Creative & Brand Design Manager

Zymo Research Corporation•Tustin, CA

11h•Onsite

About The Position

Zymo Research is seeking a Creative & Brand Design Manager to lead a three-person creative team, own the company’s brand design and visual identity, and contribute directly through an ongoing graphic design workload. This player-coach role works closely with Marketing and Commercial leadership to translate the company’s brand strategy, voice, and philosophy into a consistent visual identity. The manager develops practical brand standards, guides the team’s work, and personally creates materials that establish the brand’s quality and direction. The role oversees creative team development and workload planning; manages the company’s visual identity across digital, print, social media, email, presentations, events, product collateral, and other touchpoints; and personally designs corporate brand programs and company-wide materials. It also leads development of brand guidelines and reusable templates, supports creative operations and quality control, and collaborates with Marketing, Commercialization Managers, scientific and technical contributors, and Web teams. Zymo Research provides scientific research tools and products and describes its workplace as a vibrant community where employees can thrive, feel connected, and be inspired by their work. The position is onsite at Zymo Research’s Tustin, California location. The estimated base compensation range is $100,000–$115,000 annually. Benefits and perks include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; EAP sessions; vacation time and company holidays; paid sick leave; a 401(k) with matching; an employee referral bonus; complimentary fruit, snacks, and beverages; catered Thursday lunches; complimentary EV charging; and a cell phone stipend.

Requirements

Five or more years of experience in graphic design, brand design, visual identity, or art direction, including experience directly managing and developing creative team members.
A strong portfolio demonstrating personal design work, excellent typography and layout, visual hierarchy, and consistent brand execution across digital and print.
Experience developing brand guidelines, templates, visual systems, or design standards.
Hands-on proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud, particularly Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.
Strong presentation design skills.
Ability to translate brand strategy and communication objectives into practical visual principles and finished creative work.
Strong creative review skills and the ability to coach designers, explain design decisions, and give clear, actionable feedback.
Ability to balance individual design projects with people management, creative direction, and competing deadlines.
Strong organization, communication, and collaboration skills across creative, scientific, marketing, and commercial teams.

Nice To Haves

Experience in life sciences, biotechnology, healthcare, technical B2B, or another complex industry.
Experience leading an in-house creative team and working with project managers.
Experience directing photography, video visuals, or campaign imagery.
Familiarity with Figma, web and UX design systems, and their connection to a broader brand identity.
Experience using AI or emerging creative tools to support visual exploration and production efficiency.

Responsibilities

Manage, coach, and develop a three-person creative team through clear expectations, regular feedback, performance reviews, and professional development.
Assign work according to priorities, capacity, and individual strengths, and coordinate timelines and workloads with project managers and Marketing leadership.
Provide art direction and constructive design feedback, and foster collaboration and creative independence.
Support hiring and onboarding as the creative team evolves.
Own and refine Zymo Research’s visual identity across digital, print, social media, email, presentations, events, product collateral, and other brand touchpoints.
Translate brand strategy into visual principles for typography, layout, color, imagery, iconography, and visual hierarchy.
Review major creative assets for clarity, polish, consistency, and alignment with the company’s brand direction.
Personally develop concepts and produce finished graphic design, primarily for corporate brand programs and company-wide initiatives.
Design corporate presentations, company overviews, brand campaigns, event materials, internal communications, and other company-representative materials.
Take assigned design projects from brief and concept development through revisions, production, and final delivery.
Create flagship brand assets and reusable examples that establish design direction for the broader creative team.
Maintain an active design workload while balancing team leadership, creative reviews, and brand development.
Lead development and maintenance of the brand guide and create practical templates for presentations, social media, email, brochures, product sheets, events, and internal communications.
Make brand standards understandable and usable for creative team members, internal partners, and external vendors.
Audit existing materials, identify inconsistent or outdated designs, and prioritize updates with Marketing leadership.
Partner with project and operations leads to improve creative briefs, project intake, review cycles, approvals, and delivery workflows.
Maintain organized asset libraries, approved templates, source files, and version control.
Review work for visual clarity, brand consistency, and production quality, and ensure files meet channel requirements.
Use project delivery, stakeholder feedback, and adoption of brand standards to identify improvements in creative quality and team effectiveness.
Collaborate with Marketing, Commercialization Managers, scientific and technical contributors, and Web teams to translate communication objectives into effective visual design.
Involve designers early in project planning and work with subject matter experts to make complex information clear and visually accessible while preserving accuracy.
Provide visual direction for photography, video, campaign imagery, and website assets in partnership with the teams responsible for those channels.