Manager, Visual Design

AAA Mountain West Group; Bancroft (CA); Hybrid; USD 119,000 - 146,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k Matching

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Wellness program

Paid Holidays

Paid Time Off

Volunteer time off

AAA Classic Membership

Product Discounts

Tuition Reimbursement

Job summary

AAA Mountain West Group seeks an experienced Manager of Visual Design to lead our in-house team. You will translate complex business objectives into compelling visual stories while mentoring designers and collaborating with stakeholders in Walnut Creek, CA.

Join a hybrid environment with a focus on brand systems, pixel-perfect detail, and ROI-driven visuals. Candidates should bring a strong portfolio and leadership experience in multi-channel campaigns.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in design or related field plus 4 years of experience
• 5 years of Management Experience
• Must provide a diverse demo reel that demonstrates a mastery of high-end production value alongside the ability to create effective, quick-turn marketing content.

Responsibilities

• Lead brand system development and maintain brand guidelines.
• Provide high-level art direction across all visual assets.
• Evolve design practice with emerging tools and technologies.
• Supervise and mentor designers; foster learning, inspiration and accountability.
• Plan capacity and align resources with project pipeline.
• Translate business requirements into visual strategies and work with cross-functional teams.
• Oversee hands-on design direction on projects.

Skills

Brand leadership

Art direction

Team management

Adobe Creative Cloud

Figma

ROI communication

Education

Bachelor's in design

4+ years experience

5 years management

Demo reel required

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud

Figma

Job description

Why Work For Us?

• Great Pay - opportunity to participate in AAA discretionary annual incentive plan or other incentive plans depending upon position
• 401k Matching – $1 for $1 company match up to 6% of eligible earnings per pay period
• Benefits – Medical, Dental, Vision, wellness program and more!
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Time Off – Team Members accrue paid time off monthly. Depending on position, an additional 24 hours per year are earmarked for volunteer activities.
• Collaborative Environment – AAA will value your contribution to providing exceptional service to our members
• Free AAA Classic Membership
• AAA Product Discounts
• Tuition Reimbursement Program

At AAA, our Team Members strive to deliver amazing service and help our Members outsmart life’s roadblocks. We believe everything you do outside of work adds to who you are at work.

NOTE: This role is hybrid and requires 3 days a week in our Walnut Creek, CA office.

The Manager, Visual Design leads our high-performing in-house team, sitting at the intersection of creative excellence and operational efficiency. In this role, you will translate complex business objectives into compelling visual stories while providing high-level art direction and mentorship to a talented group of individual contributors. Acting as both a diplomat and a proactive problem-solver, you will manage vital relationships across various lines of business, troubleshoot high-stakes projects, and ensure our design practice continually evolves alongside emerging technologies and industry trends.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Creative Leadership & Art Direction
  • Brand Leadership: Guide ongoing development of our brand system and its defining assets, while overseeing brand guidelines site.
  • Quality Oversight: Provide high-level art direction across all visual assets to ensure brand consistency and top-tier aesthetic execution.
  • Practice Evolution: Lead the visual design practice with a future-forward lens, identifying and implementing emerging skill sets and tools (e.g., AI-assisted design, interactive media, or new collaboration platforms).
• Team Management & People Development
  • People Leadership: Supervise and mentor a team of visual designers (individual contributors), fostering a culture of continuous learning, inspiration, and accountability.
  • Resource Planning: Lead capacity and capability planning, strategically matching team strengths to the evolving needs of the organization to ensure we are aligned to our pipeline of projects.
• Operational Excellence & Project Oversight
  • Cross-Functional Partnership: Act as a trusted advisor to Line of Business stakeholders, translating their business requirements into visual strategies that drive results. Work in close collaboration with other shared service teams (copywriting, content, video, email) to ensure unified, integrated campaign delivery.
  • Hands-on design direction.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Strong, multi-faceted portfolio demonstrating a proven track record of leading multi-channel campaigns with a focus on sophisticated corporate branding.
• Ability to balance "big picture" business objectives with a rigorous, uncompromising eye for pixel-perfect detail.
• Exceptional interpersonal and presentation skills; able to fluently translate "design" for creative teams and "ROI" for business stakeholders.
• Expert-level command of Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma, combined with an understanding of how design integrates with marketing automation and project management tools.

EDUCATION, COMPETENCIES, CERTIFICATIONS/LICENSES

• Minimum Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in design or related field plus 4 years of experience or High School diploma plus 8 years of visual design experience
  • 5 years of Management Experience
  • Must provide a diverse demo reel that demonstrates a mastery of high-end production value alongside the ability to create effective, quick-turn marketing content.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Agency or in-house production experience

We target between minimum and midpoint of the range, and all offers are subject to a fair pay analysis - Compensation Range: Min: $132,465.00 - Mid: $165,580.00