online training solutions for the new world of work. Our industry-leading software and services make it simple for enterprises and SMBs to develop, deliver, and analyze online training that’s engaging and effective. We're in search of a Manager of Brand Design, a role suited for a creative thinker deeply passionate about design, storytelling, and empowering creatives across disciplines. Leading a small team of designers, you'll guide them in understanding, conceptualizing, executing, and delivering industry-leading creative that aligns with our brand and business objectives. Additionally, you'll actively contribute hands-on work while leveraging your expertise and strategic insights. Our ideal candidate champions design thinking, strategic acumen, and proficiency in modern design tools to maintain brand consistency and quality. They excel in diverse styles, communicate effectively, iterate swiftly, and collaborate seamlessly. Proficient in identifying design patterns, they balance individual and managerial duties, excel in stakeholder presentations, and foster a positive, collaborative environment while mentoring peers.

What you'll do:

• Overall Impact
• Lead, inspire, and mentor a small team of brand designers to nurture their skills, and foster growth while partnering with other managers on the team
• Lead the advancement and broadening of design problem-solving, utilizing proficiency in brand design systems, execution of imagery systems, conceptual development, and creative strategies to pave the path forward
• Facilitate collaboration between our design leaders specializing in motion, .com, and identity work, fostering a holistic approach to brand iteration
• Communicate complex concepts to stakeholders representing strategic and user-focused viewpoints
• Estimate work timelines, prioritize efforts across multiple verticals, and drive work forward
• Steer design decision-making to meet the needs of users while also aligning with our business goals, measuring solutions and outcomes against providing customer value
• Break down complex projects into simple systems that can be effectively designed and maintained by less experienced designers
• Collaborative Thought Partner
• You'll collaborate with our other brand design managers to influence our holistic growth strategy and champion brand design as a crucial element of our organization.
• Collaborate with Creative Operations and our team to refine design processes, streamline design team operations, and enhance overall team culture
• Work closely with our copywriting team to facilitate cohesive and productive brainstorming sessions for work that we are responsible for
• Collaborate with our marketing partners to craft groundbreaking storytelling narratives that drive engagement and guide users seamlessly from discovery to purchase.
• Art Direction & Agency Management
• Coordinate with the Director of Brand Design in overseeing and managing relationships with external creative agencies, ensuring seamless communication and collaboration
• Guide and develop multi-touchpoint campaigns and growth asks in our quest to grow fast and ensure we optimize the top-of-the-funnel
• Build cohesive and on-brand imagery assets that can be utilized and refined across several different types of asset development
• Ensure big-picture thinking as we continue to iterate on our brand guidelines and imagery systems
• Systems Thinking, Storytelling, and Concept Development
• Expertise in operationalizing systems thinking within imagery, graphics, and storytelling for campaigns, advertisements, and marketing assets will serve to integrate our work across various team verticals (motion, content, UI/UX, identity)
• Ability to express and communicate a brand through distinct graphics, patterns, motion, and interactions as we are at a juncture in which we are iterating and defining these components to be more clearly codified
• Identify and codify how we may push the boundaries of our illustration and photography style and begin to map and develop clean go-to toolkits
• Partner with the motion design team in how we may deliver, define, and refine motion in our storytelling capabilities
• Identify with our design team how we may isolate patterns and bring life to them across story-telling moments such as campaigns and advertisements
• Collaborate on expanding, evolving, defining, and documenting flexible design systems that achieve bar-raising quality and consistency for the brand at scale
• Work with and iterate upon our illustration style to develop patterns and codify these patterns to be go-to solutions at any given moment
• Brand Guidelines
• Partner with the creative team leadership to iterate, optimize, and develop a distinctive brand with a cohesive set of guidelines
• Ideate, iterate, and help breathe new life into our brand and its guidelines so they are rooted in strategy as our company and our product grow
• Team Management and Mentorship:
• Provide thoughtful feedback and identify areas for improvement in brand design critiques to drive high-quality, iterative, and customer-focused design
• Support and motivate the team to manage deadlines in collaboration with marketing product design and copywriting partners to deliver against roadmap goals reliably
• Give guidance that unblocks others
• Scope and define work into milestones and timeframes
• Team Citizenship
• Push forward the craft of brand design and systems thinking with an eye on industry trends and best practices
• Make a significant impact on the process of how design work is done, the operations of the design team, and the overall team culture
• Assist with finding new design talent and guiding junior-mid level peers

What you should have:

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, or related field
• 8+ years of professional creative experience with a wealth of creative knowledge and passion for keeping a pulse on design trends and the competitive landscape, at least 3+ years of management experience
• T-shaped creative with mastery level expertise in building out strategic concepts, and campaigns as well as codifying visual assets across tactics.
• Passionate about end-to-end customer experience holistic of brand and product
• An excellent ability to tell a story and weave a complex landscape of assets into a beautiful narrative
• Understanding of user-centered design principles, UI design principles, and best practices
• Ability to think strategically and translate business objectives into customer-focused design solutions
• Leadership, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence and inspire cross-functional teams and stakeholders
• A compassionate doer who seeks to improve our processes and regularly works to identify areas to maximize team efficiency
• You are resilient, reliable, and optimistic

Nice to haves:

• Previous experience working in a SaaS or software product-led company
• Familiarity with image design systems and digital design systems and their implementation to scale design efforts

$126,100 - $189,100 a year The pay range for this position is $126,100 to $189,100 for all US locations. Articulate takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs. This position is also bonus eligible. Articulate also offers a robust suite of benefits, check out the website for a full list. About us Articulate Global, LLC, is the leading SaaS provider of creator platforms for online workplace training. Founded by Adam Schwartz in 2002, Articulate provides creator tools and services that make it simple for enterprises and SMBs to develop, deliver, and analyze online workplace training that’s engaging and effective. Increasingly, organizations must reskill employees for ever-changing remote and hybrid work environments, create learning cultures that attract and retain employees in a tight labor market, and use training to build more equitable, empowering, and engaging workplaces. Articulate helps organizations address these critical business needs with its creator platform for workplace training. Articulate 360—a suite of creator tools for online courses—was named the 7th most-loved product in the world by TrustRadius in 2021. And Rise —an all-in-one online training system that makes online training easy to create, enjoyable to take, and simple to manage—is the first creator platform for SMBs and departments within the enterprise. Articulate has more than 118,000 customers in 170 countries and counts all 100 of the Fortune 100 companies as customers. Named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces 2022 and a leader in building a human-centered organization , Articulate is guided by a commitment to provide the best value to customers, do right by employees, and create an equitable, empowering workplace for all. As a human-centered organization, we honor people’s humanity knowing that each person’s unique history, vulnerabilities, and social location inform how we show up with one another. We embrace our connectedness, aware that what we do and say impacts others. We give each other grace because we are all works in progress, learning and evolving every day. And we take responsibility for ourselves and are serious about our accountability to each other. In all we do, we strive to create an equitable, sustainable, and empowering workplace while we drive results for the business and make a positive impact in the world. Read more about our values here . Articulate Global, LLC is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All employment decisions at Articulate are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications directly related to the job, without regard to any protected characteristic or class, including, but not limited to, race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), or any other basis protected by law. Qualified candidates with criminal histories will be considered for this role in a manner consistent with applicable law. Articulate is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation related to the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at [email protected]. (For information about Articulate's privacy practices, please view our Privacy Notice ) As an organization, we participate in E-Verify . Apply for this job