Design Director

Job Title: Design Director

Location: New York, NY

Salary: $130-140k

Position Overview:
The Design Director will play a pivotal role in shaping the visual identity and creative direction of the Bubble brand. You’ll lead a talented team of designers and collaborate closely with marketing, product development, and executive leadership to ensure cohesive, impactful design that aligns with our mission and resonates with a global audience. Your leadership will drive the creative excellence that supports our product launches, digital presence, packaging, and overall brand experience.

The Design Director reports to the VP of Creative & Brand.

Key Responsibilities:

• Creative Leadership: Lead and inspire the design team to produce innovative, on-brand, and best-in-class design across all touchpoints (packaging, digital, print, packaging, retail, etc.). 
• Be a clear delegator, knowing when to join in to be hands-on.
• Management: Mentor and guide the design team, providing feedback and fostering a collaborative, innovative, and growth-oriented environment. Be someone who motivates our junior people, someone for them to look up to and learn from. 
• Have a very strong point of view, being open to other people’s ideas. 
• Brand Vision & Strategy: Collaborate with the VP of Brand & Creative to define and evolve Bubble’s creative vision, ensuring consistency and clarity across global markets. Be a master of our audience and the category, with strong ideas as to how Bubble can continue to evolve the brand.
• Empathetic Design Philosophy: Maintain a strong focus on the consumer experience, ensuring that our designs resonate with our target audience and enhance the customer journey, both online and offline.
  • Be an expert in our audience, demonstrating expertise in strategic design over personal taste.
• Craft & Design Execution: You are a master of your craft, with a strong ability to weigh in on the other creative disciplines. You will oversee the design and development of key brand assets, including packaging, website, retail displays, experiences.
• Stay on top of industry trends, emerging design technologies, and consumer insights to ensure Bubble’s design language remains fresh, modern, and competitive.
• Quality Control: Ensure all design materials meet the highest standards of quality, consistency, and attention to detail, and uphold brand guidelines across all channels.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product, retail, marketing, and e-commerce teams to ensure seamless execution of design across all platforms and touchpoints.
• Bring your presence, to develop as a creative leader who’s starting to master great communication skills. 
• Maintain a high standard for the work, no matter the timelines or restrictions
• Adaptable: Collaborative work style You can adapt to every situation and challenge, and you’re very comfortable with ambiguity, creating clear paths forward for the larger design team.
• Initiative: You are business-oriented, understanding the impact of design. You push projects forward without hand-holding or play-by-play instructions.

Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience, with at least 3-5 years managing a design team. 
• A strong portfolio demonstrating experience working on modern CPG brands across various mediums, including 3D, packaging, digital, and print.
• Expertise in design software, including Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Sketchup, and other relevant tools.
• A deep understanding of user-centered design principles and experience creating engaging consumer experiences, particularly for a global audience.
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment while maintaining a high level of creativity and attention to detail.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design concepts and strategies to both creative and non-creative stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of print, retail environments, digital marketing, e-commerce, and social media best practices as they relate to design and brand identity.