Director, Retail Design (Remote or Hybrid)

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

 

THE ROLE:

We are looking for a Director, Retail Design who is part visionary, part practitioner, and entirely uncompromising when it comes to quality. You will act as a "player-coach," a hands on collaborator who leads by doing. You won’t just manage the work; you will define it.

You will partner with design and creative leadership to push into unexplored territories, challenging the team to build world class brand expressions across print and physical retail environments. You think in systems and can advance a store's visual language while maintaining a robust design system. You are a tastemaker with an intuitive grasp of culture, fashion, and technology, capable of guiding a team to produce work that is aesthetically pioneering and strategically sound.

Your experience and hands on skill will play a crucial role in leading craft teams to world-class work as well as guiding clients and partners toward successful outcomes. Your fluency in the world of design helps you lead large scale, integrated teams towards successful outcomes. You’ll play an integral role in delivering the overarching creative and design strategy, ensuring the team's activities align with and significantly contribute to the organization's strategic short and long-term success.

This role can be either remote, or hybrid in Mountain View, CA.

 

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Closely collaborate with multidisciplinary teams of talented people across the agency and projects.
• Define the standard, acting as the aesthetic anchor for the team, setting an incredibly high bar for visual design, typography, and in-store experiences. You are the guardian of the craft.
• Lead from the front, operating as a hands-on leader. You will sketch, design, prototype, and polish alongside your team, demonstrating what "excellence" looks like in the files.
• Pioneer new solutions to drive the creative vision for retail stores, ensuring we aren't just meeting requirements but creating industry-defining work.
• Cultivate talent and mentor a multidisciplinary team. Elevate their thinking through clear, actionable feedback, regular 1:1s, and by fostering an environment of optimism and creative risk-taking.
• Build unwavering trust with high-level clients. You will present complex creative strategies with clarity, identifying decision-makers and turning them into partners.
• Translate raw strategic insights into tangible visual languages. You ensure the "why" works just as hard as the "how."
• Bring a fresh, insightful point of view that inspires both the internal team and the client, putting the team and client first.
• Define and implement successful design strategies, setting high visual and conceptual standards for all company efforts.
• Generate strategic insights and moodboards to facilitate creative innovation.
• Drive complex retail projects from kick-off to completion, ensuring the team's deliverables exceed client expectations and stay within budget and deadlines. 
• Establish project direction, craft guidelines, and assist with production as needed.
• Actively contribute to the design discipline through mentoring, conversation, and proposing ideas to elevate company operations and improve processes.

 

WHAT YOU BRING:

• 8+ years of proven experience in retail and print design for leading brands, including 2+ years in a leadership role.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Design, Visual Arts, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Mastery of 2D and 3D design programs and familiarity with essential collaboration tools (e.g., Hubspot, Google Suite, Slack).
• Strong knowledge and experience in visual design, environmental design, and brand development. Experience developing and maintaining a robust design system.
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic vision and creative inspiration to large, diverse teams.
• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills with the ability to clearly articulate complex information to clients and internal stakeho