Brand Design Principal

3M•Maplewood, MN

6d•$164,612 - $201,193•Onsite

About The Position

The Brand Design Principal is a design leader over one of our iconic 3M brands. This role sets mid-term to long-term brand design strategy, governs visual identity and brand standards, and ensures creative excellence across the full customer journey. This role integrates consumer insight, business strategy, and craft to build brand value, drive growth, and deliver differentiated, culturally relevant experiences worldwide. It combines strategic leadership with hands-on contribution when needed. The Brand Design Principal will integrate brand design development into business strategies, identify and lead programs of strategic relevance to create brands that engage consumers and deliver a high-quality experience. As a Design Principal, you will have the opportunity to tap into your curiosity and collaborate with some of the most innovative people around the world.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start)
Seven (7) years professional experience in brand design across multiple touchpoints (e.g., packaging, product, digital, retail, communications) in a private, public, government or military environment

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Design, Visual Communication, Brand Strategy, Experience Design, or related field.
10–15+ years of experience in brand/experience design with demonstrated leadership of global programs and complex portfolios.
Proven success establishing and governing visual identity systems and multi-touchpoint brand experiences.
Strong financial acumen: budget ownership, PO management, vendor SOWs, and monthly OP reconciliation.
Expertise in consumer research translation (ethnography, segmentation) into design strategy and commercialization.
Demonstrated ability to lead agencies and cross-functional teams; excellent communication, storytelling, and influence skills.
Experience in CPG, durable goods, or related industries; familiarity with design operations systems (e.g., SAP/Ariba for POs is a plus).
Portfolio showcasing strategic brand systems and high-quality execution across packaging, digital, and communications.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and stewardship of brand design systems that create emotional connection and meet functional needs.
Translate consumer insights into differentiated brand experiences across packaging, product, digital, retail, and communications.
Govern brand standards globally to ensure consistency, relevance, and effectiveness across markets and categories.
Partner with business leaders to align design strategy to growth objectives, new product innovation, and commercialization.
Define and lead long-term brand design strategy, including visual brand identity, brand architecture, design principles, and multi-touchpoint experience frameworks.
Establish and oversee brand governance, standards, and toolkits; ensure adherence across internal teams and external partners.
Serve as brand steward—owning and evolving the brand system to support new product innovations, portfolio extensions, and entry into new categories.
Drive design strategy integration into business planning, category roadmaps, and go-to-market activities.
Provide global support and partnership with regional/country teams; adapt brand programs to local market needs and cultural nuances.
Build scalable design systems and toolkits that enable effective localization while maintaining brand integrity.
Explore future trends in industry, technology, socio-economic and demographic shifts to inform strategy for growth.
Own the design budget for assigned brand(s) or portfolios; forecast annually and manage monthly tracking to the Design Operating Plan (OP).
Open and manage purchase orders (POs), calibrate spend vs. OP, and ensure fiscal discipline and transparency.
Balance internal and external resourcing; scope and negotiate agency SOWs; manage vendor performance.
Cultivates trusted, long-term partnerships with external agencies—translating business objectives and consumer insight into inspiring, tightly framed briefs; setting clear creative guardrails; and leading incisive reviews that elevate the work while honoring brand intent.
Champion consumer centricity; translate ethnographic research, segmentation, and behavioral insights into actionable design strategies.
Partner with Insights teams to frame hypotheses, define learning plans, and validate concepts through qualitative/quantitative methods.
Establish metrics/KPIs for brand experience performance and tie design outcomes to business results.
Elevate creative craft and design intent across all touchpoints—packaging, product, digital, retail, and marketing communications.
Ensure creative intent is executed consistently beyond packaging across e-commerce, retail, and digital environments.
Guide and partner with CX on creative execution for campaigns, photoshoots, commercials, photography, and styling—ensuring brand coherence and quality.
Maintain a high level of design expertise; push boundaries through thought leadership, trend scanning, and prototyping.
Champion the end-to-end experience—from strategy and concept through commercialization and post-launch optimization.
Partner with Marketing, R&D, Brand Communications, and Sales to align design goals to business goals across complex portfolios.
Mentor and coach designers; lead critiques that elevate quality and consistency.
Model a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and consumer empathy; inspire teams with a big heart for brand strategy and craft.