Senior Design Director

Milk Makeup; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible time off

Health insurance

Parental leave

Wellbeing program

Job summary

Milk Makeup in New York City is seeking a Senior Design Director to set the vision for physical brand, product, and visual merchandising design across markets. You will design, develop and oversee all new and existing product and retail environments, partnering with creative leads, VM, editorial, product marketing, brand marketing, packaging development, purchasing and supply chain.

The role leads a global team, establishes design frameworks, manages budgets and vendors, creates 3D renderings,

Qualifications

• Strong leadership and team-building abilities.
• Deep experience in brand, product and packaging design.
• Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams including VM, editorial, product marketing and supply chain.

Responsibilities

• Set the vision for physical brand, product and visual merchandising design across Milk Makeup markets.
• Design, develop and oversee product and retail environments; partner with creative leads, VM, editorial, product marketing, brand marketing, packaging development, purchasing and supply chain.
• Lead, mentor and inspire the Product Design team; provide actionable feedback on design decisions and processes.
• Establish design frameworks and systems to ensure consistent user experience across products and tools.
• Create and maintain style guides, design specs and packaging standards; manage budgets and vendor relationships.
• Coordinate artwork approvals and ensure Go-To-Market deadlines are met.

Job description

At Milk Makeup, we’re all about cool clean beauty fueled by creativity. Born out of Milk, a creative hub in downtown New York City, innovation, self-expression, and community are at the heart of everything we do. We believe beauty isn’t about how you do your makeup, it’s what you do in it—and how you Live Your Look—that matters.

Who YOU are:

Community connector: You’re always thinking about how to improve your and your community’s future. You’re passionate about building a global community where everyone can feel seen and inspired in beauty.

Courageous but chill: Wherever you come from, you’re driven by the hardworking New York spirit that Milk embodies. You’re flexible and ready to get the job done, but you’re humble and make moves thoughtfully. You strive for quality, have fun doing it, and always have the greater good of the brand in mind.

Fearlessly innovative: You’re not afraid to take calculated risks and enjoy problem solving. You’re down to disrupt the status quo and innovate in order to raise the bar. You value a forward-thinking space that encourages you to lead change, never follow.

Champion of self-expression: You’re creative at heart and are always genuinely you. You live your look and want to grow with people who celebrate individuality.

Inclusive + mindful: You believe an open mind is always the best place to start and value active listening. You embrace differences and help foster a safe working environment for yourself and your peers.

The ROLE:

The Senior Design Director will set the vision for all physical brand, product, and visual merchandising design for Milk Makeup. Design, develop and oversee all new and existing product and retail environments for all markets. Partner with all creative team leads, visual merchandising, editorial, product marketing, brand marketing, packaging development, purchasing and supply chain team.

What YOU’ll do:

• Manage, build and inspire the Product Design team providing actionable feedback and guidance on design decisions and processes
• Conception and ideation of brand creative direction with a focus on applying it to innovative Product and Packaging design solutions
• Establish and manage design frameworks and systems to ensure consistent user experience across our ever‑evolving suite of products and tools
• Build and refine our process for gathering data, feedback and input from users, stakeholders and the Data team to inform design decisions
• Direct and create technical specs within groups and the timely completion of corrections as needed to align with the Go‑To‑Market deadlines.
• Liaise in partnership with Packaging Development and Purchasing with outside packaging manufacturing vendors on the concepts to final execution of all elements of 3d & 2D Packaging.
• Design standalone cosmetics POP displays, product stands, item displays, retail fixtures, and in‑store installations
• Oversee collateral for influencer boxes, signage for events, floor plans, physical representations of the brand, .com packaging and all
• Create interesting eye‑catching 3D renderings for various VM projects and 3D displays
• Lead, develop and execute all global packaging, which includes primary, secondary, sets, gwp designs and sample cards.
• Create and maintain style guides for primary, secondary, sets, gwp designs and sampling packaging and sample cards.
• Create graphic layouts for primary and secondary packaging within brand guidelines and aesthetic
• Prepare and check final artwork before it is released for production
• Coordinate artwork approval process within the various internal departments
• Create and maintain packaging standards library for new and existing components.
• Ensure product design execution is within target costs & margin requirements.
• Manage department budget in partnership with 360 Creative Team
• Manage and oversee all onsite pre‑ and launch production with various manufacturing materials with varying vendors across the globe from paper, plastics to glass production.

Why you’ll love being part of MILK MAKEUP:

Flexible time off: We provide a generous PTO program, paid company holidays, summer fridays, and more.

Health + wellbeing support: We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, a wellbeing reimbursement, wellbeing speaker series, and a 6% 401k company match.

Family accommodations: We offer a generous parental leave program of up to 20 weeks of 100% paid leave to care for and bond with your child.

Employee care: We offer employees 100% paid leave for up to 12 weeks following their own illness.

Professional growth + development: We have a comprehensive program to support your growth at Milk Makeup, lunch + learns, DEI led training sessions, and a learning and development program.

Hybrid work model: We provide flexibility to support individual work styles, balance business needs, and ensure we live our values. We have a strong (and chill!) office culture in Soho with a dog‑friendly environment and a well‑stocked kitchen of snacks and drinks.

MMU swag: We want you to get familiar with our new drops and re‑up on any of your fave products.