Design Lead, Contract

WHY DEPT®?

We are pioneers at heart. What this means, is that we are always leaning forward, thinking of what we can create tomorrow that does not exist today. We were born digital and we are a new model of agency, with a deep skillset in tech and marketing. That’s why we hire curious, self-driven, talented people who never stop innovating.

Our culture is big enough to cope and small enough to care. Meaning, that with people across 20+ countries, we’re big enough to provide you with the best tools, global opportunities, and benefits that help you thrive. While acting small by investing in you, your growth, your team, and giving you the autonomy to solve our clients' problems, no matter where you are in the world. 

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

The Product Design Lead is an integral part of the B/D® team. You collaborate with a creative team to ensure that large-scale digital products are developed and exceed the client's needs – leveraging data to empower systematic design decisions, and UX best practices. This includes proactively challenging the B/D® team to not just solve our client's problems but to provide solutions that are bigger and better than anyone thought they could be. You are user-focused, detail-oriented, excellent at collaborating and multitasking, and eager to guide a team to make things come to life. You love the craft, the collaboration, and the grit it takes to make something great.

Leadership is exciting to you, but you’re also willing to follow others because you understand that great ideas can come from anywhere. You sweat the details and expect others to do the same. You’ve made it where you are by embracing every challenge and seeing every challenge as an opportunity. You want to be here because you want to create things people love.

In your role, you will report to the Creative Director, who will drive the strategy and direction for the creative and design team. You will support the strategic goals of the company by focusing on the success of these activities and assisting with meeting the short and long-term objectives of the organization.

• Collaborate with the Creative leads to lead a team of 10+ creatives, with a team of 30+ talented people.
• Design and set high standards for the company's efforts.
• Lead and contribute to project kick-off workshops.
• Generate strategic insights and moodboards that facilitate creative thinking and innovation.
• Collaborate with the team to drive several large-scale digital projects to completion including websites, branding, content, UX thinking and more.
• Inspire the client as well as the team to define and align on a collective vision.
• Develop and implement successful design strategies, outlining how the design team will create deliverables and implement them for the project.
• Establish direction, craft guidelines, build presentation materials, and even assist with production and delivery when required. 
• Provide leadership to the team to include putting the client and the team before yourself.
• Responsible for bringing a point-of-view with fresh perspectives to the team. 
• Work with minimal processes in place, solving problems by being optimistic and using proactive thought processes and skills.
• Contribute to the design discipline by inspiring, developing insights and elevating the work we do through conversation, and mentoring.
• Collaborate to ensure that the company’s services and products always exceed the clients’ expectations and work to foresee any issues and develop solutions.
• Assist with ensuring that projects come in within deadlines and specified budget. 
• Identify the decision makers within the client's organization and use excellent interpersonal skills to grow and maintain these relationships.
• Work across all departments of BASIC, the client, and other stakeholders to achieve the desired results and meet the objectives of the company.
• Support and grow in the role by actively seeking out and proposing ideas to better improve company operations.
• Take on other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
  
  

WHAT YOU’LL BRING:

• Knowledge, communicative, and analytical skills equivalent to those normally obtained through receipt of a Bachelor’s Degree in a design, visual arts, or a related field, or equivalent years of additional related professional experience.  
• Minimum 5+ years of a proven track record in design and interactive work for leading brands.
• Minimum 2+ years experience in the role.
• A high level of mastery of Hubspot or similar, Google Suite, Dropbox, Basecamp, Slack, Harvest, Figma, and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Able to use excellent leadership skills, strategic vision, and creative inspiration to foster and inspire a large but cohesive team of over 30 individuals from different backgrounds and disciplines.
• Strong knowledge of visual design, user-centered experience design, interaction design, brand development, and the creative process.
• A love for typography, interaction, traditional graphic design, and technology.
• Strong skills in modern design and prototyping tools.
• Familiar with user testing and leveraging data to empower design decisions, and UX best practices.
• Experience developing and maintaining a robust design system.
• Must be comfortable working with Figma’s tools including auto layout, components, variants, and design libraries.
• A solid point-of-view and a collaborative nature.
• Passion for lifestyle, fashion, entertainment, popular culture, and technology.
• Familiarity with some front-end basics.
• A long history of building strong relationships with colleagues, vendor/contractors, and business partners.
• Excellent public speaking skills with the ability to develop plans, build presentations, and confidently present them in a professional and effective manner. 
• An open and curious mind in all areas of creative and design work and the ability to remain positive even in the most challenging of situations.
• Excellent organizational skills and a very high level of attention to detail including tracking, recording, documenting, and saving of all processes and procedures.
• High level of ability to set goals and priorities in a constantly changing environment.
• Ability to think strategically and assess the needs of the company and its clients now and in the future.  
• Ability to communicate information, whether technical or non-technical, to clients and employees in a clear and concise manner.
• Able to act in a professional manner while working in a creative culture.
• Dedicates time to understand the requested task, or feedback and decisions being made. Isn’t afraid to ask questions to ensure clarity for informed decision-making. 
• Comfort navigating a complex organization with multiple stakeholders.
• Constantly searches for and proposes process efficiencies.
• Communicates effectively one-on-one and in large groups.
  
  

WE SUPPORT YOU BEING YOU: 

DEPT® is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We believe our work is its best when our people feel safe and free to be themselves. We’re committed to an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection process and workplace, regardless of anyone’s identity, background, beliefs, lifestyle or disabilities. So tell us about any accommodations you need. It’s totally confidential and only used to make sure you feel fully supported at every step. 

DEPT® participates in E-Verify, meaning your Form I-9 information will be sent to the federal government to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. 

We are a B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work.  Our hope is that you can feel good about the contributions DEPT® is making to the world and we always have an open door for your ideas in making the world a better place. 

DEPT® is a pioneering technology and marketing services company that creates integrated end-to-end digital experiences for brands such as Google, KFC, Philips, Audi, Twitch, Patagonia, eBay and more. Its team of 2,500+ digital specialists across 30+ locations on 5 continents delivers pioneering work on a global scale with a boutique culture. 

Learn more about DEPT®

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives.

Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. 

We also encourage you  to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.

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