Design Director

About Us

At Cast & Crew, we’ve empowered creativity and supported the global entertainment industry for decades. Together with our family of brands - Backstage, CAPS, Checks & Balances, Final Draft, Media Services, Sargent-Disc, and The TEAM Companies – we operate as a combined entertainment technology and services provider offering industry standard screenwriting accounting software, digital payroll products, data & reporting, and a host of creative tools.  The industry continues to move faster than ever, and the need for our expertise, our technology, and our people has never been greater.  We are a production’s best ally every step of the way. #OneCastOneCrew

About Backstage
Backstage matches creative projects with the best talent. We help staff over 50,000 creative projects a year in film, television, commercials, branded content, theater, experiential marketing and more.
At our core is a strong belief in breaking down barriers and providing direct access to the best talent in the creative industry. We’re a team of customer centric, analytical and creative problem solvers with a passion for helping our customers make amazing projects together. Role
The Director, Design and Brand is responsible for shaping, elevating, and safeguarding Backstage’s brand identity across all editorial and marketing touchpoints. In this highly collaborative and visible leadership role, you will set the creative vision, guide brand expression, and oversee the development of high-impact visual assets that support Backstage’s magazine, digital platforms, social channels, and marketing campaigns.
You will lead a high-performing in-house design team—along with freelancers and creative agencies as needed—ensuring exceptional creative quality, operational excellence, and consistent brand alignment. This role blends hands-on creative direction with strategic brand leadership, partnering closely with Editorial, Marketing, Product, and Video to ensure Backstage’s visual identity is modern, cohesive, and audience-driven.

What You’ll Do

Creative & Brand Leadership

• Develop, articulate, and execute a holistic creative vision and brand strategy for Backstage’s marketing campaigns, editorial properties, and content ecosystem.
• Own and evolve the Backstage style guide, including imagery guidelines, color systems, typography, illustration styles, and graphic design standards.
• Ensure a cohesive and compelling brand narrative across all platforms, including email, print, digital advertising, social media, video, events, and Backstage magazine.

Team Leadership & Creative Direction

• Lead, mentor, and empower a team of designers to produce world-class creative that meets strategic goals and elevates the brand.
• Provide thoughtful, constructive feedback and direction across concepting, layout, typography, and execution.
• Set clear creative expectations, workflows, and quality standards to drive efficiency and craft.

Execution Across Platforms

• Oversee end-to-end creative development for Backstage campaigns, editorial packages, and evergreen brand assets.
• Guide the creation of social templates, content graphics, email visuals, landing pages, print layouts, and ad units.
• Provide creative oversight for video graphic packages and motion assets across Backstage.com, YouTube, and social platforms.

Process, Operations & Collaboration

• Own and streamline the operational process for intake, prioritization, and delivery of creative requests across Marketing and Editorial.
• Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, Editorial, Product, and Audience Development teams to align creative output with business and audience needs.
• Introduce systems, tools, templates, and workflows that increase creative efficiency while maintaining brand consistency and quality.

External Partnerships & Resource Management

• Manage relationships with freelance designers, illustrators, photographers, and creative agencies to expand team capacity as needed.
• Identify when to leverage external talent to fill capability gaps, accelerate timelines, or bring fresh creative perspectives.

Innovation & Design Thinking

• Bring forward strong conceptual ideas that push the brand forward while staying aligned to Backstage’s mission and identity.
• Stay up to date on emerging design, branding, and marketing trends—infusing new thinking into Backstage’s creative approach.
• Leverage data, user insights, and performance results to inform and refine creative strategies.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of experience leading creative and design teams within an agency, media company, brand, or similar environment.
• A strong creative portfolio and demonstrated brand-building experience across digital, social, and print.
• Experience managing and mentoring designers, with a track record of developing talent and fostering creative excellence.
• Skilled in managing external vendors, freelancers, and creative partners.
• Ability to balance high-level conceptual thinking with hands-on creative direction.
• Strong strategic mindset with an ability to connect brand expression to business objectives.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across executive, editorial, creative, and marketing teams.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and multiple stakeholders.

Special Work Conditions    

• Sedentary – Involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Some positions may entail exerting up to 15 lbs. of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force to lift, carry, push, or pull.

Benefits 

Cast & Crew provides a comprehensive package of employee benefits including: Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO, health and wellness programs, employee discounts, and more! Note: Cast & Crew benefits are subject to eligibility requirements.

Cast & Crew is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive culture. It is our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals based on job-related qualifications and ability to perform a job, without regard to age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, disability, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship or marital status, and to maintain a non-discriminatory environment free from intimidation, harassment or bias based upon these grounds.

CA residents
Your personal information may be collected in connection with certain services provided by Cast & Crew or its affiliated companies.  A summary of your California privacy rights can be found at: https://www.castandcrew.com/privacy-policy/

Compensation is commensurate with various factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience, qualifications, skills, training, licensure, certifications, geographic cost of labor, and other business and organizational needs. Compensation range for candidates in other locations may differ based on the cost of labor in that location. The compensation range for this position is: $100,000.00 - $125,000.00 per year.