Lead Brand Designer

Whatnot; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday & Time off

Health Insurance

Work From Home support

Home office setup allowance

Cell phone & internet allowance

Wellness allowance

Childcare allowance

Family planning support

401k retirement plan

Dogfooding budget

Job summary

Whatnot is seeking a Lead Brand Designer to join the creative team and shape the Whatnot brand across physical and digital experiences. Translate diverse categories into on-platform events and in-person activations with a hands-on, hybrid approach.

You have 8+ years in design and leadership, with a proven record building brand systems and marketing strategies across surfaces. You'll mentor teammates and collaborate with product, design, and marketing to drive impact.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in design, brand, and experiential creative roles.
• 2+ years in a lead design role with independent concepting, designing and executing projects.
• Proven track record developing marketing and brand strategies and identity systems across physical and digital surfaces.
• Experience building and evolving brand systems in digitally native, social-first contexts.
• Leadership of creative teams from idea through launch and impact.
• Deep understanding of audience behavior and trends; tools and culture.
• Adept at using data and metrics to inform creative decisions.
• Excellent communication and collaboration with designers, marketers, and product teams.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with shifting priorities.
• Naturally curious with a growth mindset and openness to feedback.
• High-growth startup/marketplace experience preferred.
• Portfolio demonstrates substantial work.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with category and marketing teams to develop and execute campaign strategies and design directions.
• Oversee end-to-end processes from concepts to handoff to deliver work that drives loyalty and engagement.
• Lead mentorship, provide feedback, and foster a collaborative environment.
• Lead brainstorming and ideation sessions and develop creative briefs to inspire the team.
• Stay ahead of trends, emerging platforms, and best practices to keep events fresh and resonant.
• Develop and maintain relationships with external partners, including agencies and contractors as needed to scale production.

Skills

Lead design

Brand strategy

Creative leadership

Communication

Data-driven

Collaboration

Project management

Growth mindset

Job description

Join the Future of Commerce with Whatnot!

Whatnot is the largest live shopping platform in North America and Europe to buy, sell, and discover the things you love. Whether it's trading cards, fashion, electronics, or live plants, our sellers are building real businesses across hundreds of categories. We’re building live commerce at a scale that’s never been done in the West, and there’s no playbook to copy. The people here are shaping how an entirely new industry develops.

As a remote co-located team, we’re inspired by our values and anchored in hubs across the US, UK, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Australia. We move fast, stay close to our users, and focus on the work that drives the most impact.

We’re one of the fastest growing marketplaces and were recently named the #1 Best Startup Employer in America by Forbes. Check out the latest Whatnot updates on our news and engineering blogs and join us as we enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce.

Role

We are looking for a Lead Brand Designer to join the creative team at Whatnot! Our small but mighty team is responsible for building the Whatnot brand and crafting best-in-class creative across physical and digital experiences. As a core team member, you’ll play a key role in leading the strategy, development, and execution of physical and digital events that resonate deeply with our communities. We’re looking for a hands‑on, hybrid creative who thrives at the intersection of brand design and experiential creative, responsible for translating the energy of our diverse categories (from Sneakers and Sports Cards to Fashion and Beauty) into digitally native on‑platform events and show‑stopping in‑person activations. If you're a highly conceptual designer who can build campaign identity systems from scratch, present multiple visual directions with conviction, and roll up your sleeves to execute the work, we’d love to hear from you.

• Collaborate closely with category and marketing teams to develop and execute campaign strategies and design directions that support our business goals and objectives and define how Whatnot shows up across digital and physical touchpoints.

• Oversee end-to-end processes, from initial concepts to final handoff, to deliver work that drives loyalty and engagement and maintains a high bar for craft.

• Lead with the ability to provide mentorship, feedback, and foster a collaborative environment

• Lead brainstorming and ideation sessions, generate new ideas and concepts for event campaigns, and develop creative briefs that inspire the team to deliver outstanding work.

• Stay ahead of trends, emerging platforms, and creative best practices to keep our events fresh, effective, and culturally resonant.

• Develop and maintain relationships with external partners, including agencies and contractors as needed to scale creative production efficiently.
  

We offer flexibility to work from home or from one of our global office hubs, and we value in‑person time for planning, problem‑solving, and connection. Team members in this role must live within commuting distance of our San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City hubs.

You

Curious about who thrives at Whatnot? We’ve found that low ego, a growth mindset, and leaning into action and high impact goes a long way here.

As a Lead Brand Designer you should have 8+ years of experience in design, brand, and experiential creative roles, plus:

• 2+ years in a lead design role where you were independently concepting, designing, and executing projects, not just overseeing them. In‑house experience at a multi‑sided brand or marketplace preferred.

• A proven track record of developing and executing successful marketing and brand strategies and identity systems across physical and digital surfaces.

• Experience building and evolving brand systems in digitally native, social‑first contexts. you understand how design lives and performs in feeds, on platforms, and in culture.

• Leadership of creative teams who have taken campaigns from idea through to execution and can speak to the business problem you were aiming to solve, how you managed the brief all the way through the launch, and the impact of your team’s work.

• Deep understanding of audience behavior, established and emerging trends and tools, and a passion for exploring how brands can intersect with culture.

• Adept at using data and metrics to inform creative decisions and improve impact.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to present and articulate ideas clearly and effectively, and experience working closely with designers, marketers, and product teams.

• Skilled at managing multiple projects simultaneously, with the ability to pivot and adapt as priorities shift.

• Naturally curious and proactive, with a growth mindset and a high standard for quality.

• You thrive on feedback, view it as a tool for growth, and are motivated to consistently elevate your work.

• High‑growth startup, marketplace or creator‑focused platform experience preferred.

• You have a portfolio that showcases your work.
  

Benefits

• Generous Holiday and Time off Policy

• Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision

• Work From Home Support

  • Home office setup allowance

  • Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet

• Care benefits

  • Monthly allowance for wellness

  • Annual allowance towards Childcare

  • Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses

• Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally

• Monthly allowance to dogfood the app

  • All Whatnauts are expected to develop a deep understanding of our product. We’re passionate about building the best user experience, and all employees are expected to use Whatnot as both a buyer and a seller as part of their job (our dogfooding budget makes this fun and easy!).

• Parental Leave

  • 16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work *company leave allowances run concurrently with country leave requirements which take precedence.

Please note: Whatnot will only contact you through official @whatnot.com email addresses. If you see an email impersonating a Whatnot recruiter, please disregard and report it as spam.

EOE

Whatnot is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, parental status, disability status, or any other status protected by local law. We believe that our work is better and our company culture is improved when we encourage, support, and respect the different skills and experiences represented within our workforce.