Associate Creative Director, Visual Design

Strava; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Strava is seeking a senior visual designer with deep expertise in typography, layout, and motion to lead design across brand campaigns, GTMs, and product marketing. You will mentor a team of 2–3 designers and collaborate with the ECD to shape creative direction and execution that aligns with Strava’s brand strategy and business goals.

You will build scalable design systems for digital, social, and experiential touchpoints, evolving the brand’s visual identity across typography, photography,

Qualifications

• 10+ years of visual design experience in brand, campaigns, digital and multi-format work.
• Portfolio demonstrating craft in brand and cross-channel campaigns.
• Proven track record mentoring designers and elevating team output.
• Strategic mindset that connects design decisions to brand and business impact.
• Experience designing for paid and organic social with performance awareness.
• Comfort operating in fast-paced, high-growth environments.
• Motion thinking: plan and direct motion or adapt static ideas into dynamic formats.
• Experience contributing to cohesive global brand systems and international campaigns.

Responsibilities

• Own visual design ideation and direction for brand campaigns, GTMs and product marketing.
• Partner with the ECD on creative strategy and ensure craft quality across formats.
• Build and evolve scalable design systems for digital, social, and experiential touchpoints.
• Shape Strava’s brand identity, typography, photography, video, color systems and seasonal language.
• Translate culture and campaign insights into compelling visuals that drive business goals.
• Present work clearly to cross-Functional partners and leadership, tying decisions to strategy.
• Directly manage 2–3 experienced designers with mentorship and feedback.
• Partner with external agencies, freelancers, and vendors to bring the best talent to the project.

Skills

Visual design

Typography

Layout

Color theory

Photography

Motion design

Video

Brand systems

Mentorship

Strategic thinking

Job description

What You'll Do

• Own visual design ideation and direction on brand campaigns, paid and organic social, GTMs and product marketing campaigns, and tentpole activations, from concept through final delivery, ensuring every output ladders up to Strava's brand strategy and business goals
• Partner with the ECD on creative strategy, bringing a sharp visual POV to early concepting and a detail‑obsessed eye to execution, maintaining craft quality and visual cohesion across every format and collaborator
• Build and evolve multi‑format design systems and visual frameworks that scale across digital, social, and experiential touchpoints
• Shape how Strava’s brand expression evolves over time: visual identity, typography, photography, video, color systems, seasonal design language, and how we show up in culture
• Translate cultural signals, sport moments, and campaign insights into visual ideas that earn attention, not just impression, drive business goals
• Present work to cross‑functional partners and leadership with clarity and conviction, connecting creative decisions to strategy and business outcomes
• Directly manage 2–3 experienced designers: regular 1:1s, career development, direct feedback on craft and creative direction, and performance conversations
• Partner and manage external agencies, freelancers and vendors to bring the right talent and expertise to the right work

What You'll Bring to the Team

• 10+ years of experience in visual design with deep command of typography, layout, color theory, photography, motion, video and visual hierarchy; background spanning both agency and in‑house environments
• A portfolio with exceptional craft across brand, campaign, digital, and multi‑format work, the kind of output that stops scrolling and earns cultural attention
• Proven experience upleveling a creative team, you've managed experienced designers with a genuine standard for what great looks like, and you enable your teams to grow and develop through successful mentorship
• A strategic mindset: you can concept and pitch an idea as convincingly as you can execute it, and you connect creative decisions to brand and business impact
• Experience designing for paid and organic social (TikTok, Meta, YouTube) with a clear understanding of how creative choices affect performance
• Comfort with ambiguity and scale: you've built in fast‑moving, high‑growth environments and you're energized by the challenge of doing great work quickly
• Motion sensibility, whether you create it yourself or direct it, you think in movement and know how to push static ideas into dynamic formats
• Experience working within and contributing to cohesive brand systems; global brand and international campaign experience is a plus

Strava is an equal opportunity employer. In keeping with the values of Strava, we make all employment decisions including hiring, evaluation, termination, promotional and training opportunities, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, physical handicap, mental disability, medical condition, disability, gender or identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy‑related condition, marital status, height and/or weight.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

California Consumer Protection Act Applicant Notice