Digital Design Director

Aristotle•Washington, DC

1d•$90,000 - $135,000•Onsite

About The Position

Aristotle is looking for a Digital Design Director who can lead the creation of professional, audience-focused design across websites, digital campaigns, presentations, advertising, email, and marketing materials. This is not an entry-level role or a production-only design job. We need someone who has built brands, websites, campaign concepts, and digital creative from the ground up, not just contributed edits to someone else’s work. A strong portfolio is required, and it should show original thinking, polished execution, and the ability to carry a design system across multiple formats. The right person brings a clear design perspective, understands the audience, and can explain how a design captures attention, organizes information, and moves a person toward action. Website design is a major part of this role, so UI/UX experience is strongly encouraged. This person must be comfortable taking rough input, developing creative direction, presenting ideas, incorporating feedback, and moving quickly without losing quality. We would strongly prefer someone with agency, consulting, advocacy, public affairs, political, or other fast-moving client service experience.

Requirements

7+ years of professional digital, graphic, web, or brand design experience.
Strong portfolio showing original website design, branding, campaign creative, digital ads, presentations, and marketing materials.
Demonstrated experience building creative from the ground up.
Strong skills in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma.
Strong understanding of typography, layout, hierarchy, composition, color, user flow, and digital production.
Experience designing websites, landing pages, and digital user experiences.
Ability to work within existing client brand standards while still producing strong, original work.
Ability to explain design choices clearly and professionally.
Experience designing for social, display, and digital campaign channels.
Comfortable working under tight timelines with multiple rounds of feedback.

Nice To Haves

Agency, consulting, campaign, advocacy, public affairs, or political experience.
UI/UX experience, including wireframes, user flows, accessibility, and conversion-focused design.
Experience with WordPress, Webflow, or similar website platforms.
Email template design experience.
Motion graphics or light video editing experience.
Experience working with developers on design handoff and QA.

Responsibilities

Lead design for websites, landing pages, digital ads, social graphics, email templates, PowerPoint decks, reports, one-pagers, and marketing materials.
Create original brand concepts, campaign identities, and visual systems from the ground up.
Apply and extend client brand standards across websites, digital campaigns, presentations, advertising, and email.
Design website layouts and user experiences that are clear, credible, and built around the intended audience.
Translate strategy, messaging, and client input into professional creative concepts.
Present design direction and explain how the work supports the audience, message, and goal.
Produce creative for common social and display ad platforms.
Take feedback, revise quickly, and keep projects moving.
Work with internal teams, developers, and clients to move creative from concept to finished product.
Manage multiple projects in a fast-moving client service environment.