Manager, Brand Design

Articulate is the leading SaaS provider of online training solutions for the new world of work. Our industry-leading course creation platform makes it easy for organizations to build engaging, custom content to effectively onboard new hires, stay compliant, upskill employees, and more.   As a Manager, Brand Design—you’ll lead a team of designers, ensuring strong execution against established brand direction and guiding them through the process of conceptualizing, executing, and delivering work that aligns with brand and business goals.   Our ideal candidate is strong in their design thinking with strong strategic acumen and mastery of design tools. You ensure brand consistency and high-quality execution, excel in diverse design styles, communicate effectively, iterate quickly, and collaborate seamlessly with cross-functional teams. Proficient in planning, identifying design patterns, you balance individual and managerial responsibilities, excel in stakeholder presentations, and foster a positive, collaborative environment that emphasizes both individual and team success. You value innovation, experimentation, and are passionate about leveraging new tools and technologies including AI in your team’s workflow. What You'll Do:

Team Management and Mentorship

Lead and guide a team of brand designers ranging from junior to senior, reinforcing established strategic and creative direction while fostering growth through constructive feedback

Provide hands-on mentorship, helping team members hone their creative skills and balance individual project priorities

Communicates with a calm, reliable leadership voice that builds team confidence, eases day-to-day anxiety, and supports a positive, motivated team environment

Foster a culture of experimentation, rapid ideation, and comfort with AI tooling in strategic applications for increased velocity and impact across brand creative

Ensure team members are operating at the appropriate level of autonomy, with Senior II designers leading project scoping and execution

Design Thinking & Storytelling

Translate established marketing and brand direction into actionable design guidance for your team, ensuring clarity and consistency in execution

Manage discovery and design decisions to align user needs with business goals, ensuring impactful and strategic outcomes

Utilize systems thinking to create scalable, consistent visual assets that support campaign and brand objectives

Leverage AI tooling in strategic ways to accelerate experimentation, production, and enable more creative flexibility.

Design Execution

Guide the execution of impactful design solutions aligned to established creative direction for marketing, digital, and campaign assets that reinforce brand identity and support GTM goals.

Work efficiently with design systems, templates, repeatable processes, and guidelines to ensure scalability and consistency

Support scoping and delegate complex projects into simple, manageable design tasks that the team can execute effectively.

Identify when external creative partners are needed, defining criteria, reviewing portfolios/capabilities, making final selection decisions.

If managing a team of less than 6, balance player coach responsibilities as needed

Leverage AI tooling in strategic ways to accelerate experimentation, production, and enable more creative flexibility 

Cross-functional  Collaboration

Participate in planning conversations with GTM partners to understand priorities and ensure your team’s work is aligned.

Collaborate with brand and messaging design leaders to ensure consistent execution against established priorities.

Identifying when external creative partners are needed, defining criteria, reviewing portfolios/capabilities, making final selection decisions.

Collaborate with design leaders in product design, messaging design, and brand design to unlock better ways to connect the full customer journey 

Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure your team’s design deliverables align to established brand direction and support day-to-day business needs.

Work closely with the Messaging Design and GTM partners to facilitate cohesive and productive brainstorming sessions.

Team Citizenship

Actively participate in team discussions and brainstorming sessions, fostering a positive, inclusive environment.

Lead efforts to evolve and scale design processes in collaboration with Creative Ops and Brand leadership that support creativity and alignment across disciplines.

Regularly share industry insights, design trends, and best practices to help the team stay current and innovative.

Support colleagues by providing constructive feedback, offering assistance when needed, and ensuring smooth team operations.

What You Should Have:

5-7+ years of professional creative experience, with 1-3+ years in management

Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, or related field

Expertise in building strategic concepts and campaigns, and codifying visual assets across tactics

Passionate about end-to-end customer experience, integrating brand and product

Skilled in storytelling and weaving complex assets into cohesive narratives

Proficient with a variety of creative tools including Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Notion with ability to make informed technical recommendations

Avid user of AI tooling across use cases both within creative work and other opportunity areas

Knowledgeable in user-centered design principles, UI design, and best practices

Ability to translate business objectives into customer-focused design solutions

Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire cross-functional teams

Proactive in improving processes and maximizing team efficiency

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