Brand Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Brand Designer

Company: PlayOn

Location: Remote (United States)

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Creative & Media / Art & Design

Date Posted: 2026-04-24

Experience Level: Mid-Level (3-6 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and execute high-quality visual assets and motion graphics to elevate the NFHS Network and MaxPreps brands across social media and internal platforms.

• Maintain and expand brand guidelines, ensuring consistency in visual identity elements like colors, typography, and logos across all touchpoints.

• Collaborate closely with Social Media and Performance Marketing teams to translate insights into creative assets that drive engagement and conversions.

• Proactively research and implement emerging design trends and social media formats to ensure brand relevance, particularly with Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

• Own the creation of presentation decks for partnerships and brand pitches, enhancing internal and external storytelling through compelling visual design.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the provided job description is for a Brand Designer, this output is tailored to meet the user's request for an operations-focused enhancement. Therefore, many "operations" keywords and concepts have been inferred and integrated, even though the original role is not explicitly in Revenue or Sales Operations. This approach aims to fulfill the prompt's requirement for an "operations industry context" by framing design responsibilities through a lens of brand strategy, marketing operations, and GTM support.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Conceptualize and design branded social media templates, custom logos for original series, and engaging static assets tailored for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, aligning with GTM strategies.

• Develop dynamic motion graphics elements, including lower thirds, title cards, transitions, and animated overlays, to enhance the production value and brand consistency of video content, supporting marketing campaign objectives.

• Create visually compelling presentations and pitch decks that effectively communicate brand value propositions and partnership opportunities, directly supporting business development and GTM initiatives.

• Act as a key stakeholder in maintaining and evolving brand guidelines, ensuring adherence and providing design direction to cross-functional teams to uphold brand integrity and operational consistency.

• Partner with Social Media and Performance Marketing teams to integrate data-driven insights into creative design, optimizing assets for engagement, conversion rates, and overall marketing campaign effectiveness.

• Conduct continuous research on design trends, social media formats, and audience behavior (Gen Z, Millennials) to inform creative strategy and maintain brand relevance in a fast-paced digital environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities have been reframed to highlight their connection to marketing operations, GTM strategy, and brand consistency, which are critical components of a holistic GTM function. The emphasis is on how design directly supports business objectives and operational efficiency in marketing efforts.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Marketing, or a related field is typically expected for roles with this experience level and technical requirement.

Experience: 3-6 years of professional experience in brand design, digital design, or social content creation, preferably within an agency or in-house creative team environment.

Required Skills:

• Proven expertise in logo design, typography, and layout, with a strong emphasis on social media content creation and motion graphics.

• High proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator) for static asset creation and graphic manipulation.

• Advanced skills in After Effects for developing engaging motion graphics and animations.

• Demonstrated experience with Figma for collaborative design and prototyping, especially in a remote team setting.

• Innate understanding of platform-specific design nuances for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, including best practices for engagement and virality.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in developing and maintaining brand guidelines documentation.

• Familiarity with A/B testing creative assets for performance marketing campaigns.

• A strong passion for and understanding of high school sports culture and its audience.

• Experience with project management tools (e.g., Asana, Jira) for workflow tracking.

• Basic understanding of video editing principles beyond motion graphics.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "required skills" section emphasizes technical proficiency and platform-specific knowledge, which are crucial for effective execution within a marketing operations framework. The "preferred skills" add value by suggesting adaptability and a broader understanding of marketing campaign execution.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A robust portfolio showcasing a minimum of 3-6 years of professional design work, with a significant emphasis on social media content creation and motion graphics.

• Demonstrations of logo design, typography, and layout skills applied to real-world projects, highlighting brand consistency and aesthetic appeal.

• Case studies detailing the process behind social media campaigns or original series branding, including problem identification, design solutions, and measurable outcomes (e.g., engagement rates, follower growth).

• Examples of motion graphics work, such as animated lower thirds, title cards, or promotional videos, illustrating technical skill and creative storytelling.

Process Documentation:

• Ability to document design processes and workflows for asset creation and brand guideline adherence, facilitating knowledge transfer and team efficiency.

• Examples of how you've contributed to or maintained brand guideline documentation, ensuring consistency across a brand's visual touchpoints.

• Case studies that highlight your ability to take feedback from cross-functional teams (e.g., Social Media, Performance Marketing) and iterate on designs to achieve business objectives.

• Documentation of how you've leveraged design trends and insights to inform creative strategy and execution for specific campaigns or brand initiatives.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section frames portfolio requirements in terms of process, documentation, and measurable outcomes, aligning with operations principles of efficiency, consistency, and impact. It emphasizes the need to demonstrate not just creative output but also the strategic thinking and process behind it.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a Brand Designer with 3-6 years of experience in a fully remote US-based role, the estimated salary range is $75,000 - $100,000 per year. This range accounts for the specialized skills in motion graphics and social media design, as well as the company's growth-stage status.

Benefits:

• Multiple medical insurance plans to choose from, offering comprehensive health coverage.

• Dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, providing a full suite of protection.

• Employee Emergency Fund, a unique benefit offering financial support during unforeseen circumstances.

• Company equity (stock options), providing an opportunity to share in the company's growth and success.

• Open Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, offering flexibility and work-life balance.

• 401K plan with company match, supporting long-term financial planning.

• Hybrid/flexible work environment, emphasizing adaptability and employee well-being.

Working Hours: A standard 40-hour work week is expected, with flexibility in daily scheduling to accommodate remote work and cross-functional collaboration across different time zones. Occasional evening or weekend work may be required during peak campaign periods or for time-sensitive projects.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is estimated based on typical US market data for this role and experience level. The benefits are listed as provided, with an emphasis on how they support employee well-being and financial security, which are key considerations for operations professionals seeking stable employment. The working hours are contextualized for a remote role.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Sports & Recreation Technology / Digital Media. PlayOn operates at the intersection of high school sports, technology, and media, providing a unique ecosystem for fan engagement, ticketing, and content distribution. This context is crucial for understanding the target audience and the operational demands of content creation and brand management.

Company Size: Growth-stage company, backed by KKR. This implies a dynamic environment with established processes but still room for rapid scaling and individual impact. For operations professionals, this often means opportunities to build and optimize systems and processes.

Founded: PlayOn consists of established brands (GoFan, NFHS Network, MaxPreps) that have been operating for some time, indicating a blend of mature operations and evolving strategies under a unified vision.

Team Structure:

• The Creative team is likely structured to support various brand initiatives, with specialized roles in graphic design, motion graphics, and content creation.

• Collaboration is expected with Social Media and Performance Marketing teams, suggesting a matrixed or project-based reporting structure where designers work closely with marketing strategists and execution specialists.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Creative: Emphasis on using insights from Performance Marketing and social media analytics to inform design decisions and optimize creative assets for impact.

• Agile Workflow: The need to balance high-quality craftsmanship with fast-paced execution suggests an agile approach to creative production, prioritizing iterative development and timely delivery.

• Brand System Management: Maintaining and expanding brand guidelines points to a systematic approach to visual identity, ensuring consistency and scalability across all platforms and touchpoints.

Company Website: https://www.playonsports.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context is interpreted through an operations lens, focusing on how the company's stage, industry, and structure influence the operational environment and the expectations for roles within it. The emphasis is on process, collaboration, and data utilization.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Mid-Level Brand Designer, requiring 3-6 years of experience. It signifies a level where individuals are expected to contribute independently, manage key creative projects, and begin mentoring junior team members or interns. In an operations context, this level often involves taking ownership of specific design workflows and contributing to process improvements.

Reporting Structure: The Brand Designer will likely report to a Creative Director or Senior Manager of Creative, with close collaboration with Social Media Managers and Performance Marketing Leads. This cross-functional reporting highlights the integrated nature of design within the broader Go-To-Market (GTM) operations.

Operations Impact: The Brand Designer's work directly impacts the perception and engagement of PlayOn's brands (NFHS Network, MaxPreps). High-quality, consistent visual assets and effective social media content are critical for driving user acquisition, retention, and partnership success, all key operational metrics for a growth-stage company.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in motion graphics, social media-specific design, or presentation design, becoming a subject matter expert within the creative team.

• Leadership Development: Potential to grow into a Senior Brand Designer or Art Director role, leading projects, mentoring junior designers, and contributing to creative strategy development.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gaining exposure to performance marketing, GTM strategy, and brand management, which can lead to career paths in marketing operations, brand strategy, or product marketing.

• Industry Expertise: Developing a deep understanding of the high school sports landscape and its digital audience, offering unique career opportunities within sports tech and media.

📝 Enhancement Note: The career analysis focuses on how this design role contributes to broader operational goals and how skills developed can translate into other operational or strategic functions within the company or industry.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. This offers flexibility and autonomy, requiring strong self-management and communication skills. The "hybrid/flexible work environment" mentioned in benefits likely refers to flexibility within the remote setup rather than a physical office.

Office Location(s): Remote within the United States. This broad geographic scope allows for talent acquisition from across the country, requiring robust virtual collaboration tools and processes.

Workspace Context:

• Digital Collaboration: The primary workspace is digital, relying heavily on collaboration platforms (e.g., Figma, Slack, Zoom) for communication, feedback, and asset sharing.

• Tooling: Access to industry-standard design software (Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, After Effects) is essential for productivity and creative output.

• Team Interaction: While remote, there's an emphasis on cross-functional collaboration with Social Media and Performance Marketing teams, necessitating proactive engagement and clear communication strategies to foster a connected team environment.

Work Schedule: A standard 40-hour work week is expected. The "hybrid/flexible work environment" benefit suggests that while core hours may exist for collaboration, there's a degree of flexibility in managing personal work time, a common operational consideration in remote settings.

📝 Enhancement Note: The work environment description emphasizes the operational aspects of remote work, including the reliance on digital tools, communication protocols, and the need for self-discipline and proactive collaboration.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess experience, technical skills, and alignment with the role's requirements.

• Creative Assessment: Likely includes a portfolio review session where you'll walk through your work, discussing your design process, rationale, and the impact of your projects. Expect questions about your approach to social media design, motion graphics, and brand consistency.

• Skills-Based Challenge: Potentially a design challenge or a case study presentation related to creating assets for a specific platform or a hypothetical campaign, allowing assessment of your problem-solving abilities and creative execution under timed conditions.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with members of the Social Media and Performance Marketing teams to evaluate collaboration style, understanding of marketing objectives, and ability to integrate feedback.

• Final Interview: Likely with a hiring manager or senior creative leader to discuss overall fit, career aspirations, and cultural alignment with PlayOn's values.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Showcase 3-5 of your strongest projects that directly align with the job description, emphasizing social media, motion graphics, and brand identity work.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the design process, the tools used, and the measurable outcomes or impact. Use visuals effectively to guide the viewer.

• Highlight Process: Demonstrate your understanding of how design supports business objectives. Explain your decision-making process, how you incorporated feedback, and how you adapted to challenges.

• Platform Nuances: Be prepared to discuss why your designs are effective for specific platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, referencing audience behavior and platform best practices.

• Motion Graphics Focus: If motion graphics are a key requirement, ensure your portfolio includes clear examples of your work in After Effects, detailing the complexity and creative approach.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Brief: Carefully analyze any given design challenge or case study prompt. Identify key objectives, target audience, and platform constraints.

• Time Management: Allocate your time effectively across research, conceptualization, design, and presentation. Prioritize core deliverables.

• Brand Alignment: Ensure your solution aligns with PlayOn's brand identity and the context of high school sports.

• Presentation Skills: Prepare a concise and compelling presentation that clearly articulates your strategy, design choices, and rationale. Be ready to answer questions about your approach and potential optimizations.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section provides practical, actionable advice tailored to a design role but framed with an operations perspective, emphasizing process, strategy, and measurable outcomes.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop (for image editing, manipulation, and layout), Illustrator (for vector graphics, logo design, and illustration), After Effects (for motion graphics, animation, and video compositing). Proficiency is essential for creating high-quality visual assets.

• Figma: A collaborative interface design tool vital for creating UI mockups, prototypes, and design systems, especially critical for remote team collaboration and brand guideline implementation.

• Video Editing Software (Basic Familiarity): While not a primary requirement, basic familiarity with editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro can be beneficial for integrating motion graphics into video content.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to this design role, but awareness of how creative assets are deployed through marketing automation platforms or integrated into campaign management systems can be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section focuses on the technical tools specifically required for the role, highlighting their application in creating and managing brand assets, which are foundational to marketing operations and GTM execution.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Ownership over Participation: Encourages taking responsibility for holistic outcomes, prioritizing key objectives, and adapting swiftly to changing requirements. This aligns with an operational mindset focused on accountability and proactive problem-solving.

• Team over Stars: Emphasizes bridge-building, establishing processes and relationships across teams, and working towards common goals. This fosters a collaborative operational environment essential for GTM success.

• Growth over Comfort: Drives a desire to expand skills and embrace challenges, viewing discomfort and failure as learning opportunities. This promotes continuous improvement, a core tenet of operations.

• Fairness over Popularity: Promotes objective decision-making based on data and long-term impact, encouraging diverse perspectives. This supports data-driven operational strategies and ethical practices.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: The role requires active collaboration with Social Media and Performance Marketing teams, necessitating clear communication channels and a shared understanding of campaign goals to ensure seamless asset deployment and optimization.

• Feedback-Driven Iteration: A culture that encourages receiving and acting on feedback from various stakeholders to refine creative outputs and achieve desired business results.

• Proactive Communication: In a remote environment, a proactive approach to communication is vital for keeping stakeholders informed, seeking clarity, and ensuring alignment on design projects and timelines.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture and values section is interpreted through an operational lens, highlighting how these principles foster efficiency, collaboration, and continuous improvement within a team.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Speed and Quality: The constant need to produce high-quality creative assets quickly for fast-paced social media cycles requires efficient workflows and strong time management skills.

• Platform Evolution: Staying current with the rapidly changing algorithms and design trends across multiple social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube) demands continuous learning and adaptation.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring design outputs effectively meet the diverse needs and insights from Performance Marketing and Social Media teams requires strong communication and negotiation skills.

• Maintaining Brand Consistency: Upholding a unified brand identity across diverse platforms and content formats, especially with multiple brands under the PlayOn umbrella, presents an ongoing challenge.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Motion Graphics: Opportunity to hone and expand expertise in animation and motion design, potentially leading to more complex video content creation.

• Social Media Strategy: Deepen understanding of social media marketing, content strategy, and audience engagement tactics, enhancing the ability to create more impactful creative.

• Brand Strategy: Gain exposure to broader brand management principles, contributing to the development and evolution of PlayOn's visual identity.

• Performance Marketing Insights: Learn how creative impacts campaign performance, enabling data-informed design decisions and a greater understanding of ROI.

📝 Enhancement Note: Challenges and growth opportunities are framed in terms of skill development and operational problem-solving, aligning with the proactive and learning-oriented nature of operations roles.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your process for creating a social media campaign asset from brief to final delivery, including how you incorporate feedback from marketing teams." (Focus on process, collaboration, and iteration.)

• "How do you approach designing for different social media platforms like TikTok versus Instagram, considering their unique audiences and formats?" (Assess platform fluency and strategic design thinking.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about PlayOn and the high school sports space?" (Show genuine interest and research.)

• "How do you embody our core values, such as 'Ownership over Participation' or 'Team over Stars,' in your work?" (Align your experiences with company values.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Organize your portfolio logically, perhaps by project type or by demonstrating a progression of skills. Use clear headings and concise descriptions for each piece.

• Narrative Flow: For each selected project, tell a compelling story: the challenge, your specific contributions, the creative process, the tools used, and the impactful results. Quantify success where possible (e.g., increased engagement, improved brand recall).

• Highlight Technical Skills: Be prepared to speak about your proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and After Effects, and how you leverage these tools to achieve specific design outcomes.

• Showcase Brand Thinking: Demonstrate your understanding of brand identity, consistency, and how your designs contribute to the overall brand narrative and GTM objectives.

• Engage and Adapt: Be ready to answer questions about your work in real-time and adapt your presentation based on the interviewer's interests.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation advice is geared towards demonstrating not just creative talent but also strategic thinking, process orientation, and collaborative skills relevant to operations and GTM functions.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Brand Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on jobs.lever.co.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your 3-6 years of experience, focusing on accomplishments in brand design, social media content creation, and motion graphics. Use keywords from the job description like "Adobe Creative Suite," "After Effects," "Figma," and "social media design."

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select your strongest projects that demonstrate expertise in logo design, typography, layout, social media assets, and motion graphics. Ensure it's easily accessible (e.g., via a personal website or a clean PDF).

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice articulating your design process, your role in past projects, and the impact of your work. Be ready to discuss how your designs align with marketing objectives and brand strategy.

• Research PlayOn: Understand their brands (NFHS Network, MaxPreps, GoFan), their mission, target audience, and recent campaigns. This will help you tailor your application and speak knowledgeably during interviews.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

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