Design Director, Branding

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Design Director, Branding

Company: Clera

Location: United States (Remote)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Branding & Creative Operations

Date Posted: 2026-08-25

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the development and evolution of Clera's visual identity across all brand, marketing, and product touchpoints, ensuring a cohesive and compelling market presence.

• Translate overarching brand strategy into actionable visual systems, engaging narratives, and impactful campaigns that resonate with the target audience in the ambient AI space.

• Drive the creation of high-quality visual assets, from launch materials and presentations to social content and web pages, maintaining a consistent and elevated brand aesthetic.

• Champion design principles and visual storytelling frameworks that simplify complex technology, making it accessible and culturally relevant to a broad audience.

• Act as a hands-on creative leader, fostering collaboration between Brand, Marketing, Product, and Leadership teams to align creative vision with business objectives and market perception.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is crucial for an early-stage ambient AI startup, emphasizing the need for a leader who can establish and scale brand identity from the ground up. The focus on translating complex technology into simple, culturally relevant visuals suggests a strong need for strategic communication and audience empathy.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and refine the comprehensive visual identity system for Clera, encompassing brand guidelines, logos, typography, color palettes, and imagery standards across all platforms and communications.

• Conceptualize and execute creative campaigns and visual narratives that effectively communicate Clera's unique value proposition and technological advancements to target markets.

• Oversee the design and production of a wide range of visual assets, including digital content, marketing collateral, sales presentations, website interfaces, and social media graphics.

• Establish and maintain robust design principles and scalable frameworks that ensure brand consistency and visual integrity across all organizational touchpoints and future initiatives.

• Collaborate closely with Marketing to support go-to-market strategies, product launches, and ongoing promotional activities with impactful creative assets.

• Partner with Product teams to ensure brand consistency and aesthetic alignment within the user experience and interface design of Clera's AI products.

• Work directly with senior leadership to influence market perception, shape the company's narrative, and ensure the brand strategy is strategically aligned with business goals.

• Foster a culture of design excellence and innovation within the creative function, mentoring junior designers and external agencies as needed.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "hands-on creative leadership" and producing "high-quality visual assets" indicates that this role requires both strategic vision and the ability to execute directly, rather than purely managing. The need to make "complex technology feel clear and culturally relevant" points to a strong requirement for strategic communication design skills.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong educational background in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Fine Arts, or a related creative field is highly recommended. Demonstrated equivalent professional experience will also be considered.

Experience: 8+ years of progressive design experience, with a significant focus on brand identity development, visual systems, creative direction, and campaign execution, preferably within a fast-paced startup or agency environment.

Required Skills:

• Brand Identity Development: Proven expertise in creating and evolving comprehensive brand identities, including visual elements, tone of voice, and brand guidelines.

• Visual Systems Design: Ability to design and implement scalable visual systems that ensure consistency across diverse platforms and touchpoints.

• Creative Direction: Strong leadership skills to guide creative projects from concept to completion, ensuring strategic alignment and high-quality output.

• Visual Storytelling: Skill in crafting compelling visual narratives that communicate complex ideas and brand messages effectively.

• Campaign Development: Experience in conceptualizing and executing integrated marketing campaigns with a strong visual component.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Exceptional ability to partner effectively with Marketing, Product, Engineering, and Leadership teams.

• Strategic Thinking: Capacity to align creative strategies with overarching business objectives and market positioning.

• Hands-on Design Execution: Proficiency in creating high-quality visual assets using industry-standard design software.

• Startup Acumen: Comfort and adaptability in a dynamic, early-stage startup environment with evolving priorities.

Preferred Skills:

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

• Familiarity with ambient AI technology and its communication challenges.

• Experience in building and managing design teams or external creative resources.

• Understanding of digital marketing channels and their creative requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for "8+ years of design experience specializing in brand identity, visual systems, campaigns, and creative direction" directly informs the experience level. The "Nice to have" section clearly delineates preferred but not essential qualifications. The emphasis on a portfolio demonstrating "strategic thinking paired with hands-on execution" is a critical requirement.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A curated selection of case studies showcasing the end-to-end process of developing and implementing visual identity systems for brands.

• Demonstrations of how brand strategy was translated into tangible visual assets and campaigns, highlighting the strategic thinking behind creative decisions.

• Examples of scalable design principles and frameworks that have been successfully applied across multiple organizational touchpoints or product lines.

• Work samples that illustrate the ability to make complex concepts (like ambient AI) visually clear and culturally resonant for specific target audiences.

• Evidence of hands-on execution, including high-quality visual assets for launch materials, digital content, presentations, and web pages. Process Documentation:

• Case studies should clearly outline the design process, from initial research and strategy development to concept generation, execution, and final implementation.

• Highlight how collaboration with cross-functional teams (Marketing, Product, Leadership) informed and shaped the design process and outcomes.

• Document the impact of design decisions, ideally with quantifiable results or qualitative feedback demonstrating successful market perception and audience engagement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a portfolio demonstrating "strategic thinking paired with hands-on execution" and the ability to "translate brand strategy into clear visual systems, narratives, campaigns, and customer experiences" directly dictates the expected content of the portfolio. This section emphasizes the need to showcase process, strategy, and tangible results.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

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

Benefits: While specific benefits are not detailed in the provided information, typical benefits for a fully remote, full-time role at an early-stage startup in the US often include:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Stock options or equity grants, common in early-stage companies.

• Paid Time Off (PTO) and company holidays.

• Remote work stipends for home office setup and connectivity.

• Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning.

• Potential for early-stage company perks and team-building events.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours are assumed, approximately 40 hours per week. Given the fully remote nature and startup environment, flexibility may be expected, with a focus on achieving objectives and deliverables rather than strict adherence to a 9-to-5 schedule.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is explicitly provided. Benefits are inferred based on industry standards for a fully remote, US-based, full-time role at an early-stage startup. The working hours are also inferred based on the 'FULL_TIME' employment type.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology (specifically Ambient AI)

Company Size: Early-stage startup. This implies a dynamic, fast-paced environment with a high degree of agility, innovation, and potential for rapid growth. Roles often require wearing multiple hats and a strong sense of ownership.

Founded: Clera was founded to develop ambient AI technology. While the exact founding date isn't provided, its early-stage status suggests a relatively young company focused on innovation and market disruption.

Team Structure:

• The Design Director will sit at the intersection of Brand, Marketing, Product, and Leadership, indicating a highly collaborative and influential position.

• The role requires partnering with Marketing and Product teams, suggesting a matrixed or highly integrated structure where design influences multiple functional areas.

• Direct collaboration with Leadership underscores the strategic importance of this role in shaping company perception. Methodology:

• Brand Strategy Translation: A core methodology will involve translating abstract brand strategy into concrete visual systems and narratives.

• Cross-functional Integration: The role necessitates a methodology of close collaboration and communication across diverse teams to ensure unified brand messaging and experience.

• Data-Informed Creativity: While not explicitly stated, effective brand building in a tech startup often involves using market insights and performance data to inform creative decisions and optimize campaigns.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Information about company size, industry, and founding is inferred from the context of an "early-stage ambient AI startup." The team structure and methodology are deduced from the described responsibilities and cross-functional partnerships.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a senior-level creative leadership position, equivalent to a Director or Head of Brand Design in a larger organization, but within the context of an early-stage startup. It offers significant autonomy and the opportunity to build a brand from its foundational stages.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, the role's influence across Brand, Marketing, Product, and Leadership suggests it likely reports to a senior executive, potentially a CMO, CEO, or Head of Product, depending on the startup's organizational structure.

Operations Impact: The Design Director's work will have a direct and profound impact on Clera's market perception, customer acquisition, and overall brand equity. By shaping how the company is experienced visually and narratively, this role is critical for establishing market presence, attracting talent, and building investor confidence. The ability to make complex AI technology accessible through design directly impacts user adoption and market acceptance.

Growth Opportunities:

• Foundational Brand Building: Opportunity to build and define a brand's visual identity and narrative from the ground up, a significant career milestone.

• Leadership Expansion: Potential to grow the design function within Clera as the company scales, building a team and establishing design processes.

• Strategic Influence: Deepen influence on company strategy by shaping market perception and driving product-market fit through design.

• Industry Expertise: Become a recognized expert in branding for emerging technologies like ambient AI.

• Equity Growth: As an early-stage employee, there's potential for significant equity growth as the company scales.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth analysis is based on the seniority of the role (Director level) and the context of an early-stage startup, emphasizing the foundational nature of the work and potential for leadership expansion.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully remote. This role does not require a physical office presence.

Office Location(s): Open to candidates based in the United States. This allows for a broad talent pool across the country, but candidates must be legally authorized to work in the US.

Workspace Context:

• Autonomy and Flexibility: Candidates will work independently, requiring self-discipline, strong time management, and the ability to create a productive home office environment.

• Digital Collaboration Tools: Reliance on virtual collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom, project management software) for communication and teamwork.

• Creative Environment: While remote, the expectation is to maintain a high standard of creative output and contribute to a collaborative design culture through virtual channels.

Work Schedule: While a standard 40-hour work week is implied, the remote, startup environment may offer flexibility. However, the need to collaborate with leadership and cross-functional teams across different time zones (within the US) may require some scheduling coordination and availability during core business hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Fully remote, open to candidates based in the United States" information directly informs the work environment details. The implications of a remote startup are used to infer workspace context and flexibility.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of resume and portfolio to assess experience, strategic thinking, and design execution capabilities.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A dedicated session where the candidate presents their portfolio, discussing key projects, strategic rationale, and hands-on execution. This is a critical step to evaluate design taste, problem-solving skills, and communication clarity.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Meetings with Marketing, Product, and potentially other team leads to assess collaboration style, understanding of business needs, and ability to integrate design into broader company initiatives.

• Leadership Interview: A final discussion with senior leadership (e.g., CEO, CMO) to evaluate strategic alignment, cultural fit, and long-term vision for the brand.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best demonstrate your expertise in brand identity, visual systems, campaign development, and translating complex ideas into simple visuals. Prioritize work that shows strategic thinking and tangible impact.

• Tell the Story: For each project, clearly articulate the challenge, your strategic approach, the design process, your specific contributions, and the outcome. Quantify results where possible.

• Showcase Hands-on Skills: Include high-quality examples of assets you personally created, demonstrating your design taste and technical proficiency.

• Tailor to Clera: If possible, include a speculative piece or highlight how your skills align with Clera's mission and the challenges of branding an AI startup.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared to discuss how you would approach building a brand for an ambient AI company, considering its unique communication challenges.

• Think about how you would establish design principles and visual systems that can scale rapidly in a startup environment.

• Prepare examples of how you've successfully collaborated with non-design stakeholders to achieve business objectives through creative solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview and portfolio review process is structured based on typical hiring practices for senior creative leadership roles in startups, with a strong emphasis on portfolio quality and strategic alignment.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design Software: Proficiency in industry-standard design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Figma, Sketch, or similar platforms for creating visual assets, brand systems, and prototypes.

• Prototyping & Wireframing: Tools like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or InVision for creating interactive mockups and user flows.

• Presentation Software: Expertise in creating compelling visual presentations using tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not a primary function, an understanding of how design impacts user engagement metrics (e.g., website analytics, campaign performance data) is beneficial. Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics or similar platforms to interpret design's contribution to business goals. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to this role's core responsibilities, but awareness of how design integrates with marketing automation platforms or CRM interfaces may be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The tools listed are standard for a Design Director role, focusing on design execution and presentation. Analytics tools are included as a means to understand design's impact, reflecting a data-informed approach.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Design Excellence: A commitment to high-quality, strategic, and impactful design across all touchpoints.

• Innovation: Embracing new ideas and technologies, particularly in the AI space, to push creative boundaries.

• Collaboration: Fostering strong partnerships with Marketing, Product, and Leadership to achieve shared goals.

• Clarity & Simplicity: A dedication to making complex technology understandable and accessible through clear visual communication.

• Adaptability: Thriving in a fast-paced, evolving startup environment, demonstrating flexibility and resilience.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership-Oriented: Working closely with cross-functional teams, seeking input, and providing design solutions that support their objectives.

• Strategic Alignment: Ensuring all creative output aligns with the company's overall brand strategy and business goals.

• Feedback Integration: Open to constructive feedback and iterative design processes to refine creative work.

• Proactive Communication: Maintaining clear and consistent communication regarding project status, challenges, and creative vision.

📝 Enhancement Note: These values and collaboration styles are inferred from the job description's emphasis on cross-functional work, strategic impact, and the nature of an early-stage tech startup.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Branding Emerging Technology: Effectively communicating the value and essence of "ambient AI" to a broad audience, overcoming potential complexity or misunderstanding.

• Establishing Brand Identity: Building a strong, distinct, and scalable brand identity from the ground up in a competitive technology landscape.

• Balancing Strategy & Execution: Managing the dual demands of high-level strategic brand direction and hands-on creative execution in a startup environment.

• Rapid Iteration: Adapting to fast-paced changes in product development and market strategy, requiring agile design processes.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into AI: Gaining in-depth knowledge of ambient AI technology and its implications for communication and user experience.

• Startup Leadership: Developing leadership skills in a high-growth, dynamic environment, potentially building and managing a team.

• Brand Strategy for Innovation: Contributing to and shaping the strategic positioning of a novel technology.

• Cross-Industry Exposure: Gaining experience by potentially working with different market segments as Clera grows.

📝 Enhancement Note: Challenges are derived from the core responsibilities and the nature of branding an AI startup. Growth opportunities are framed around the unique aspects of the role and the startup environment.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach building a cohesive visual identity for an ambient AI startup like Clera from scratch?" (Focus on process, research, and strategic rationale.)

• "Describe a time you had to translate a complex technical concept into a simple, compelling visual narrative. What was your process and the outcome?" (Prepare a specific case study.)

• "How do you ensure brand consistency across multiple channels and product touchpoints, especially in a fast-paced environment?" (Discuss your framework for managing visual systems.) Company & Culture Questions:

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

• "How do you approach collaboration with Product and Marketing teams to ensure design aligns with business objectives?" (Provide examples of successful partnerships.)

• "Describe your experience working in a startup environment. What are the key differences and challenges compared to larger organizations?" (Highlight adaptability and ownership.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: Organize your presentation logically, highlighting your strategic thinking, creative process, and execution for each selected project.

• Focus on Impact: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your solution, your role, and the results achieved (qualitative or quantitative).

• Showcase Visual Excellence: Ensure your presentation itself is visually polished and reflects your design taste and attention to detail.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about specific design choices, your collaboration process, and how you handled challenges within your projects.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview questions are tailored to the role's responsibilities, the company's industry, and the typical expectations for a Design Director in a startup.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Design Director, Branding position:

• Submit your application through the provided Ashby link.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features case studies demonstrating expertise in brand identity, visual systems, and strategic creative direction. Tailor your selection to highlight experience with technology or complex product communication.

• Resume Optimization: Clearly articulate your 8+ years of relevant experience, focusing on achievements in brand building, campaign development, and cross-functional collaboration. Use keywords from the job description such as "visual systems," "creative direction," and "brand strategy."

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio, focusing on explaining your strategic thinking and hands-on execution. Prepare to discuss your approach to branding emerging technologies and working within a startup environment.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Clera, its mission, the ambient AI space, and its potential market. Understand the challenges and opportunities of branding such a company.

⚠️ 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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