Associate Director of Retail Design

The J. Paul Getty Trust; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 189,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

401(a) retirement plan

Educational assistance

Paid vacation & holidays

Bi-weekly off Fridays

On-site fitness center

Community service

Job summary

The J. Paul Getty Trust seeks an Associate Director of Retail Design to lead the creative vision for Getty's retail ecosystem. You will ensure brand voice, curatorial authority, and cultural identity across products, packaging, and digital/physical spaces.

You will oversee a team, shape workflows, and partner with Marketing, Exhibition Design, and Publications to align retail with Getty's broader institutional programming. This role resides at the Getty Center with hybrid/onsite expectations.

Qualifications

• 8-12 years of progressive experience in retail design or related leadership roles.
• Ability to translate complex brand identity into physical retail experiences.
• Experience building retail design infrastructure (briefs, workflows, standards).
• Proven track record of leading a small creative team in a matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the retail creative vision across all customer touchpoints.
• Translate brand strategy into engaging retail concepts and experiences.
• Ensure brand consistency across physical stores, e-commerce, and campaigns.
• Develop and grow the retail design team and external partnerships.
• Create briefs, standards, and workflows for efficient execution.
• Align retail concepts with buying, product development, and operations.

Skills

Retail design leadership

Brand translation

Team leadership

Visual merchandising

Curatorial branding

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder collaboration

Creative direction

Job description

Associate Director of Retail Design

• Job Family: Communications
• Type: Regular Full-Time
• Position Status: Getty Center
• Workplace Type: Hybrid/Partially Remote
• Salaried/Hourly: Salaried
• Hiring Pay Scale: $140,375 - $189,498 Annually
• Salary: Commensurate with experience and internal equity
• Program/Department: Communications and Community Engagement - 0114-Communications and Community Engagement
• Requisition Number: 2026-4843

Getty is committed to creating a welcoming workplace that reflects the various backgrounds of the communities we serve. We value differences in the pursuit of inquiry and knowledge, mutual understanding, respect, trust, transparency, and cooperation. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, color, disability, ethnicity, familial status, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other protected status.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Vice President of Communications and Community Engagement, the Associate Director of Retail Design is responsible for defining, leading, and protecting the creative vision for Getty's retail ecosystem, ensuring that every retail touchpoint reflects Getty's brand voice, curatorial authority, and cultural identity across products, visual merchandising, packaging, digital assets, and physical retail environments. Working in close partnership with the Associate Director of Retail Operations, this position helps ensure that creative concepts are both strategically compelling and operationally feasible, supporting a smooth transition from vision through execution. The role also collaborates continuously with Branding and Museum Design to maintain long-term alignment across Getty's broader retail strategy.

Overseeing the Retail Design & Content team, this position is accountable for creative consistency across all retail channels and formats while directing and controlling the activities of a department with budget, planning, and staffing accountabilities and shaping a significant policy area with broad programmatic and Getty-wide impact. The Associate Director of Retail Design establishes departmental objectives, delegates assignments, and interprets, executes, and recommends modifications to department or division policies. Decisions in this role impact objectives and priorities, and as the Associate Director of Retail Design, they will provide clear creative authority upstream, enabling faster, more meaningful decision-making while protecting brand integrity at scale.

Major Job Responsibilities

• Define and lead the retail creative vision across all customer-facing touchpoints, including visual merchandising, store environments, packaging, retail graphics, in-store storytelling, and digital assets
• Translate Getty's curatorial content and brand strategy into engaging, commercially relevant retail concepts and experiences that strengthen institutional identity and drive visitor engagement
• Ensure creative consistency and brand alignment across all retail channels, including physical stores, e-commerce, seasonal campaigns, exhibitions, and special activations
• Lead and develop an initial retail design team, including a graphic designer, visual merchandiser, and coordinator, with the expectation of growing the function over time
• Develop creative briefs, standards, and guidelines that support efficient execution and provide clear direction to internal teams and external partners
• Establish and maintain workflows connecting retail design to buying, product development, and operations - including processes for new product cohorts, special-edition moments, and evergreen product lines
• Partner closely with the Associate Director of Retail Operations to ensure creative concepts are operationally executable and consistently implemented across both retail locations
• Collaborate across Getty's brand and marketing, exhibition design, and publications design teams to align retail creative with broader institutional programming and identity
• Contribute to the physical retail environment, including input on store layout, fixture selection, and spatial storytelling, particularly in support of the Getty Center's planned renovation and reopening
• Develop and present creative concepts and project briefs, then work effectively within Getty's existing design structures to bring them to life

Qualifications

• 8-12 years of progressive experience in retail design, visual merchandising, or retail creative leadership, with meaningful tenure in a senior or lead role
• Proven ability to translate a complex brand identity into compelling physical retail experiences, with a portfolio that reflects range, taste, and commercial awareness
• Experience building or contributing to retail design infrastructure - creative systems, briefs, workflows, and standards - in an environment where those structures did not fully exist
• Track record of leading and developing a small creative team, with the ability to manage up, down, and across in a matrixed organization
• Based in or willing to relocate to the Los Angeles area; the role is predominantly onsite across the Getty Center and Getty Villa
• Ability to work a flexible schedule inclusive of weekends, evenings, and holidays as required by the retail and exhibition calendars

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Brings a strong and confident aesthetic point of view while remaining genuinely collaborative and open to the creative perspectives of others
• Equally comfortable operating at the conceptual level and rolling up their sleeves to execute; does not distinguish between strategic and hands-on work
• Patient and skilled at working within complex institutional environments; understands that influence and trust are built over time
• Demonstrates a natural curiosity about art, culture, and ideas - and brings that curiosity to how they think about retail storytelling and product experience
• Thrives in ambiguity and is energized by the opportunity to build something from the ground up rather than maintain an established system
• Communicates creative vision clearly and persuasively to non-creative stakeholders; skilled at making the case for design decisions in business terms
• Connected to Getty's cultural mission and excited by the intersection of art, commerce, and public engagement

Benefits and Perks

Here are just some examples that Getty offers/provides for full-time employees:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage, starting on date of hire. Getty pays 75%-95% of the premium, depending on the plan selected.
• 403(b) Employee investment retirement plan - with up to 5% Getty Match
• Getty contribution of 6%, on behalf of employee, to 401(a) retirement account
• Educational assistance and professional development
• Paid Vacation, Sick, and Personal days
• 12 Paid Holidays
• Many positions have bi-weekly off-Fridays
• On-site Fitness Center at Getty Center
• Community service opportunities