Design Director

Saje Natural Wellness; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A wellness brand located in Toronto is seeking a Design Director to lead creative initiatives and develop strong brand expressions. The successful candidate will have over 12 years of experience, a solid portfolio across various media, and a passion for mentoring teams. The role encompasses overseeing design projects, implementing systems, and maintaining brand integrity while contributing to a fast-paced environment. The position offers a competitive salary and benefits supporting health and wellness.

Benefits

Annual bonus program

Flexible work hours

Health benefits

Generous product discount

Employee Assistance Program

Paid time off

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in a similar role as a manager of people and design.
• Proven portfolio reflecting diverse design mediums and meticulous craftsmanship.
• Experience with brand platforms and creating consistent branding across channels.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and mentor designers, ensuring brand vision is realized across media.
• Lead creation and implementation of design systems and asset management.
• Conduct shoots and oversee execution of creative content.

Skills

Creative leadership

Brand development

Mentoring

Design principles

Project management

Presentation skills

Tools

Adobe

Figma

AI-tools

Job description

Overview

At Saje Natural Wellness, we're nature's original farmacy, blending the superpower of plants so you can remedy real life, naturally. And like nature, we're continually growing! As we continue to build our team, we're seeking talented people to join us: in our stores, support offices, and distribution centres. We are a purpose-driven, people-first organization where collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurial mindsets thrive.

We look for individuals who have drive and warmth, agility and passion, and keep customer experience at the centre of everything they do.

At Saje, you’ll connect with a dynamic community and make a positive impact. Join our team and grow your career, alongside the most talented, hard working, and kind-hearted people out there.

The impact you'll make

On a mission to remedy real life with the power of plants, the Design Director is integral to the manifestation of Saje’sevolved brand expression across universal design systems, full funnel commercial activity and conversion platforms. An incredible opportunity, as a seasoned creative leader, you will work with the ECD to evolve and solidify the foundations of the brand, and will have the opportunity to leave your mark on one of Canada’s most beloved wellness brands with an eye to North American and global scalability.

The successful candidate will be a master of design principles and understands universe building and systems at scale. You have built brands across many touchpoints and have experience creating best-in-class conceptual, idea-driven work but also have a deep comprehension of conversion driving channels like CRM, ecomm and retail.

Together with the ECD, you will lead the visual expression of the brand. You will build brand standards, oversee concept creation and execution of both motion and photography and feel comfortable providing feedback to designers, copywriters and art directors to ensure work is fresh, distinct, but entirely on brand. You are entrepreneurial in nature and have a passion for mentoring and leading while contributing to campaign and evergreen projects as a working member of the creative team. You can work in a fast-paced environment and possess impeccable presentation skills. You have a business maturity and understand the balance of maintaining brand integrity in service of growth.

All Saje Team Members are responsible for contributing to Saje’s culture and maintaining a positive environment for themselves and their peers.

What you'll do

• Oversee, empower and mentor a team of agile designers from brief to delivery in bringing the brand vision to life across a variety of mediums.
• Operate as a swiss army knife, leveraging your experience and bench strength as a channel agnostic, big thinker who is well-versed in best practices and applications through digital, social, retail and performance.
• Bring a level of expertise to global brand systems based on multiple market needs with an adherence to the brand’s platform, best practices and universal codes.
• Create and implement design systems across assets to create efficient ways-of-working, including the use of AI-empowered tools.
• Lead and supervise shoots for both photography and motion and oversee execution through postproduction.
• Own presentations to pitch concepts and designs, solicit feedback, build stakeholder consensus, and secure approvals.
• Consistently balance time between executing and managing work by other members of the design team with the ability to prioritize and deliver to deadlines.
• Create and champion an environment that pushes the boundaries of experience design, with a taste level that is akin to the brand.
• Forge strong relationships with the resource management team and cross-functional peers to ensure cohesion on project, people and asset requirements.
• Act with urgency and business maturity in alignment with the entrepreneurial spirit of the organization.
• Confidence in finding and communicating solutions, speaking up and hearing other points of view, engaging as an active member of the Creative team.
• Maintain a strong awareness of industry trends, creative leaders, new innovations and the competitive landscape.

We'd love to hear from you if you have

• 12+ years experience working in-agency or brand-side in a similar role as a manager of people and doer of design.
• A killer portfolio that demonstrates your ability to think in various mediums, with unwavering attention to craft and a focus on long-term brand building.
• Understand how to create flexible brand universes from strategic insights, leveraging design systems that build consistency and deliver business results.
• Demonstrate experience bringing a brand platform to life through the CX, applying design thinking through the funnel.
• Fluent in creative for multiple mediums but with a focus on designing for the modern world: digital, ecomm, CRM, retail, and conceptual content creation.
• Adobe, Figma and a knowledge of AI-tools for agility and efficiency. Motion graphics and editing capabilities are an asset.
• Work across multiple projects and competing priorities with the ability to think ahead and plan your time, as well as your team’s accordingly.
• Solution-oriented, positive leader who is gracious with your time to teach and mentor others.
• While category experience isn’t a necessity, ideally you’ve worked on a beauty, retail, CPG, health, or wellness brand.

Why Saje?

Here at Saje, we understand that joining a team is an important decision to make, so we want to be sure you're supported to do your best work.

The compensation range on average for this position is from $130,000 - 150,000 annually. Base pay is dependent on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and internal equity.

In addition to your base, we offer:

• Annual bonus program
• A hybrid way of working
• Flexible work hours based on business needs
• Wellness days to ensure you're taking care of your mental and physical health
• Health benefits - comprehensive health, vision and dental packages
• Paid sick days
• Generous product discount
• Full onboarding plan and onboarding buddy to help you settle in
• Employee Assistance Program - 24/7 support, resources, and information available to you and your family
• GRSP programs
• Paid time off to ensure you're resting & recharging
• Product training to help you learn about the benefits and efficacy of our 100% natural products to support your own wellness journey

Join our team!

If this opportunity sounds like you, please apply in the link below. Not sure you're 100% the right fit? We encourage you to apply even if you don't have all of the listed qualifications. We offer a thorough onboarding experience to set you up for success, learning and development support, and help you to integrate seamlessly.

All applications are viewed by a member of our team and therefore we do not use AI as part of our screening & selection process. We do use AI to transcribe our preliminary screening calls with our recruitment team. This job posting is for an existing vacancy on our team that we are presently hiring for.

Saje provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants, and we believe the best teams are made up of diverse perspectives and people. We offer reasonable accommodations to candidates with disabilities throughout the recruitment process and will work with you to ensure you are supported while working at Saje.

Note

Note: The incentive programs, benefits, and perks have certain eligibility requirements. The company reserves the right to alter these incentive programs, benefits, and perks in whole or in part at any time without advance notice.