Senior Designer

We were founded on the belief that the world needs more creativity. It’s what drives all our decision-making. There is just so much ineffective, badly crafted work in the world that never gets noticed, has zero impact and is a waste of client budgets. We are here to change all that. When you truly embrace creativity as a competitive advantage, you will see it transform your world and your business. We’ve witnessed this over and over with our own clients. And, as a purpose-driven company, we also use our creativity to do good in the world by supporting causes we truly believe in.

With 180 staff in New York, Toronto, and Vancouver, Z.A.K. is a magnet for top global talent. Want to change your world as a marketer? Let’s fight sameness together.

At Z.A.K, the Design Team is committed to creating breakthrough products, experiences, and services We’re looking for a Senior Designer to bring their penchant for problem solving and serious design chops to life across a range of projects for emerging start-ups to some of the most globally recognized brands. 

As a senior team member, you are an accomplished visual designer with a track record of creating unique brand experiences. You are just as comfortable shaping the larger strategy and identifying the key opportunities for meaningful innovation as you are pushing the creative boundaries of how a brand behaves and visually comes to life across all brand touchpoints. You love collaborating with multi-disciplinary designers, copywriters, art directors, motion artists, and strategists.

You also know how to distill the magic of an idea down to its most compelling element and can communicate it to nearly any audience. You can bring people along and keep things simple on the surface, even if they’re complicated under the hood. You enjoy championing the discipline on a program, as well as inspiring and mentoring people along the way.

Other things about you that might come in handy: 

• You strive to solve for a real human need in addition to delivering brand value.
• You know the difference between an idea and an execution.
• You are comfortable with building a brand from scratch and with evolving a brand into something more relevant and meaningful.
• You approach all projects with strong conceptual thinking in visual design.
• You love collaborating and have a strong drive to up overall standards of design creativity.
• You’re comfortable with iterating ideas as well as shifting approaches, situations and priorities.
• You can lead key visual design tasks across all stages of the program, developing initial design directions, establishing a point of view on final direction, and producing polished final deliverables.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and codify design language systems that enable a consistent brand voice and compelling interactions across brand touchpoints.
• Participation in hands-on user research and/or expert interviews to understand the driving needs of the customers is a huge plus.
• Voice your opinion and present your design decisions internally and to clients, helping clients reframe their original thinking when needed.
• Conceptualize and execute design work across experiential touchpoints, including print, retail, packaging, communication, physical and digital.
• Always look for ways to push for design innovation/excellence within the time/money parameters.
• Collaborate with team members, incorporate feedback and adapt your work with a positive attitude.
• Inspire and mentor other team members to elevate the design aesthetic of any project.
• Ability to lead client projects and liaise with client directly.
• Balance multiple projects and manage your own time.
• Work under pressure, taking concepts to final execution within tight deadlines.
• Experience in digital with an understanding of user needs, behaviour, and tasks to guide UI designs that inform navigation, data visualization, and content organization decisions is an asset.

Requirements:

• Completion of relevant education in graphic design.
• 8+ years of professional experience in graphic design.
• Strong design aesthetic, and a thirst to grow and create compelling design work. 
• A passion for design, typography, creative and brand thinking.
• Great eye for detail and a passion for problem solving.
• High proficiency in Adobe Suite, plus, Sketch and Figma is an asset.
• Ability to lead a project and team.
• A conceptual thinker with an eye for compelling visual design and a portfolio full of smart solutions across a range of projects.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills – ability to effectively pitch design concepts and articulate design decisions to senior clients.
• Experience in human-centered design is a huge plus.

Zulu Alpha Kilo is an equal opportunity employer. It prohibits discrimination based on age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and any other legally protected class in accordance with applicable federal, provincial and local laws. Zulu Alpha Kilo is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible workplace. If you are contacted for an interview and require accommodation during the interviewing process, please let us know.

Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Thank you for your interest in Zulu.