DescriptionBrand Designer
Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive. Our ratings, research, and resources reach more than 150 million users worldwide and 1.4 million educators every year. Learn more at commonsense.org.
The Opportunity
The Brand Designer will be the operational engine of our Brand team, leading campaign delivery and design execution with precision and excellence. This role requires a highly efficient designer who thrives on turning strategic direction into flawless execution, ensuring our brand shows up consistently and powerfully across every touchpoint. You'll lead our extended production team of contractors and agency partners, driving quality control and operational excellence while continually innovating on how we work: exploring AI-powered tools, streamlining processes, and finding smarter ways to amplify our impact. This position offers the opportunity to own end-to-end campaign delivery while building the cross-functional relationships that make great work possible at scale.
Location: San Francisco, California
Reports To: Head of Design
Salary: $85,600–$101,650 per year
Type: Full-time, exempt
What You'll Do
We're a nimble design team that supports a broader organization dedicated to helping families and teachers navigate an ever-evolving media landscape. In this role, you'll move from heads-down production into the driver's seat of our design operations, ensuring our brand work consistently meets the highest standards of craft and effectiveness.
As the operational leader for campaign design, the Brand Designer will ensure excellence in execution while managing capacity, quality, and delivery across our extended production team.
In addition, this person will:
- Own end-to-end campaign delivery from creative brief through final production, ensuring that all work launches on time, on brand, and on strategy across digital and print channels.
- Lead and manage our roster of contractors and agency partners, providing clear direction, timely feedback, capacity planning, and quality oversight to ensure seamless collaboration and excellent outcomes.
- Serve as the quality control guardian for the brand, ensuring that every piece of creative meets Common Sense Media standards before it reaches our audiences—developing an instinctive eye for what's on-brand and what needs refinement.
- Drive design operations excellence by establishing and maintaining efficient workflows, asset management practices, and production processes that enable the team to work quickly without sacrificing quality.
- Innovate on operational efficiency by exploring and implementing AI-powered design tools, automation opportunities, and emerging technologies that amplify team productivity and creative impact.
- Execute high-impact creative across multiple mediums including campaign materials, print collateral, digital assets, marketing materials, presentations, and branded templates that internal teams can use independently.
- Build and strengthen cross-functional relationships with stakeholders across Studios, Product, Marketing, and other teams, becoming a trusted partner who deeply understands organizational goals and audience needs.
- Leverage and apply our brand system to ensure consistency across all touchpoints, translating brand guidelines into practical execution while identifying opportunities to elevate creative quality.
- Master production across tools and platforms, maintaining expert-level proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma while creating efficient templates and systems in Google Workspace that enable team self-service.
- Provide strategic feedback and mentorship to contractors and junior team members, raising the bar for craft and ensuring that everyone understands how their work ladders up to organizational goals.
- Monitor project health and capacity across the extended team, proactively identifying bottlenecks, managing timelines, and ensuring smooth handoffs between team members and external partners.
This Person Should Be Comfortable With:
- Leading campaign execution, from strategy through delivery, with minimal oversight.
- Managing external creative partners and providing clear, actionable feedback that improves outcomes.
- Making confident quality decisions about whether work meets brand standards and is ready to launch.
- Building efficient production processes and workflows that scale across teams.
- Experimenting with emerging design tools and AI technologies to discover efficiency gains and creative opportunities.
- Balancing multiple high-priority campaigns simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail.
- Collaborating across functions to understand project goals, audience needs, and organizational priorities.
- Applying established brand systems while identifying opportunities to strengthen consistency and quality.
- Ensuring that all creative work is inclusive, accessible, and represents our diverse communities.
What We're Looking For
- At least 5 years of hands-on experience in brand design, with a portfolio demonstrating both creative excellence and production efficiency.
- Proven track record leading campaign design from concept through delivery, with exceptional attention to quality and deadlines.
- Expert-level proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), with mastery of print production and digital asset creation.
- Expert-level proficiency in Figma, with strong ability to work within established design systems and create production-ready assets.
- Strong experience with Google Workspace, creating templates and systems that enable team productivity.
- Demonstrated ability to manage external contractors and agency partners, providing effective feedback and maintaining project momentum.
- Advanced understanding of brand systems and guidelines, with the ability to apply them consistently across varied executions.
- Excellence in cross-functional collaboration, with proven ability to build strong stakeholder relationships and navigate organizational dynamics.
- Exceptional organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple complex campaigns under tight deadlines.
- Strong conceptual thinking skills, with the ability to translate strategic briefs into compelling creative directions.
- Experience in education, family-focused, or youth-oriented sectors is a plus.
- Bachelor's degree in graphic design, visual communications, or related field (or equivalent experience).
What We Offer
- The chance to work with talented, passionate professionals.
- A great health and welfare benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and a matching 401(k).
- An organization that offers work/life balance.
- The opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of kids and families!
Common Sense Media provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected classification or characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Common Sense Media will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. However, job offers are made on the condition that the applicant subsequently passes a criminal background check. If the background check indicates a prior criminal conviction, we will conduct an individualized assessment to determine whether the conviction should result in denial of employment. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
