Associate Design Director

Stand Together

$125K — $160K *
Media
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years of design experience in brand, campaign, and multi-channel execution.
  • Strong portfolio showcasing exceptional design across digital, social, print, video, and brand systems.
  • Experience in managing, mentoring, and developing design teams.
  • Refined design sensibility with a focus on detail, typography, and layout.
  • Solid understanding of design's role in storytelling and audience engagement.
  • Proven ability to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder environments while upholding high creative standards.
  • Excellent communication skills, capable of articulating design decisions clearly.
  • Collaborative mindset focused on continuous improvement for both work and team.

Responsibilities

  • Lead design across projects, ensuring visual and strategic coherence.
  • Serve as the design authority, refining and elevating creative work.
  • Mentor designers at all levels, providing hands-on feedback and coaching.
  • Critically review layouts, typography, and storytelling for polish and consistency.
  • Establish and maintain design standards and best practices for brand and campaigns.
  • Collaborate with other creatives to bring integrated ideas to life across various media.
  • Translate strategic concepts into visually compelling systems that resonate culturally.

Benefits

  • 6% 401(k) match with immediate vesting.
  • Flexible time off and comprehensive health and dental plans.
  • Wellness and mental health support through Peloton and Talkspace.
  • A meaningful career within a passionate community of over 1,300 employees.
  • Commitment to growth in a non-hierarchical, empowering environment.
Full Job Description
We9re looking for a highly skilled, detail-oriented Associate Design Director to elevate the quality, consistency, and impact of our creative work across the Stand Together brand and its network of partners.

This role is ideal for a design leader who combines exceptional visual craft with a passion for mentoring others. You will play a critical role in shaping and refining creative work-bringing a sharp design eye, strong executional ability, and the ability to guide teams towards best-in-class outcomes.
Working closely with the Creative Director, you will focus on raising the bar of design across all touchpoints, ensuring that every piece of work is strategically sound, visually compelling, and executed at the highest level. This role offers a unique opportunity to make a culturally significant impact while strengthening the capabilities of our creative team.

What You Will Do

  • Serve as the design lead across projects, partnering with the Creative Director to ensure work is visually exceptional, strategically aligned, and cohesive across channels.
  • Act as the primary design authority, providing a critical, detail-oriented eye to refine and elevate creative work at every stage.
  • Guide and mentor designers (junior through senior), offering hands-on feedback, direction, and coaching to strengthen craft, execution, and conceptual thinking.
  • Spend dedicated time in the work, reviewing layouts, typography, systems, and visual storytelling to ensure the highest level of polish and consistency.
  • Establish and uphold design standards, systems, and best practices across brand, campaigns, and partnerships.
  • Collaborate closely with art directors, copywriters, strategists, and producers to bring integrated ideas to life across digital, social, video, print, and experiential.
  • Translate strategic concepts into compelling visual systems and executions that resonate culturally and emotionally.
  • Lead design critiques, foster a culture of constructive feedback, and create an environment where designers can grow and do their best work.
  • Ensure design work scales effectively across platforms while maintaining integrity and quality.
  • Support the Creative Director by owning the day-to-day design quality, enabling more focus on higher-level strategy and vision.


What You Will Bring

  • 7+ years of experience in design, with a strong track record in brand, campaign, and multi-channel execution (agency or in-house).
  • A portfolio that demonstrates exceptional design craft across digital, social, print, video, and brand systems.
  • Experience managing, leading, mentoring, and developing designers, with a passion for elevating team performance.
  • A refined design sensibility with a 4laser eye4 for detail, typography, layout, and visual systems.
  • Strong understanding of how design supports storytelling, strategy, and audience engagement.
  • Experience working within complex, multi-stakeholder environments while maintaining high creative standards.
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions clearly and persuasively.
  • A highly collaborative mindset with a commitment to continuous improvement-for both the work and the team.
  • Enthusiasm to contribute to Stand Together9s vision and principled approach to solving problems, and a commitment to stewarding our culture, which champions values including transformation and innovation, entrepreneurialism, humility, and respect.


Standout Candidates Will Bring

  • Experience building and scaling brand systems across multiple channels and partners.
  • Experience mentoring and leveling up design teams in fast-paced environments.
  • Background in culturally driven or behavior change campaigns.
  • Ability to balance hands-on design involvement with leadership responsibilities.


What We Offer

  • Competitive benefits: Enjoy a 6% 401(k) match with immediate vesting, flexible time off, comprehensive health and dental plans, plus wellness and mental health support through Peloton and Talkspace.
  • A meaningful career: Join a passionate community of over 1,300 employees dedicated to improving lives and driving innovative solutions to complex social challenges.
  • Commitment to growth: Thrive in a non-hierarchical environment that empowers employees to discover, develop and apply their unique talents.
  • Competitive compensation: Our approach rewards the value you create through competitive salaries and bonus opportunities, allowing you to share in the success you help drive.


$125,000 - $160,000 a year

For this role, the anticipated base salary range is $125,000-$160,000 per year. This role may also be eligible for additional bonus compensation designed to align total compensation with an employee9s overall contribution to the organization.

Our Principles-Based Management17 (PBM) compensation philosophy is grounded in an individualized approach that rewards the long-term value each person creates for the organization. Compensation decisions are informed by a variety of factors, including relevant experience, capabilities, demonstrated skills, role responsibilities, and expected contribution. Consistent with this approach, base salary may vary within or outside of the anticipated range based on these considerations.

Our Values: Working for an organization within the Stand Together philanthropic community is different from many other places. The culture is deeply rooted in Principle Based Management4 (PBM4), a framework guided by the principles that drive human progress, such as dignity, openness, and bottom-up empowerment. PBM4 empowers employees to be entrepreneurial, to innovate, and to continually drive transformation.

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