Design Director

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Design Director

Company: Clera

Location: Fully Remote (Global Travel Flexibility)

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Brand & Creative Operations / Marketing Operations

Date Posted: 2026-08-07

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (8+ years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the development and continuous evolution of Clera's visual identity across all brand, marketing, product, communications, and content touchpoints.

• Translate high-level brand strategy into compelling visual systems, campaigns, and narratives that shape market perception and drive business objectives.

• Create and oversee the production of high-quality visual assets, ensuring consistency and cultural relevance for complex technology.

• Drive strategic design thinking and hands-on execution in a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment with a focus on scalability and impact.

• Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with Marketing, Product, and Leadership to align design initiatives with overarching business goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the core role is Design Director, its emphasis on translating brand strategy into visual systems for marketing, product, and communications, coupled with the need for scalable design principles and cross-functional partnership, strongly aligns it with the operational aspects of Brand and Marketing Operations. The role requires not just creative output but the strategic management of visual assets and brand consistency across the organization, which are key functions within operations disciplines.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a cohesive and impactful company visual identity, encompassing brand guidelines, logos, color palettes, typography, and imagery standards.

• Conceptualize and execute compelling visual campaigns and narratives that effectively communicate Clera's ambient AI technology and its benefits to target audiences.

• Design and produce a wide range of high-quality visual assets, including launch materials, investor presentations, marketing collateral, social media content, website graphics, and internal communications.

• Translate complex technological concepts into clear, accessible, and culturally resonant visual designs that enhance user understanding and adoption.

• Establish and implement scalable design principles and visual storytelling frameworks to ensure brand consistency across all organizational touchpoints and future growth.

• Collaborate closely with Marketing teams to develop integrated campaign strategies and ensure brand alignment in all external communications and promotional activities.

• Partner with Product teams to ensure the visual design of the product and its associated user interfaces align with the overall brand vision and user experience goals.

• Work directly with executive leadership to articulate design strategy, influence market perception, and ensure design initiatives support strategic business objectives.

• Conduct market research and competitive analysis to inform design decisions and maintain a cutting-edge brand presence.

• Manage external design agencies or freelancers as needed, providing clear briefs and constructive feedback to ensure quality and brand consistency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic brand oversight and tactical asset creation. For an operations-focused candidate, emphasis should be placed on the "develop and continuously evolve," "translate brand strategy," "establish scalable design principles," and "partner closely" aspects, as these demonstrate the operational management of brand assets and strategic alignment, rather than purely aesthetic output.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Fine Arts, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent practical experience will also be strongly considered. Experience:

• Minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in design, with a significant specialization in brand identity development, visual systems design, campaign creative, and creative direction.

• Proven track record of successfully translating abstract brand strategies into tangible visual systems, compelling narratives, and seamless end-to-end customer experiences.

• Demonstrated experience in creating and delivering polished, production-ready design assets across a diverse range of media, including digital, print, and presentation formats.

• Substantial experience in developing, implementing, and evolving comprehensive visual identity systems that maintain consistency across multiple channels and platforms.

• Proven ability to establish and document design principles, visual storytelling frameworks, and brand guidelines that can be effectively scaled across an organization.

• Extensive experience working in collaborative, cross-functional team environments, specifically with Marketing, Product, Brand, and executive leadership teams.

• Deep understanding of how brand strategy influences market perception, customer engagement, and product experience.

• Experience thriving in fast-paced, dynamic startup environments with a commitment to maintaining high design standards and achieving ambitious business goals. Required Skills:

• Brand Identity Development: Expertise in creating and evolving distinctive and memorable brand identities.

• Visual Systems Design: Ability to build comprehensive and scalable visual frameworks that ensure brand consistency.

• Creative Direction: Proven experience leading design initiatives and setting creative vision.

• Visual Storytelling: Skill in crafting narratives through design to communicate complex ideas effectively.

• Brand Strategy Translation: Capacity to translate strategic objectives into impactful visual executions.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Ability to work effectively with diverse teams (Marketing, Product, Leadership).

• Asset Creation Proficiency: Hands-on skill in producing high-quality design assets across various media.

• Startup Environment Acumen: Demonstrated ability to perform and excel in agile, high-growth settings.

• Strategic Judgment: Strong decision-making capabilities informed by market understanding and business goals.

Preferred Skills:

• Prior design experience with luxury, Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), wellness, or cutting-edge technology brands.

• Experience in making complex or emerging technologies feel approachable, understandable, and culturally resonant through design.

• Familiarity with ambient AI or related advanced technology sectors.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Portfolio demonstrating the combination of strategic thinking and hands-on design execution" is a critical requirement. This implies that candidates should be prepared to showcase projects where they not only conceptualized but also personally executed significant design elements, demonstrating both leadership and craft. For operations-minded candidates, highlighting projects involving the implementation and scalability of design systems would be particularly valuable.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 distinct projects demonstrating expertise in brand identity development, visual systems, and campaign creative.

• Include case studies that clearly articulate the design challenge, strategic approach, your role in execution, and the measurable business impact or brand perception shift.

• Highlight projects where you translated complex brand strategy or technology into clear, accessible visual narratives.

• Present examples of scalable design principles or frameworks you've developed and implemented.

• Demonstrate hands-on creation of production-ready assets across various channels (web, social, presentations, collateral). Process Documentation:

• Clearly outline your process for developing and evolving a visual identity system from concept to implementation.

• Detail your methodology for translating brand strategy into actionable design briefs and creative executions.

• Explain your approach to establishing and maintaining design consistency and quality across multiple projects and stakeholders.

• Document how you integrate feedback from cross-functional partners (Marketing, Product, Leadership) into the design process.

• Illustrate your workflow for creating and managing design assets for campaign launches or significant company moments.

📝 Enhancement Note: For this role, the portfolio is paramount and should emphasize the "systems" aspect of design. Candidates should prepare to discuss how they operationalized brand guidelines, created repeatable design processes, and managed the output of design across different teams or projects. This moves beyond individual creative pieces to demonstrate an ability to manage and scale design operations.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $150,000 – $170,000 USD annually.

Benefits:

• Fully remote role: Enjoy the flexibility and autonomy of working from anywhere.

• Global travel flexibility: Opportunities to travel internationally as needed for strategic meetings, team collaborations, or key company events.

• High-impact, high-visibility position: Direct influence on the company's brand perception and market presence at a critical early stage.

• Significant growth potential: Opportunity to shape the design function and potentially build and lead a team as the company scales.

• Equity/Stock Options: (Implied for early-stage startups, though not explicitly stated, this is a common benefit.)

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance: (Standard benefit for full-time roles, assumed.)

• Professional Development: Support for continuous learning, attending industry events, and skill enhancement.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours (approximately 40 hours per week) are expected, with flexibility to accommodate global collaboration and project deadlines. The role requires dedication to achieve ambitious goals in a fast-paced startup environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is provided in USD, suggesting the company operates primarily within or hires from regions where USD is standard for compensation. For candidates outside the US, conversion and cost of living adjustments may need to be considered. The "global travel flexibility" benefit suggests that candidates should be prepared for international travel, which may require specific visa considerations or personal arrangements depending on their location.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (Ambient AI Startup)

Company Size: Early-Stage Startup (Implies a lean, agile team with rapid growth potential)

Founded: (Specific founding date not provided, but described as "early-stage")

Team Structure:

• Lean & Agile: As an early-stage startup, the team is likely to be small, highly collaborative, and adaptable.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Strong emphasis on partnership between Design, Marketing, Product, and Executive Leadership. Expect direct interaction with founders and key decision-makers.

• High Ownership: Team members are expected to take significant ownership of their areas and drive initiatives forward with minimal oversight.

• Innovation-Focused: The company is building "ambient AI," suggesting a culture that values cutting-edge technology, forward-thinking ideas, and pushing boundaries.

Methodology:

• Data-Informed Design: While creative, design decisions will likely be informed by user research, market analysis, and business metrics.

• Iterative Development: Common in startups, expect a process of rapid prototyping, testing, and iteration to refine designs and strategies.

• Strategic Alignment: All design efforts will be closely tied to broader company goals, market positioning, and business objectives.

• Scalable Systems Thinking: Emphasis on building design frameworks and processes that can grow with the company.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The "ambient AI" focus suggests a company operating at the forefront of technological innovation. For a Design Director, this means translating potentially abstract and futuristic concepts into tangible and understandable brand experiences. The "early-stage startup" context implies a need for versatility, comfort with ambiguity, and a proactive approach to defining processes and brand direction.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a senior leadership position, operating at the Director level. It demands a combination of strategic vision, operational execution, and creative mastery. The focus on shaping "how our company is seen and experienced across every touchpoint" and "translating brand strategy into compelling visual systems, campaigns, and narratives" positions it as a critical GTM (Go-To-Market) operations enabler through branding.

Reporting Structure:

• The Design Director will likely report directly to a C-level executive, such as the CEO, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), or Head of Product, given the strategic importance of the role.

• As the company grows, there is a significant opportunity to build and lead a design team, managing junior designers, specialists, or external agencies. Operations Impact:

• The Design Director plays a pivotal role in shaping Clera's market perception, influencing customer acquisition, and supporting product adoption. Strong branding and visual communication are essential for GTM success, directly impacting lead generation, brand recognition, and investor relations. The role is critical in ensuring a consistent and compelling brand narrative that supports sales and marketing efforts. Growth Opportunities:

• Team Leadership: Build and manage a high-performing design team, developing talent and establishing design operations processes.

• Strategic Influence: Deepen involvement in overall company strategy, branding, and market positioning.

• Product & Brand Expansion: Lead design efforts for new product features, market expansions, or significant brand initiatives.

• Specialization: Develop expertise in designing for novel AI technologies and shaping the future of human-computer interaction through design.

• Executive Advancement: Potential to move into VP-level roles or broader leadership positions within the company as it scales.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Operations Impact" section highlights the direct link between this creative role and GTM success, emphasizing how strong branding operationalizes market entry and customer engagement. The growth opportunities point towards building the operational infrastructure of a design department.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. This means no physical office requirements for daily work.

Office Location(s): Not applicable, as the role is fully remote. However, the company is based in the US (implied by salary and domain).

Workspace Context:

• Autonomy & Flexibility: Candidates can establish their own optimal work environment, offering significant control over their daily setup and schedule.

• Digital Collaboration Tools: Expect heavy reliance on digital communication and collaboration platforms (e.g., Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace, Figma, project management tools) to connect with the distributed team.

• Global Team Interaction: Opportunities to collaborate with colleagues across different time zones, fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment.

• Focus on Output: The remote setting emphasizes performance and results over physical presence, aligning with an operations-centric approach to productivity.

Work Schedule:

• While typically a 40-hour work week is standard, the remote, global nature of the team and startup environment may require flexibility to attend meetings across time zones or meet project deadlines. Proactive time management and asynchronous communication skills are key.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote nature necessitates strong self-discipline and proactive communication. For operations professionals, this environment often fosters efficiency by reducing overhead and allowing for focused work, but requires robust systems for tracking progress and maintaining team cohesion.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of resume and portfolio to assess qualifications and creative output.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussion focused on experience, strategic approach to brand and design, and fit with startup culture.

• Portfolio Presentation & Case Study: A key stage where candidates present their portfolio, walking through 2-3 selected projects. This will likely involve discussing their strategic thinking, design process, hands-on execution, and impact. Expect questions on how they would approach Clera's brand challenges.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with key stakeholders from Marketing, Product, and potentially executive leadership to assess collaboration skills and strategic alignment.

• Final Interview: Often with the CEO or a founder, focusing on vision, leadership potential, and overall cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best demonstrate your expertise in brand identity, visual systems, and campaign creative, with a clear emphasis on strategic thinking and hands-on execution. For this role, highlight how you've built and scaled design systems.

• Tell a Story: For each project, articulate the problem, your strategic approach, your specific role and contributions, the tools and processes used, and the measurable outcomes or impact. Quantify results where possible.

• Highlight Operations: Emphasize how you established design principles, created scalable frameworks, managed assets, or collaborated to ensure brand consistency across multiple channels. This is crucial for demonstrating operational capability.

• Address Clera's Context: Show that you've researched Clera, its mission, and its technology. Frame your examples to show how your skills can address their specific needs and challenges in building an ambient AI brand.

• Be Prepared for Critique: Understand that your work will be evaluated. Be open to discussing design decisions and demonstrating adaptability.

Challenge Preparation:

• Brand Strategy Exercise: You may be asked to provide initial thoughts on Clera's brand or present a mini-strategy for a specific campaign based on limited information.

• Design Process Walkthrough: Be ready to detail your typical design process for a complex project, from brief to final delivery, including how you manage feedback and ensure quality.

• Stakeholder Management: Prepare examples of how you've successfully collaborated with and influenced non-design stakeholders (e.g., executives, product managers) to achieve design goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio presentation is central. Candidates should prepare to not only showcase their visual work but also the strategic and operational thinking behind it, particularly concerning scalability and cross-functional alignment. This mirrors the operational rigor expected in GTM roles.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly likely), Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Sketch.

• Presentation Software: Keynote, Google Slides, PowerPoint.

• Collaboration & Communication: Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides), Notion or similar knowledge management tools.

• Project Management: Asana, Trello, Jira, or similar tools for task tracking and workflow management.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not directly a "user" of analytics tools in the same way as a data analyst, the Design Director will need to understand how to interpret brand performance metrics, campaign engagement data, and user feedback to inform design decisions. Familiarity with web analytics (e.g., Google Analytics) for website performance and social media analytics dashboards is beneficial. CRM & Automation:

• Understanding of how design assets are used within marketing automation platforms (e.g., HubSpot, Marketo) and CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) for campaign execution and customer journeys is advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Figma and the Adobe Creative Suite is a baseline expectation. The emphasis on collaboration and project management tools underscores the operational side of design, requiring candidates to manage workflows and communicate effectively within a remote team structure.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Excellence & Craftsmanship: A commitment to high-quality design and a meticulous approach to execution.

• Strategic Impact: Design efforts are valued for their contribution to business goals, market perception, and customer engagement.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Open communication, shared feedback, and a willingness to work together across functions.

• Innovation & Adaptability: Embracing new ideas, technologies, and approaches in a fast-paced startup environment.

• Ownership & Accountability: Taking responsibility for projects from inception to completion and driving results.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership-Oriented: Working closely with Marketing, Product, and Leadership as strategic partners, not just service providers.

• Feedback-Driven: Actively seeking and providing constructive feedback to improve design outcomes and foster continuous learning.

• Agile & Iterative: Comfortable with rapid cycles of creation, review, and refinement.

• Clear Communication: Articulating design rationale and needs effectively to diverse audiences.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values emphasize a blend of creative excellence and business acumen. For operations professionals, understanding how these values translate into day-to-day decision-making, process adherence, and cross-functional interactions is key to cultural fit.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Brand Definition for Novel Technology: Articulating the value and user experience of "ambient AI" through design, a concept that may be new to many users.

• Balancing Strategic Vision with Hands-on Execution: Effectively leading design direction while also being capable of producing high-quality creative work in a lean startup.

• Maintaining Brand Consistency at Scale: Ensuring a cohesive brand experience as the company grows rapidly and potentially expands its product offerings or market reach.

• Navigating Startup Ambiguity: Thriving in an environment with evolving priorities and undefined processes, requiring proactive problem-solving.

• Global Remote Collaboration: Effectively leading and collaborating with a distributed team across different time zones and cultural contexts.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Frontier Technology Design: Gaining deep experience in designing for cutting-edge AI applications and shaping user interaction with novel technologies.

• Building a Design Function: Opportunity to establish the foundational design operations, processes, and potentially build a team from the ground up.

• Strategic Brand Leadership: Developing expertise in high-level brand strategy and its impact on business growth in a startup context.

• Cross-Functional Expertise: Deepening understanding of marketing, product development, and business strategy through close collaboration.

• Executive Presence: Honing communication and presentation skills to effectively influence senior leadership and external stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the need for adaptability and strategic problem-solving, which are hallmarks of successful operations roles. The growth opportunities focus on building strategic capabilities and operational infrastructure.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach defining and evolving the visual identity for an early-stage ambient AI startup like Clera?" (Focus on your process, research, and how you'd translate abstract concepts.)

• "Describe a time you had to translate complex technical information into accessible and compelling visuals. What was your strategy and the outcome?" (Prepare a specific case study with quantifiable results if possible.)

• "How do you ensure brand consistency across multiple channels (product, marketing, web, social) in a fast-paced environment? What operational processes do you put in place?" (Emphasize your systems-thinking and process management.)

• "What role does design play in supporting Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies, especially for a new technology?" (Connect your design work to business objectives and sales/marketing enablement.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Clera's mission and the ambient AI space?" (Demonstrate genuine interest and research.)

• "How do you handle feedback from non-designers, especially executives, when it conflicts with your design vision?" (Focus on collaboration, diplomacy, and strategic reasoning.)

• "Describe your experience working in a startup environment. What are the key differences compared to larger organizations, and how do you adapt?" (Highlight your comfort with ambiguity and proactive approach.)

• "How would you build and manage a design team as Clera scales?" (Discuss your leadership style, hiring philosophy, and operational plans for a design department.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Organize your presentation logically: Introduction to Clera & your role -> Project 1 (Problem, Strategy, Execution, Impact) -> Project 2 -> Project 3 -> Q&A.

• Focus on "Why" and "How": Don't just show pretty pictures. Explain the strategic rationale behind your design choices and the operational processes you used to achieve them.

• Quantify Results: Whenever possible, use data to demonstrate the impact of your design work (e.g., increased engagement, improved conversion rates, positive brand sentiment).

• Demonstrate Operational Rigor: Highlight instances where you created scalable systems, documented processes, or managed design assets efficiently. This is key for an operations-minded evaluation.

• Engage Your Audience: Make it interactive. Ask clarifying questions, and be prepared to discuss your work in detail, showing confidence and deep understanding.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview preparation heavily emphasizes strategic thinking, process, and impact, aligning with the operational aspects of a creative leadership role. Candidates should frame their answers and portfolio examples to showcase not just creative talent but also their ability to manage and scale design as a functional operation within the business.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Design Director position:

• Submit your application through the provided Ashby link.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your submitted portfolio prominently features projects demonstrating brand identity, visual systems, campaign creative, and strategic translation. Prioritize case studies that highlight your process, hands-on execution, and measurable impact.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to emphasize your 8+ years of experience in brand identity, visual systems, and creative direction. Quantify achievements and highlight experience in fast-paced startup environments and cross-functional collaboration.

• Interview Preparation: Thoroughly research Clera, its mission, and the ambient AI space. Prepare to present 2-3 key portfolio projects, focusing on strategic rationale, operational processes, and tangible outcomes. Practice articulating your design philosophy and how it aligns with business goals.

• Company Research: Understand Clera's market position, target audience, and competitive landscape. Think about how their brand can be effectively communicated through design to support their GTM strategy, especially for a novel technology.

⚠️ 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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