Senior Manager, Brand Design

VeeFriends is a contemporary entertainment company that combines art, storytelling, collecting, events and innovative technologies to build a community around a movement of positivity and kindness. The company’s mission is to scale 283 unique VeeFriends characters and their attributes to create a better world. These characters foster a sense of community and inspire positivity, creativity, self-discovery, accountability, and personal growth.

For more information, visit https://veefriends.com/ and join the discord channel. 

JOB SUMMARY:

We are looking for a skilled and imaginative Senior Manager of Brand Design to join our Creative and Brand team. The Senior Manager of Brand Design will work closely with the Creative Director to evolve the Veefriends brand and shape how it will visually manifest across various touchpoints, including marketing campaigns, commerce initiatives, and social media. 

This position requires a seasoned creative leader with solid project management skills, capable of guiding and mentoring a team of internal and external designers, videographers, animators, and illustrators to ensure the punctual delivery of top-tier creative assets. You will collaborate closely with your team to refine and advance our existing design language, effectively implementing it across various projects, products, and platforms while optimizing workflows and processes. Additionally, you will design independently and actively contribute to producing different creative assets.

WHO YOU ARE:

• You are a creative thinker and visual storyteller with a strong brand-building and merchandise design background. You recognize that effective design stems from strategic thinking and have developed captivating design treatments and visual executions across various channels.
• Your profound understanding and appreciation of branding and design are evident in your mastery of your craft.
• You possess extensive experience shaping, influencing, and evolving every aspect of a brand's visual identity and design language. You excel in orchestrating type, color, and composition. You can guide the development of an ownable iconography, illustration, and imagery style for the brand to be utilized across print, digital, and video/motion assets.
• Your passion for design is palpable. You constantly seek inspiration and strive to create unique visual treatments that reflect the latest design trends, convey cultural relevance, and push the boundaries of creativity.
• You are an open collaborator focused on the work at hand. You give and receive feedback gracefully and decisively navigate interactions with your team and external partners. 
• Experience with digital product design is a plus.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Work closely with the Creative Director to enhance and evolve our brand's visual language, including our imagery style and treatments, illustration use cases, iconography, and branded patterns and graphics, to evolve our existing brand guidelines.
• Help mentor and inspire a team of creatives, providing guidance and feedback to foster their professional growth and creative excellence. Identify and address potential challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Work closely with the creative team and stakeholders to ideate and establish unique visual concepts for diverse marketing, social, digital, and experiential initiatives and high-impact creative assets.
• Spearheaded creating and producing multifaceted merchandise initiatives and correlating marketing campaigns, ensuring each creative concept scales cohesively and compellingly across various media, including social, digital, print, video (live-action and animation), and experiential platforms.
• Oversee the creative process, from concept development to final production, ensuring high-quality assets are delivered on time. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather project requirements and deliverables, promoting a cooperative work environment.
• Oversee the output of freelancers and partners, ensuring adherence to our design language.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Arts, or related field.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience as an Art Director or Design Lead managing a team of designers.
• Strong portfolio showcasing a range of work across branding and design of compelling assets for print and digital channels, as well as creative campaigns, merchandise, and art direction for animation and live-action videos. We have a proven track record of developing and executing work that drives brand awareness and engagement.
• Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and other design tools (i.e. Figma, AfterEffects).
• Excellent conceptual and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate ideas into visually compelling designs.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills. Strong leadership skills, with experience in mentoring and managing creative teams.
• Exceptional attention to detail, passion for innovation, creativity, and cultural relevance.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with strong project management skills and a proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.
• Familiarity with project management tools and software.

We encourage you to apply even if you do not meet all of the requirements listed above. Skills can be used in many different ways, and your life and professional experience may be relevant beyond what a list of requirements will capture. We encourage those who are passionate about what we do to apply!

Benefits

- Employer-sponsored 401(k)

- Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage

- Caregiver (Parental) Leave

- Flexible PTO

- 13 Paid Holidays

- Health and Wellness benefits

VeeFriends is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected characteristics.