Director, Visual Design

About the role

The Director, Visual Design, is the leader of the Visual Design discipline, responsible for defining the vision, standards, and future direction of design across the organization. Part visionary, part practitioner, and entirely uncompromising when it comes to quality, you serve as both a strategic leader and a hands-on creative partner who elevates the work, the team, and the discipline. Working closely with Creative Directors, Motion, Production, and cross-functional leadership, you will shape how design is practiced across campaigns, digital experiences, product-inspired marketing, and emerging creative platforms. You are responsible for establishing a clear point of view on craft, design systems, AI-enabled workflows, and the evolving role of design in modern creative organizations. You are a tastemaker with an intuitive understanding of culture, technology, and visual communication. You know how to balance creative ambition with operational excellence, helping teams produce work that is both aesthetically exceptional and built to scale. Through mentorship, discipline leadership, and a relentless commitment to craft, you create an environment where designers can do the best work of their careers. As a member of the creative leadership team, you will play a critical role in shaping the long-term evolution of the design discipline. You will help define future capabilities, champion emerging technologies and AI-assisted workflows, and ensure the organization continues to raise the bar for design excellence across every touchpoint.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the vision, standards, and long-term direction of the Visual Design discipline.
• Establish a culture of design excellence, setting a high bar for craft, systems thinking, usability, and execution across all work.
• Lead, mentor, and inspire Associate Design Directors, Principal Visual Designers, and broader design teams, helping develop talent and future leaders within the organization.
• Partner closely with Creative Directors, Motion, Production, and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure design is integrated effectively across campaigns, experiences, and emerging platforms.
• Serve as the senior authority on design systems, visual consistency, and scalable creative production.
• Champion the adoption of AI-assisted design workflows, automation, and emerging creative technologies that improve efficiency, scalability, and creative impact.
• Establish the long-term roadmap for design capabilities, including talent development, workflow innovation, design systems, and future-facing creative technologies.
• Provide strategic guidance on complex creative initiatives, helping teams navigate ambiguity and elevate the quality of design solutions.
• Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, helping communicate the value of design and guide organizations toward successful outcomes.
• Continuously evolve processes, workflows, and ways of working that enable teams to deliver exceptional work at scale.
• WHAT YOU BRING:
• 8+ years of proven experience in design and interactive work for leading brands, including 2+ years in a leadership role.
• Bachelor's Degree in Design, Visual Arts, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Mastery of design tools, including Adobe Creative Suite and Figma (including components, variants, and auto layout), and familiarity with essential collaboration tools (e.g., Hubspot, Google Suite, Slack).
• Strong knowledge and experience in visual design. Experience developing and maintaining a robust design system.
• Deep AI workflow knowledge.
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic vision and creative inspiration to large, diverse teams.
• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills with the ability to clearly articulate complex information to clients and internal stakeholders.
• Highly detail-oriented, proactive, comfortable navigating complex organizations, and focused on strategic problem-solving and process efficiency.
• WHAT DO WE OFFER?
• We are a collaborative, open-door, best-idea-wins environment that fosters personal and company growth and has fun doing it. Here is a snapshot of our benefits package:
• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401k plan, plus matching

Benefits

Additional Information

WHY DEPT®? We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world's most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA. We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter. At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

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