Associate Experience Design Director

GSW, powered by Syneos Health; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

GSW, powered by Syneos Health, seeks an Associate Experience Design Director to lead digital-forward experiences that blend technology with business needs and user insights. You will guide cross-functional teams, mentor junior Experience Designers, and ensure accessibility and brand alignment across initiatives.

Lead brand experience for multiple accounts, drive strategic design decisions, and nurture client relationships while expanding opportunities with innovative, user-centered design

Qualifications

• 8–10 years of experience in digital design, experience design, and creative leadership.
• Knowledge of digital design tools including the Adobe Software Suite, XD, Sketch, Figma, and animation programs.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for experience design on several accounts and establish creative vision while maintaining brand standards across projects.
• Support SVP GED in maintaining creative direction and vision for assigned brands; reinforce standards.
• Provide day-to-day direction to all members of the Experience team.
• Collaborate with strategy, account and medical leads to lead brand experience initiatives.
• Facilitate creative reviews and ensure quality outputs.
• Drive strategic and tactical discussions with client and account teams for sound design work.
• Review scope assumptions and Experience team hours for deliverables.
• Nurture client relationships and manage expectations.
• Partner with Account & Strategy on POVs for clients.
• Proactively provide clients with potential experience opportunities.
• Identify organic growth opportunities.

Skills

Digital design leadership

Experience design

Creative leadership

3D design direction (three.js)

Brand experience strategy

Education

Bachelor's in Design or related field

Portfolio development (healthcare advertising)

Continuing education/certifications

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

XD

Sketch

Figma

Principle

Spline

Lottie

FigJam

TouchDesigner

three.js

Job description

Description

As an Associate Experience Design Director, you’ll be in a leadership role helping to shape the future of our digital-forward experience initiatives that blend the creative application of technology with business needs and user insights. You will leverage your deep knowledge of design, leading-edge digital technologies, and experience best practices to oversee creative experience initiatives and develop innovative solutions. As a subject matter expert, you’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams, guide, and mentor junior Experience Designers, and foster a culture of inclusivity and accessibility. Your expertise in experience strategy and design will ensure that our work is not only visually appealing, innovative and strategically sound, but also accessible and user-friendly—enhancing the overall customer experience. You’ll ensure the work the Experience Design group produces is consistent with our client’s brand guidelines and strategy.

• Responsible for experience design on several accounts. Help establish a creative vision for those experiences and maintains brand standards across multiple projects
• Support the SVP GED in maintaining creative direction and vision of experiences for assigned brands; reinforce and maintain creative standards
• Provide day-to-day direction to all members of the Experience team.
• Collaborate with strategy, account and medical leads to lead overarching brand experience initiatives
• Facilitate creative reviews
• Drive strategic and tactical discussions with client and account teams to develop strategically sound experience design work.
• Review scope assumptions and Experience team hours for deliverables
• Nurture client relationships
• Partner with Account & Strategy on POVs for clients
• Proactively provide clients with potential experience opps
• Identify organic growth opportunities

Description

As an Associate Experience Design Director, you’ll be in a leadership role helping to shape the future of our digital-forward experience initiatives that blend the creative application of technology with business needs and user insights. You will leverage your deep knowledge of design, leading-edge digital technologies, and experience best practices to oversee creative experience initiatives and develop innovative solutions. As a subject matter expert, you’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams, guide, and mentor junior Experience Designers, and foster a culture of inclusivity and accessibility. Your expertise in experience strategy and design will ensure that our work is not only visually appealing, innovative and strategically sound, but also accessible and user-friendly—enhancing the overall customer experience. You’ll ensure the work the Experience Design group produces is consistent with our client’s brand guidelines and strategy.

• Responsible for experience design on several accounts. Help establish a creative vision for those experiences and maintains brand standards across multiple projects
• Support the SVP GED in maintaining creative direction and vision of experiences for assigned brands; reinforce and maintain creative standards
• Provide day-to-day direction to all members of the Experience team.
• Collaborate with strategy, account and medical leads to lead overarching brand experience initiatives
• Facilitate creative reviews
• Drive strategic and tactical discussions with client and account teams to develop strategically sound experience design work.
• Review scope assumptions and Experience team hours for deliverables
• Nurture client relationships
• Partner with Account & Strategy on POVs for clients
• Proactively provide clients with potential experience opps
• Identify organic growth opportunities

Qualification Requirements

• 8-10 years experience in digital design, experience design, and creative leadership
• Knowledge of digital design tools including the Adobe Software Suite, XD, Sketch, Figma is a priority, digitally-native animation programs (such as Principle, Spline, Lottie, FigJam, TouchDesigner) and how to direct for development with those tools
• Ability to direct the design for 3D – three.js, etc.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Design or Related Field: A bachelor's degree in graphic design, visual communication, advertising design, or a related field is typically expected. We also consider candidates with degrees in fine arts or other creative disciplines, particularly if supplemented with relevant experience.
• Portfolio Development: While not an educational credential per se, a strong portfolio showcasing relevant experience design work you’ve led, including examples of healthcare advertising projects, is often more important than formal education for demonstrating capabilities and creative vision.
• Continuing Education and Certifications: Pursuing continuing education opportunities in design, healthcare communication, or related areas.

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $110,000 to $130,000. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the Syneos Health range for this position. Actual salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. In addition, some positions may include eligibility to earn commissions/bonus based on company and / or individual performance.

At GSW, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If your past experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. At times, we will consider transferable skills from previous roles. We also encourage you to join our Talent Network to stay connected to additional career opportunities.

GSW is a full-service healthcare communications agency that goes beyond advertising to create personalized brand experiences that involve, inspire, educate and activate people through ongoing brand journeys. As one of the world’s ten most-awarded healthcare advertising agencies, GSW is hell-bent not to replace the same old with the same old. This is achieved through a provocative premise — if other brands communicated the way healthcare brands do, how many customers would they have? GSW turns against this premise through discovery of beneath-the-surface customer insights that we impact with stories, simplicity and authenticity.

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Syneos Health companies are affirmative action/equal opportunity employers (Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled)

Syneos Health has a voluntary COVID-19 vaccination policy. We strongly encourage all employees to be fully vaccinated. Additionally, certain local governments or Syneos Health customers may have vaccine requirements that apply to some of our employees. These employees are required to submit proof of vaccination to Syneos Health and maintain compliance with these requirements.

At Syneos Health, we believe in providing an environment and culture in which Our People can thrive, develop and advance. We reward and recognize our people by providing valuable benefits and a quality-of-life balance. The benefits for this position will include a competitive compensation package, Health benefits to include Medical, Dental and Vision, Company match 401k, flexible paid time off (PTO) and sick time. Because certain states and municipalities have regulated paid sick time requirements, eligibility for paid sick time may vary depending on where you work. Syneos Health complies with all applicable federal, state, and municipal paid sick time requirements.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.