Design Lead – Elemis

Inside Out Awards Ltd; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid role NYC

Paid Time Off

401(k) match

Company holidays

Parental leave

Product discount

Life insurance

Dental & Vision

Commuter benefits

Job summary

ELEMIS is seeking a Design Lead to translate the Global Creative vision into the North America market. Sitting with Marketing and reporting to the Director of Omnichannel Marketing, this role line manages one Designer and freelance support.

You’ll also work with a Marketing Operations Project Manager to ensure planning and delivery. The Design Lead will translate brand and commercial strategy into consistent assets across DTC, Amazon, CRM, paid media, retail, Spa and Salon, and education

Qualifications

• Portfolio showing integrated campaigns across digital, ecommerce, social and paid media.
• Strong typography, composition, color and visual systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead adaptation of global campaigns into the US market across channels.
• Own design direction for local tentpole moments from concept to final delivery.
• Translate briefs into clear concepts, visuals and scalable design systems.
• Collaborate with Global Creative Team to inform and execute brand vision.
• Deliver design output and set standards across touchpoints.
• Coach and mentor the Designer and freelancers; provide feedback.
• Partner with Copy to align visual and verbal storytelling.
• Oversee resourcing, scheduling and use of freelance or agency support.
• Lead creative prep for GWP and promotional shoots; ensure asset quality.
• Develop original US-local assets aligned with global guidelines.
• Present concepts to senior stakeholders with clear rationale.
• Maintain brand standards while staying culturally current and premium.

Skills

Typography

Color theory

Image making

Motion principles

Visual systems

Adobe Creative Suite

Figma

After Effects

Premiere

Jira

Mentoring

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Figma

After Effects

Premiere

Jira

Job description

ELEMIS are looking for a Design Lead who will translate the Global Creative vision into the North America market. Sitting with our Marketing department and reporting to the Director of Omnichannel Marketing, this role line manages one direct report who is a Designer, as well as other freelance design support. You’ll also work alongside a Marketing Operations Project Manager who is a valuable support to ensure optimal planning and delivery.

The purpose of the role is to translate the brand and commercial strategy into consistent creative assets across DTC, Amazon, CRM, paid media, retail, Spa and Salon, and sales and education channels.The Design Lead will leverage Global Brand Guidelines, assets and toolkits to lead local projects from brief through execution, direct the work of the Designer and creative partners, and maintain consistent and compelling brand storytelling.

The ideal candidate combines strong conceptual thinking with exceptional design judgment and a practical understanding of how creative must flex across brand-building and performance environments. This person is comfortable representing the global brand vision, making decisions, presenting work and rolling up their sleeves to design.

What You Will Do:

• Lead the adaptation of global brand campaigns into the US, inclusive of hero franchises, brand initiatives, seasonal moments and always-on marketing.
• Own design direction for local tentpole moments from initial idea through final delivery across design, photography, video, retouching and digital content.
• Translate tentpole briefs, consumer insights, product claims and channel objectives into clear creative concepts, key visuals and scalable design systems.
• Collaborate with Global Creative Team (based in London) to inform and execute global brand vision, supporting a test-and-learn culture across the Design ecosystem.
• Deliver design output for priority work and establish the standard for how ideas are executed across touchpoints.
• Coach and mentor your Designer, provide specific and actionable feedback, support their development.
• Partner with Copy to build cohesive visual and verbal storytelling and ensure that every execution ladders to one clear campaign idea.
• Collaborate with the Creative and Marketing Operations Manager on scoping, resourcing, scheduling, workflow and use of freelance or agency support.
• Lead creative preparation and direction for GWP and promotional shoots; oversee selects, retouching, editing and final asset quality.
• Adapt global creative for the US market and develop original local assets that are fit for purpose in the US market.
• Present concepts and creative recommendations to senior and cross-functional stakeholders with a clear rationale grounded in strategy.
• Maintain brand standards while evolving the work to remain culturally current, channel appropriate and distinctive within prestige skincare.
• Apply performance insights, testing results and platform best practices to strengthen creative effectiveness over time.
• Stay current on design, beauty, retail, digital, social, motion and emerging production tools, including responsible use of AI-enabled workflows.

What We Are Looking For:

• Portfolio demonstrating integrated campaign designs across digital, e-commerce, social, CRM, paid media, retail and photography or video.
• Strong command of typography, composition, color, image-making, motion principles and visual systems.
• Expert on the tools: Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, After Effects and/or Premier; experience with Jira a plus.
• Experience engaging with photographers, stylists, retouchers, editors, freelancers or agencies.
• People leader who is comfortable to mentoring team members, building capability and supporting development.
• Receptive of feedback and supports the decision making process by presenting creative choices and navigate stakeholder feedback.
• Prioritises workload by managing multiple workstreams and balance creative ambition with timing, budget and channel constraints.
• Luxury brand sensitivity, advocates for elevated brand experiences and promotes refinement in deliverables.
• In-house creative team experience within an omnichannel organization.
• Understanding of beauty claims, product storytelling and the balance between scientific credibility and emotional expression.
• Use of performance data and creative testing across acquisition and retention channels.

What We Offer You!

• This is a Hybrid role based three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) in our NYC office, and two days (Monday and Friday) working from home
• Paid Time Off
• 401(K) with 100% match on the first 5%
• Company Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Generous ELEMIS product discount
• Supplemental & Basic Life Insurance
• Dental & Vision
• Commuter benefits
  …and more perks designed around wellbeing and balance

About ELEMIS
Our People Commitments

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are central to our People Strategy. We are committed to building a fair, inclusive and respectful workplace where everyone feels they belong and can thrive.

We embed this commitment through inclusive hiring and progression practices, clear policies that promote equity and zero tolerance for discrimination and regular review of our people data to identify and address gaps in representation and experience. We invest in inclusive leadership, equipping our managers with the skills and accountability to foster psychologically safe, respectful and high-performing teams.

We provide channels for open dialogue, including confidential Speak Up mechanisms, to ensure concerns can be raised safely and addressed appropriately. Through ongoing learning, inclusive behaviours and shared accountability across all levels of the organisation, we empower our people to be themselves, innovate and fulfil their potential. Together, we belong.