Brand Design Director & Hands-on Creative Leader

Zymo Research Corporation; Tustin (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Ins.

401(K) with matching

Employee Referral Bonus

Fruit, snacks, and beverages

Catered lunches on Thursdays

EV charging

Job summary

Zymo Research Corporation in California is seeking a Creative & Brand Design Manager to lead our creative team and own the company's brand design and visual identity. This player-coach role combines team management with ongoing design work, focused on corporate brand programs.

You will translate brand strategy into visual principles, guide the team’s work, and personally design materials that elevate the brand quality and direction. Join us in making a meaningful impact!

Qualifications

• Five or more years of experience in graphic design, brand design, visual identity, or art direction, including experience directly managing and developing creative team members.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating personal design work, excellent typography and layout, visual hierarchy, and consistent brand execution across digital and print.
• Hands‑on proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud, particularly Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop, and strong presentation design skills.
• Ability to translate brand strategy and communication objectives into practical visual principles and finished creative work.
• Strong creative review skills and the ability to coach designers, explain design decisions, and give clear, actionable feedback.
• Ability to balance individual design projects with people management, creative direction, and competing deadlines.
• Strong organization, communication, and collaboration skills across creative, scientific, marketing, and commercial teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage, coach, and develop the creative team through clear expectations, regular feedback, performance reviews, and professional development.
• Assign work based on priorities, capacity, and individual strengths. Coordinate timelines and workloads with project managers and Marketing leadership.
• Provide art direction and constructive design feedback that strengthens the team's judgment, skills, and creative independence.
• Build a collaborative environment where creative team members contribute ideas and work directly with internal partners throughout projects.
• Support hiring and onboarding as the team evolves.
• Own and refine Zymo Research's visual identity across digital, print, social media, email, presentations, events, product collateral, and other brand touchpoints.

Skills

Brand design

Graphic design

Art direction

Team leadership

Typography

Layout design

Presentation design

Visual identity

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Creative Cloud

Job description

Zymo Research Corporation in California is seeking a Creative & Brand Design Manager to lead our creative team and own the company's brand design and visual identity. This player-coach role combines team management with ongoing design work, focused on corporate brand programs.

You will translate brand strategy into visual principles, guide the team’s work, and personally design materials that elevate the brand quality and direction. Join us in making a meaningful impact!