ustwo NY is looking for a Design Director to join our leadership team and to shape design strategy and operations for our studio and clients across the US.
As our Design Director, you’ll be responsible for the growth and development of a team of ~10 designers, encouraging and ensuring industry-leading design by facilitating collaboration across disciplines and teams. Setting the benchmark for quality and best practices, you’ll help steer designers to execute in a fast-moving, global environment. You will be an ambassador for the ustwo principles both internally and externally and bring high EQ to the wellbeing of ustwobies within the design team.
At the project level, you will guide clients and multi-disciplinary teams in the creation of world-class products and experiences developing everything from mobile apps and wearables to immersive experiences and games.
As part of the NY leadership team, you will impact the studio's strategic direction and growth by contributing to business development and pitches, operational decision-making and culture.
YOU ARE...
- Highly passionate. You care deeply about fostering design in a user-centered and interdisciplinary client service environment. You have an understanding of the digital product and service landscape and take an active interest in new technologies.
- A practitioner leader. You are as passionate about designing as you are leading and guiding others. You are unafraid of getting your hands dirty, but able to recognize when to delegate to the design team.
- An empathetic mentor. You care about developing your team’s craft by offering direction, inspiration, and vision. You strive to help the team overcome challenges and aspire to nurture them as they grow into our future leaders.
- An excellent communicator and story-teller. Whether it’s about people, design, or product, you bring a positive energy to any conversation and are able to get those around you excited about a shared purpose. You have the ability to develop and articulate ideas so that others (including clients) comprehend them, love them, and buy into them.
- Commercially savvy. You understand how to achieve commercial objectives without undermining the quality of our work. Ideally, you understand our competitive landscape and know how to keep us differentiated in our offering. You identify opportunities and see the potential in any project or client engagement.
- A change maker. You enjoy change, problem-solving, and you’re passionate about learning and experimenting. “Afraid to fail" is not in your vocabulary.
YOU HAVE...
- 5+ years experience as a people manager in a senior design leadership position
- A demonstrated record of building design teams, nurturing talent, and facilitating career and personal growth
- Expertise in the designing of digital products and experiences, as well as the processes by which they are created
- Experience in design ownership/leadership across multiple teams and projects
- Studio/agency experience and an understanding of this business model (pitching, project resourcing, etc.)
- A record of success with net new business and growing with existing clients
- Interest and participation in professional industry groups, conferences, speaking engagements, publications, or teaching
- Experience with non-traditional platforms “outside the rectangle” (e.g. AR, VR, wearables, etc)
Compensation & Benefits
The base salary range for this full-time role is between $195,000 and $230,000. Actual salary amount within this range will be dependent on the candidate's experience, skillset, market knowledge, and salaries of current employees in similar roles. We benchmark our salaries regularly against competitive market data so these ranges will be subject to change.
Full-time employees also qualify for ustwo's Profit Share Scheme, in which the studio group shares up to one-third of operating profits with all employees, subject to hitting certain safety thresholds and targets.
Additionally, all full-time employees are eligible for the following benefits:
- Fully paid Medical, Vision, and Dental coverage
- 401k with up to 5% company matching
- 20 Days PTO
- Up to 15 additional closed days per year, including the last week of the year
- Hybrid working model
- Transit and Health FSA programs
- Citibike membership
- One Medical and Talkspace Memberships
- 16 weeks of paid parental leave
- Annual Growth & Development Budget
- Monthly Wellness & Cell Phone Contributions
Interested but think your experience doesn’t perfectly align with this job description? That’s ok. Research shows underrepresented groups in particular are less inclined to apply for jobs where they don’t meet 100% of the requirements listed. We’d still love to hear from you if you feel passionate about this role!
We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for our colleagues, clients, community, and the users of our products. We don’t have all the answers but we’re on a journey, and we are learning together.
About ustwo
ustwo combines expertise in product and service development, ventures and gaming to make a meaningful impact on the challenges companies and individuals face in contemporary culture.
Over the years, we have been carving out a reputation in the space between digital product development and new experience design.
Our deep product development knowledge, our design heritage and our leadership at the edges of technology and culture, means we are capable of providing fresh creative and strategic direction on genuinely new experiences, as well as deep technical expertise on implementation - never disconnecting strategy from implementation.
This combination of capabilities is rare and valuable, particularly in a market that’s seeing ever-increasing convergence of entertainment, gaming, content, commerce, and platforms.
