Design Director

Dormont Manufacturing Co; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Interbrand is seeking a creative leader in New York to guide the creative team in delivering outstanding work. You will be responsible for architecting scalable systems across all consumer touchpoints and managing project delivery from start to finish.

The role demands expertise in brand design, proficiency with emerging creative tools, and the ability to build strong relationships with clients. Coaching and developing your team will be pivotal to the organization's success.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading creative work on significant client engagements.
• Demonstrated expertise in holistic brand design.
• Ability to operate autonomously and own outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creative platform on projects, architecting scalable systems.
• Manage creative delivery, budget, and timeline.
• Develop your team and encourage original thinking.

Skills

Creative leadership

Cross-channel design thinking

Holistic brand design

AI application proficiency

Client relationship management

Storytelling

Risk anticipation

Tools

Emerging creative tools

Design software

Job description

Requirements

• You're a thinker and maker who leads the creative team on major engagements
• You set a strong creative point of view and coach the team to deliver their best work, elevating not just what we deliver but how we work
• You're connecting creative excellence with commercial outcomes and contributing to how Interbrand is known in the market
• You're a holistic creative who architects comprehensive brand systems that work intelligently and beautifully across all consumer touchpoints—physical, digital, social, and emerging platforms
• You're proficient in emerging creative tools and AI applications, and you have the judgment to know when to use them to amplify creative work and when craft must be unmediated
• You shape how your team approaches tool selection, emerging technologies, and cross-channel design thinking
• Proven track record leading creative work on significant client engagements. Portfolio showing systems excellence and how ideas work across multiple channels and touchpoints
• Demonstrated expertise in holistic brand design with evidence of leading projects where a single identity system performs effectively across radically different contexts and platforms. Proficiency with emerging creative tools; understanding of how AI can enhance creative work
• You bring clarity about what's distinctive and why it matters. You generate routes that unlock both commercial value and memorable experiences. You know the difference between good and great. You understand how to design systems that are coherent yet flexible and how a brand can feel unified across touchpoints while adapting intelligently to context, audience, and channel requirements
• You work seamlessly across disciplines, bringing strategy and delivery into creative conversations. You navigate tensions between vision and feasibility thoughtfully, not by compromising either
• You develop people and bring out their best work. You coach individuals, create space for contribution, and help the team understand the thinking behind decisions. You shape how your team thinks about and works with emerging tools, balancing technological curiosity with craft standards
• You tell compelling stories about your work that move people to action. You adapt your approach for different audiences and know how to frame choices so people understand what matters
• You operate autonomously and own outcomes. You anticipate risks, structure teams and timelines for success, and deliver at scale

What the job involves

• Interrogate briefs with strategy and client management, reframing challenges to unlock distinctive creative opportunities
• Lead the creative platform on your projects, architecting scalable systems that work coherently across all touchpoints, including web, mobile, social, physical retail, packaging, events and emerging channels
• Identify and frame potential iconic moves, testing feasibility with delivery and challenging the team to think bigger. Consider how the ideas can travel across contexts to better resonate with the audience
• Build senior relationships with clients and partners, leading co-creation sessions that shape decisions
• Develop your team, coaching individuals towards their potential and creating space for originality to emerge. Encourage them to think across channels and think about the whole consumer journey
• Structure how creative work flows, setting rituals and reviews that keep momentum and quality high
• Own creative delivery, managing scope, budget, and timeline while anticipating and mitigating risks
• Provide critique that's clear and decisive, holding the quality bar and ensuring production-ready work
• Present your work with conviction, connecting human insight, commercial value, and experience together
• Stay ahead of tools, methods, and emerging practices, bringing these into how our team works. Help evaluate new design software, AI tools and other emerging technologies that will help strengthen the creative capability within the company
• Contribute to proposals, building cases for investment, and elevating Interbrand's reputation through awards and recognition
• Partner with Brand Economics, understanding impact and using that to inform creative priorities