Associate Creative Director, Design

HoneyBook is the leading clientflow management platform that makes it easy for independent business owners to sell and deliver their services online. Offering powerful tools for communication, contracts, invoicing, payments, and more, the platform puts independent professionals in control of their process and client experience. HoneyBook is trusted by over 100,000 service-based businesses in the United States and Canada that have booked more than $12 billion in business on the platform.

Our culture is built on five core values that inform everything we do. We encourage collaboration, feedback, ownership, and have a growth mindset. We know experience comes in many different forms, some visible on your resume, others not. No one candidate will be a 100% perfect match to our description, so if you thrive in a fast-paced, intellectually-charged environment and have similar experience to what we are looking for, we encourage you to apply. 

About the role: 

HoneyBook’s marketing creative studio is seeking an Associate Creative Director, Design who will be responsible for determining high-level design strategy, direction, and goals for various work streams that contribute to the evolution of HoneyBook’s internal and external brand storytelling.

As the ACD, Design, you’re a multifaceted and curious senior creative with a passion for people leadership, a mind for strategy, and an eye for the tiniest design detail. You’re inspired to build brand design systems that are aesthetically compelling, measurably functional, and built to move people emotionally. A multi-platform thinker by default, you’re interested in the unique opportunities each medium provides — from promotional collateral for podcasts to motion graphics for video. You understand that concept and execution are inseparable when it comes to design, and you know how to execute both at the highest level — whether creating original artwork or collaborating with a top-tier network of agency partners. 

At the center of this role’s day-to-day work is creative leadership. You’ll empower the cross-disciplinary design team responsible for executing brand experiences for HoneyBook. You’ll feel comfortable being hands on with concepting, pitching, and building comprehensive brand design systems and bespoke creative outputs when needed. Crucially, the ACD, Design will also work closely with the ACD, Copy. Working in lock-step with the Executive Creative Director, and collaboratively with peers across other disciplines and HB leadership, you’ll look beyond the everyday deliverables to consider new opportunities both internally and externally — whether that might be following up on a potential partner engagement or nurturing an emerging skill set in a young designer. You can explain the “whys” behind decisions, are open to being wrong, and can represent your POV with conviction. 

This role is hybrid to our SF office, 2-3 days per week (current expectation is Wednesdays and Thursdays in-office).

Here are a few of the things you will work on:

• Design Strategy: Develop and implement high-level design strategies that align with HoneyBook's brand and business objectives, shaping the evolution of both internal and external brand storytelling efforts.
• Brand System Development: Create and oversee comprehensive brand design systems that are aesthetically compelling, functionally effective, and emotionally resonant across various platforms and mediums.
• Creative Leadership: Empower and guide a cross-disciplinary design team, fostering a culture of creative excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Multi-Platform Design Direction: Conceptualize and direct design solutions across diverse mediums, from promotional collateral for podcasts to motion graphics for video, leveraging the unique opportunities each platform provides.
• Collaborative Partnership: Work closely with the Associate Creative Director, Copy and the Executive Creative Director to ensure cohesive and impactful creative output across all projects.
• Hands-on Creation: When necessary, take a hands-on approach in concepting, pitching, and building comprehensive brand design systems and bespoke creative outputs.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with various teams and HB leadership to identify new opportunities for creative growth and innovation, both internally and externally.
• Team Development: Mentor and nurture the skills of your design team members, identifying and fostering emerging talents and skillsets.
• Strategic Decision-Making: Articulate the rationale behind design decisions, remain open to feedback, and confidently represent your point of view in creative discussions.
• Agency Management: Collaborate with and direct agency partners, ensuring their work aligns with HoneyBook's brand vision and meets high-quality standards.
• Brand Evolution: Continuously assess and evolve HoneyBook's brand identity, ensuring it remains relevant, impactful, and true to the company's values and goals.
• Performance Analysis: Work with relevant teams to understand the impact of design decisions on business metrics, using these insights to inform future strategies and creative directions.

Here are a few things you have done: 

• Brand and Design Leadership: Developed and implemented comprehensive brand identity and design systems for SMB and consumer brands, integrating design thinking across various formats including digital, print, and social media.
• Strategic Project Management: Defined and led projects from concept to delivery, including integrated marketing campaigns and performance marketing assets, while balancing employee goals, business needs, and budget constraints.
• Storytelling and Creative Execution: Demonstrated a deep passion for brand storytelling and design, creating scalable design systems and developing award-winning work across multiple formats such as typography, photography, and grid systems.
• Cultural and Industry Insight: Applied knowledge of social trends, cultural movements, and brand-based marketing strategies to inform design and marketing approaches, enhancing brand awareness and engagement.
• Team Development and Mentorship: Fostered a culture of design excellence by mentoring and inspiring a diverse team, collaborating with leadership on strategic hiring, training, and creating an inclusive and motivating work environment.
• Effective Communication and Collaboration: Articulated design concepts clearly to both creative and non-creative partners, collaborated cross-functionally with diverse teams, and balanced stakeholder needs to elevate the quality of work.

Here is what is needed:

• 10+ years experience either in an ad agency and/or in-house studio environment as an art director and designer, or in a field where you’ve developed comparable skill sets. At least five years in-house, ideally. A majority of those years should be devoted to creating design systems, as well as innovative brand campaigns and initiatives. 
• Demonstrated fluency with design tools, including the full suite of Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma. Competency working in Keynote and G Suite products. Experience directing video, animations, and motion graphics is a plus.
• Experience in a people-leadership role on design teams, with the ability to coordinate, direct, and provide design direction to contractors, agencies, and in-house multi-disciplinary creatives. You bring existing relationships with world-class agencies, freelancers, and vendors with you.
• Strong conceptual thinking: defining scalable brand design systems. Whether it’s typography, photography, grid systems, or color, you draw inspiration from a wide range of creative outlets and bring that to your daily work.
• A trained eye for aesthetics, who is also analytical, operationally oriented, and metrics driven.
• Up to date on the latest best practices for web design, responsive grid systems, Google Material Design, CSS and JavaScript capabilities, and experience setting up brand design systems that are appropriate for digital / product.
• A love for process and the creation of guidelines and documentation (in addition to creative briefs, functional specifications etc.) - a plus.

The good stuff:

• Mission-driven: You'll be joining more than just another startup - our members are at the heart of everything we do.
• Impact: We move quickly and encourage every employee to push the envelope. Our best ideas come from out-of-the-box thinking and innovation; be ready to fail fast and often!
• Compensation: We offer a competitive salary + meaningful equity based on merit. We intend to offer $152,000-185,000k base compensation, depending on experience and skills. 
• Benefits + Perks: From wellness programs to exceptional family leave policies, the health and happiness of our employees is foremost.

Our core values:

• People come first - As we explore opportunities and work through challenges.
• Raise the bar - We push for greatness - for ourselves and our members.
• Own it - Trust and ownership let us make decisions with confidence.
• We love what we do - And what we create for our members.
• Keep it real - Authenticity, respect, and transparency are at our core.

The opportunity at HoneyBook is huge—our primary customers today are creative businesses that generate in aggregate $150B in revenue per year in the US. Founded in 2013, HoneyBook is based in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, has raised $498M, and is funded by Tiger Global Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Aleph, Hillsven Capital, OurCrowd, Durable Capital Partners LP, Vintage Investment Partners, Battery Ventures, Citi Ventures, Zeev Ventures and 01 Advisors.

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