Senior Designer - Beauty

ZURU; Auckland; On-site; NZD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

ZURU is looking for an experienced Senior Designer to join their Beauty Vertical design team in Auckland, New Zealand. This role calls for a talented individual who can lead creative direction across a portfolio of innovative beauty brands, from concept to market launch.

The ideal candidate will have 5–8 years of design experience, adeptly manage projects, mentor junior members, and possess a strong grasp of beauty and lifestyle brand aesthetics.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of professional design experience in a creative or design leadership role.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor a design team while managing multiple brands.
• Strong understanding of beauty and personal care brand aesthetics.

Responsibilities

• Set creative standards for the beauty cosmetics portfolio.
• Lead creative brainstorming sessions and mentor junior team members.
• Own the art direction for brand launches and manage multiple projects.

Skills

creative direction

branding

Adobe Creative Suite

design leadership

communication skills

Tools

InDesign

Illustrator

Photoshop

Figma

Job description

About the role

ZUR U Group is seeking a highly motivated and talented Senior Designer to join our Beauty Vertical design team, leading creative direction across the Beauty Cosmetics portfolio. This role is responsible for building the visual identity, brand world, and creative output for a portfolio of exciting new beauty brands, from early‑stage development through to market launch. This role requires a strong understanding of beauty, lifestyle, and consumer brand aesthetics, with the ability to translate cultural trends, consumer insights, and category codes into distinctive, best‑in‑class creative.

Roles & Responsibilities

Leadership & Direction

• Set the creative standard for the portfolio, providing clear direction, feedback, and support to drive professional growth.
• Champion strong creative decision‑making, ensuring each brand has a clear and distinctive visual point of view.
• Lead creative brainstorming sessions, elevating brand representation across brands.
• Lead, direct, and mentor the junior team members, fostering a collaborative and creative environment.

Design & Campaign Creation

• Own the art direction of the beauty cosmetics brands, setting visual strategy and direction across all non‑packaging brand touchpoints.
• Lead end‑to‑end 360 campaign development for brand launches, from creative concept and visual strategy through to photography direction, social, digital, and retail assets.
• Create, manage, and organise brand assets across campaign, social, digital, e‑commerce, and advertising.
• Commission photographers, content creators, and agencies for campaigns.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, taking work from concept to final execution within deadlines.
• Identify new methods, techniques, and creative formats to enhance design and content execution.
• Other tasks as management may deem appropriate from time to time.

Brand Development

• Build detailed brand guidelines from scratch for each brand, covering tone of voice, visual aesthetic, content principles, and photography style.
• Create distinctive, ownable brand worlds for the brands — ensuring they feel relevant, differentiated, and commercially compelling.
• Ensure visual consistency and brand integrity across all communications as each brand progresses toward market.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Understand marketing initiatives, strategic positioning, and target audience across the beauty portfolio.
• Present and articulate creative concepts, brand worlds, and strategies to brand managers and senior leadership.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external partners to drive successful project outcomes.
• Collaborate across the wider Edge design team, BAU support, and cross‑functional partners—including marketing, product, packaging, and content—to ensure cohesive, on‑brand consumer touchpoints.

What you will bring

• 5–8 years’ professional design experience in a creative or design leadership role, ideally across beauty, lifestyle, wellness, fashion, FMCG, or consumer brand launches.
• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and inspire a design team while driving creative direction across multiple brands simultaneously.
• Strong understanding of beauty and personal care brand aesthetics, visual identity, content, and consumer‑facing creative.
• Mastery of Adobe Creative Suite, particularly InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Figma.
• Experience building brands from early‑stage development through to market launch.
• Ability to interpret marketing briefs and translate them into aligned, inventive, and commercially relevant creative solutions.
• Strong communication skills and a collaborative approach when working with internal teams, stakeholders, and external creatives.
• Excellent attention to detail, file management, task prioritization, and timeliness, with the ability to self‑manage across multiple concurrent projects.
• Experience directing beauty‑focused photography, campaign shoots, content creation, and external creative partners.