Associate Director of Creative (UI/UX, Brand)

<p>We're building the future of advertising and are looking for the minds to help us do it.</p><p>Darkroom is a digital growth agency helping build the world’s best ideas through the art of creative storytelling and the science of growth marketing. We’ve built out a talented, robust team of 10+ designers, who’s work contributes to all major verticals at Darkroom: Acquisition, Retention, and Digital Products. We are looking for an experienced and talented Associate Director of Creative to join our team.</p><p>The Associate Director of Creative is a player/coach designer who will ensure that UI/UX Design, Brand Design, and Marketing Design engagements are delivered on-time and to a high bar of visual quality.</p><p>In this role, you’ll report to the Director of Creative. You’ll use your strong design background to be an advocate for our design processes and philosophy, and supervise a cohort of Designers by providing feedback on their work to develop their skillsets across paid ads, emails, landing pages, and e-commerce web design. Your main focus will be people management, with the flexibility to engage in 1-2 hands-on UI/UX design projects as required.</p><p>We’re looking for a candidate with deep experience in both UI/UX design and brand design, to apply this experience to management and development of junior designers. A strong candidate has a best-in-class visual eye, clear attention-to-detail, and direct experience with managing designers.</p><p></p><h2>This is a fully remote role operating in the EST Time Zone and all business is conducted 100% in English. Open to candidates in the following locations: Portugal, England, Spain and Ireland. </h2><p></p><p><strong>Management Responsibilities:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Manage a team of designers, starting with 2-4 direct reports and expanding as the team grows. Provide support in strategy, project management, design feedback, performance evaluation, and handling escalations.</p></li><li><p>Conduct weekly 1:1s with direct reports to assess client health, offer feedback, and oversee career development.</p></li><li><p>Ensure high-quality work output from direct reports, focusing on visual craft, UX expertise, and meeting deadlines.</p></li><li><p>Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including marketers, strategists, developers, and clients, to develop project plans, understand business objectives, and address client issues.</p></li><li><p>Refine internal processes for client work in coordination with the Director of Creative. Provide training and feedback to enhance the skills of the design team.</p></li></ul><p><strong>Senior Individual Contributor Responsibilities:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Lead 1-2 UI/UX engagements as needed, focusing on creating branded e-commerce websites.</p></li><li><p>Emphasize branded UI, conversion-focused UX, and clarity in design approaches.</p></li><li><p>Present design work to clients, explaining design choices based on effective reasoning and UX principles.</p></li><li><p>Manage design projects independently from discovery to hand-off, adhering to timelines and collaborating with developers to ensure feasibility.</p></li><li><p>Develop component systems and maintain design guidelines for consistency.</p></li></ul><p><strong>You Should Apply if this Sounds Like You:</strong></p><ul><li><p>3-6+ years of senior-level design experience, with at least 1 year of people management experience preferred. Must have experience in responsive web design.</p></li><li><p>Digital portfolio showcasing web design and branding skills, including color theory, hierarchy, composition, and typography.</p></li><li><p>Self-motivated, proactive, and detail-oriented with a strong sense of ownership.</p></li><li><p>Experience collaborating with developers and documenting designs for development hand-off.</p></li><li><p>Comfortable with client-facing responsibilities in English, including leading discovery calls and resolving client feedback.</p></li><li><p>Capable of providing constructive internal feedback and guiding direct reports to improve their work.</p></li><li><p>Ability to tackle ambiguous problems, understand business challenges, design solutions, and execute them effectively.</p></li><li><p>Proficiency in Figma, including features like Auto Layout, Components, and Variants, is essential.</p></li><li><p>Experience with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator) is required.</p></li><li><p><strong>Bonus:</strong> Experience in e-commerce or hospitality website design, familiarity with HTML/CSS or frameworks like Tailwind.</p><p></p></li></ul><h3><strong>What it's like to work at Darkroom:</strong></h3><p>Our team is our most sacred asset, and we offer highly competitive salaries and the following perks:</p><ul><li><p>Unlimited Vacation Policy, and Holidays: Rebooting is one of the most important parts of growth. At Darkroom, you have access to a flexible vacation policy, and 10 holidays throughout the year to keep you recharged and sharp.</p>