Design Manager, Wellness

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Design Manager, Wellness

Company: Haleon

Location: Warren, NJ, United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Brand Design & Strategy / Operations

Date Posted: 2026-06-02

Experience Level: 10+ years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the visual brand experience and creative strategy for a wellness category portfolio, establishing design vision and brand expression systems.

• Lead the creation and evolution of distinctive brand assets, packaging principles, and comprehensive visual languages across multiple brands.

• Orchestrate end-to-end consumer and healthcare professional experiences across omnichannel environments, including digital, retail, and experiential platforms.

• Act as a strategic design partner, influencing senior business leaders and cross-functional teams to drive innovation and business growth through design excellence.

• Champion a culture of design thinking and human-centered design, ensuring brand consistency and emotional resonance with consumers.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Design Manager, Wellness," the responsibilities heavily lean into strategic brand operations and GTM execution from a design perspective. This role requires operationalizing creative vision across a portfolio, managing brand systems, and influencing cross-functional stakeholders, aligning it with revenue-generating GTM operations. The emphasis on "Category Level Creative Leadership," "Brand System Creation," and "Creative Governance & Brand Equity Growth" signifies a strong operational component in managing brand assets and ensuring consistent market application.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Define and evolve category-wide visual brand strategies, identity systems, and design frameworks to ensure distinctiveness and equity growth over time.

• Lead the creation and stewardship of new distinctive brand assets, packaging principles, experience guidelines, and visual languages for multiple brands within the wellness category.

• Direct end-to-end consumer and healthcare professional experiences across omnichannel environments, including packaging, digital, retail, and experiential platforms, ensuring cohesive and emotionally resonant brand representation.

• Serve as the primary creative and design lead for category and product teams, fostering collaboration internally and with external agency partners to elevate the creative output.

• Partner cross-functionally with insights, data strategy, R&D, marketing, technology, and product leaders to translate breakthrough ideas into tangible brand experiences that drive business outcomes.

• Contribute to the ideation of new value propositions, innovation platforms, and experiential concepts by bringing external inspiration (cultural trends, design futures, human behavior) into Haleon.

• Define and enforce creative standards and brand rules to guide execution partners and agencies, ensuring consistent and intentional brand building across all touchpoints.

• Inspire a culture of design thinking, creativity, experimentation, and strategic craftsmanship across the organization, mentoring designers and cross-functional partners.

• Champion inclusive design principles that reflect the diverse communities Haleon serves, ensuring brand representation is equitable and resonant.

• Drive business outcomes through world-class design by focusing teams on key priorities and operationalizing creative strategies for maximum impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a significant operational component in managing brand systems, ensuring cross-functional alignment, and driving consistent execution across a portfolio. This goes beyond pure creative execution to encompass the strategic operationalization of design for business impact, including defining standards, governance, and driving a culture of design excellence.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Industrial Design, or a related field. A Master's degree or equivalent experience is preferred.

Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in visual design, creative management, or design leadership roles, preferably within agency or client-side environments. Proven experience in FMCG or healthcare design leadership is highly valued.

Required Skills:

• Expertise in Branding, Design Systems, and Innovation Design, with a strong understanding of how they contribute to business value and portfolio growth.

• Proficient in design thinking, human-centered design methodologies, and applying consumer insights to creative strategy development.

• Deep understanding of global design culture and modern design practices across various industries.

• Strategic and tactical knowledge of how Design drives brand equity, business value, and portfolio growth.

• Cross-disciplinary design experience encompassing brand identity, structural packaging, digital interfaces, Point-of-Sale (POS) materials, advertising, and other consumer touchpoints.

• Proven track record in creating, launching, and scaling distinctive brand assets and comprehensive visual systems across multiple brands.

• Strong design communication skills, with the ability to articulate creative decisions and their impact on consumers and business objectives.

• Ability to influence, inspire, and lead through design, demonstrating intellectual curiosity and hands-on capability when required.

• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) is mandatory. Preferred Skills:

• Experience managing category-level budgets and financial planning for design initiatives.

• Bonus skills in 3D rendering, CAD, motion graphics, or digital experience design.

• Experience with project management methodologies to ensure timely and efficient delivery of design projects.

• Familiarity with market research and consumer testing methodologies to validate design concepts.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Required Skills" section emphasizes not just creative execution but also strategic application and operational management of design systems. The inclusion of "scaling distinctive brand assets and complete visual systems" and "strategic + tactical knowledge of how Design drives brand equity, business value, and portfolio growth" points to operational responsibilities in managing brand consistency and impact.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a comprehensive portfolio demonstrating end-to-end category-wide visual brand system design and breakthrough creative work across multiple brands.

• Include case studies that highlight the strategic thinking behind design decisions, focusing on consumer insights, brand objectives, and business impact.

• Present examples of distinct brand asset creation, packaging principles, and visual language development that have been successfully implemented and scaled.

• Demonstrate experience in designing for omnichannel consumer journeys, including packaging, digital interfaces, retail environments, and experiential activations.

• Provide evidence of transforming or elevating existing brands through redesigns or visual innovations. Process Documentation:

• Illustrate how you have developed and implemented design systems and brand guidelines to ensure consistency and governance across a portfolio.

• Detail your approach to cross-functional collaboration, showing how you partner with insights, R&D, marketing, and digital teams to bring creative concepts to life.

• Present examples of how you have translated consumer insights and business objectives into actionable design strategies.

• Showcase your methodology for leading and directing creative work, both internally and with agency partners, ensuring high-quality execution.

• Document your process for contributing to innovation platforms and experiential concepts, demonstrating a future-facing design perspective.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirements are critical for this role, demanding evidence of operationalizing design strategy across a portfolio. Candidates must demonstrate not just creative output but the ability to build, scale, and govern brand systems, highlighting process documentation and strategic impact.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $142,078 - $195,356 USD annually, plus a discretionary bonus.

Benefits:

• Generous 401(k) plan with company contributions.

• Comprehensive healthcare programs, with Haleon covering the majority of medical coverage for employees and their families.

• Tuition reimbursement to support continuous learning and professional development.

• 6 months of paid parental leave for new parents.

• Discretionary bonus based on key business performance and participation in incentive/recognition programs.

• Opportunity for professional growth and development within a leading consumer health company.

Working Hours: Standard full-time work hours are expected, likely around 40 hours per week, with a hybrid model requiring 3 days in the Warren, NJ office. Flexibility may be available based on project needs and team collaboration requirements, but a consistent presence is necessary for effective cross-functional engagement and team leadership.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is provided based on the input data. The benefits are detailed as per the provided text, emphasizing aspects relevant to long-term career stability and employee well-being, which are important considerations for senior operational roles. The working hours and hybrid model are specified to give clarity on the day-to-day operational structure.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Consumer Healthcare / Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Haleon operates in a highly competitive market, focusing on trusted brands that deliver everyday health solutions. This industry demands strong brand management, consumer understanding, and efficient Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies.

Company Size: Large Enterprise (implied by global operations and brand portfolio). This size suggests structured processes, cross-functional teams, and significant resources, but also requires agility to navigate market changes.

Founded: Haleon was launched as an independent company relatively recently, though its brands have long-standing histories. This implies a dynamic, evolving culture that blends established brand heritage with a forward-thinking, agile approach to business operations.

Team Structure:

• The Design Manager reports to the US Director of Design, indicating a clear hierarchy within the design function.

• This role requires extensive collaboration with cross-functional leaders across Insights, R&D, Marketing, Digital, and Innovation teams, emphasizing a matrixed operational environment.

• The team structure likely involves a mix of internal designers and external agency partners, requiring strong vendor management and creative direction skills. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: The role emphasizes translating consumer insights and data strategy into creative output, suggesting a data-informed approach to design decisions.

• Human-Centric Design: A core tenet of the role, focusing on understanding and meeting consumer needs to drive brand love and business growth.

• Agile Operations: Haleon's stated culture is agile and performance-focused, implying that design processes need to be efficient, iterative, and adaptable to market dynamics.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context highlights the operational demands of a large consumer healthcare company. The emphasis on "purpose-driven," "agile, performance-focused culture," and "Win as One strategy" suggests an operational environment where collaboration, efficiency, and strategic alignment are paramount. The industry context is crucial for understanding the competitive landscape and the importance of robust brand operations.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a senior-level role, functioning as a Category Design Manager. It demands strategic leadership, extensive experience (10+ years), and the ability to influence business decisions at a high level. The role is responsible for shaping the visual identity and experience of an entire category, indicating significant operational scope and impact.

Reporting Structure: The Design Manager reports to the US Director of Design. This structure provides a clear reporting line for design strategy and execution, while the role's cross-functional responsibilities mean significant collaboration with Marketing, R&D, and Digital leadership, often at Director or VP levels.

Operations Impact: The Design Manager's impact is directly tied to driving business growth and brand love through exceptional design. Success is measured by brand and category growth outcomes, increased brand equity, adoption of distinctive brand assets, and improved consumer delight. This role operationalizes brand strategy to create tangible market impact and competitive differentiation.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas of brand design systems, omnichannel experience design, or category-specific design innovation.

• Leadership Advancement: Progress to roles like US Director of Design, Global Design Lead, or Head of Brand Experience, managing larger teams and broader portfolios.

• Cross-Functional Mobility: Transition into senior marketing, brand management, or innovation roles where a strong design and consumer-centric perspective is highly valued.

• Skill Development: Opportunities to lead large-scale brand redesigns, develop new design methodologies for the organization, and mentor emerging design talent.

📝 Enhancement Note: This analysis focuses on the strategic operational career path of a design leader. The role is positioned as a critical driver of business outcomes through design, with clear pathways for growth within the operations and brand strategy functions.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid model, requiring 3 days per week in the Warren, NJ office. This indicates a blend of in-office collaboration and remote flexibility.

Office Location(s): Warren, NJ, United States. This location is a significant hub for Haleon/GSK operations, likely offering a professional corporate environment with access to amenities.

Workspace Context:

• The hybrid model necessitates a collaborative office space designed to facilitate teamwork, brainstorming, and cross-functional meetings on in-office days.

• Access to necessary design software and technology is expected, with potential for specialized hardware for 3D/CAD work if applicable.

• Opportunities for direct interaction with marketing, R&D, and product teams will be frequent, fostering a dynamic and integrated work environment.

Work Schedule: While a standard 40-hour work week is implied, the nature of creative leadership and project-driven work may require flexibility. The hybrid schedule is designed to balance focused individual work (potentially remote) with essential in-person collaboration and stakeholder engagement in the office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The work environment description focuses on the operational aspects of a hybrid model and the implications for collaboration and productivity within a corporate setting.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: HR screens for basic qualifications and cultural fit.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Assessment of experience, strategic thinking, and leadership capabilities, likely focusing on how you operationalize design.

• Portfolio Review & Presentation: A critical stage where candidates present their portfolio, detailing specific case studies that demonstrate their ability to create and scale brand systems, drive business impact, and collaborate cross-functionally. Expect to discuss the strategic rationale, process, challenges, and outcomes of your work.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with key stakeholders from Marketing, R&D, and Digital to assess collaboration style, communication skills, and ability to influence.

• Final Interview: Potentially with senior leadership (e.g., US Director of Design or VP level) to discuss overall fit, strategic vision, and alignment with company goals.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 projects that best showcase your ability to manage a portfolio of brands, develop comprehensive design systems, and drive measurable business results. Focus on projects with significant strategic input and operational execution.

• Tell a Story: For each case study, clearly articulate the challenge, your strategic approach, the design process, the operational execution, and the quantifiable outcomes (e.g., brand equity lift, market share growth, consumer engagement).

• Highlight Systems Thinking: Emphasize how you built and governed cohesive visual systems that ensured brand consistency and scalability across diverse touchpoints.

• Showcase Collaboration: Be prepared to discuss how you partnered with cross-functional teams and managed agency relationships to achieve objectives.

• Demonstrate Impact: Quantify success whenever possible. If direct metrics are unavailable, articulate the qualitative impact on brand perception, consumer experience, or operational efficiency.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared for potential design challenges that might involve evaluating existing brand assets, proposing improvements for a specific product line, or outlining a strategy to launch a new brand concept within the wellness category.

• Focus on demonstrating your strategic thinking, problem-solving approach, and ability to apply human-centered and data-driven principles under pressure.

• Practice articulating your thought process clearly and concisely, as if presenting to a group of diverse stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section is tailored to the operational aspects of the application process for a design leadership role, emphasizing portfolio content, strategic communication, and cross-functional collaboration during interviews.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Adobe Creative Cloud (CC): Essential for visual design, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign.

• 3D/CAD Software: Potentially required for structural packaging design or product visualization (e.g., SolidWorks, Rhino, Blender, Keyshot) – bonus skill.

• Motion Graphics Software: For creating dynamic brand assets or animations (e.g., After Effects) – bonus skill.

• Prototyping Tools: For digital experience design (e.g., Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Familiarity with tools used to track brand performance and consumer engagement metrics (e.g., Google Analytics, Brand Tracking Software, Nielsen/IRI data platforms) to inform design decisions and measure impact. CRM & Automation:

• While not a direct CRM role, an understanding of how design integrates with digital marketing platforms, e-commerce sites, and customer relationship management systems is beneficial for omnichannel execution.

📝 Enhancement Note: The tools listed are standard for a senior design role, with an emphasis on the core Adobe CC suite. The inclusion of 3D/CAD and motion graphics as bonus skills reflects the diverse needs of packaging and digital brand experience. The mention of analytics and CRM highlights the operational connection between design and business performance tracking.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Humanity & Purpose: A core value of Haleon, driving a focus on delivering better everyday health with empathy and understanding. This translates to design that is approachable, trustworthy, and genuinely helpful.

• Agile & Performance-Focused: Expect a dynamic environment that values speed, efficiency, and results. Design processes must be adaptable and contribute directly to business outcomes.

• Collaboration & Inclusion: Haleon emphasizes creating an inclusive culture where diverse backgrounds and views are valued. Design teams must foster open communication and ensure representation in their work.

• Curiosity & Innovation: A culture that encourages exploring new ideas, learning from external trends, and applying creativity rooted in human insights to drive breakthrough solutions.

• Design Excellence: A commitment to upholding high standards of craft, strategic thinking, and impactful execution in all design endeavors.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Expect close collaboration with marketing, R&D, digital, and insights teams. The Design Manager acts as a bridge, translating business needs into design solutions and design possibilities into business strategies.

• Agency Partnership: Strong relationships with external design agencies are crucial for execution and specialized expertise. The role requires effective creative direction and management of these partners.

• Feedback & Iteration: A culture that embraces constructive feedback and iterative design processes to refine concepts and ensure optimal outcomes.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouragement to share best practices, industry trends, and learnings across teams to elevate the overall design capability within Haleon.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section translates the company's stated values into actionable expectations for a Design Manager, emphasizing how these values inform the operational approach to design and collaboration.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Brand Portfolio Needs: Managing diverse brand identities and strategic objectives within a single category while maintaining consistency and distinctiveness.

• Driving Innovation in a Mature Market: Introducing novel design approaches and experiences in established consumer healthcare categories, requiring a balance of familiarity and differentiation.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring buy-in and effective collaboration from various departments with potentially different priorities and perspectives on design.

• Translating Insights to Action: Effectively translating complex consumer insights and business data into compelling and actionable design strategies.

• Navigating Hybrid Workflows: Optimizing collaboration and workflow efficiency in a hybrid environment to maintain creative momentum and timely project delivery.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design System Development: Leading the creation or enhancement of sophisticated design systems for large portfolios.

• Omnichannel Experience Strategy: Deepening expertise in designing seamless user journeys across digital, physical, and emerging platforms.

• Innovation Facilitation: Participating in or leading innovation workshops and design sprints to explore new product and service concepts.

• Leadership Mentorship: Opportunities to mentor junior designers, agency partners, and cross-functional stakeholders on design thinking and brand strategy.

• Industry Trends & Emerging Tech: Staying abreast of evolving design technologies, AI in design, and consumer behavior shifts through conferences, workshops, and continuous research.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section identifies potential operational challenges specific to a senior design role in a large CPG/Healthcare company and outlines clear avenues for professional development and skill enhancement.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you led the development of a comprehensive design system for a brand portfolio. What was your process, what were the key challenges, and what was the impact on brand equity and operational efficiency?" (Focus on process, systems, and measurable results.)

• "How do you balance the need for a cohesive category visual identity with the requirement for individual brand distinctiveness? Provide an example." (Assess strategic thinking and brand architecture understanding.)

• "Walk us through how you would translate a complex consumer insight or market trend into a tangible design strategy for one of our wellness brands." (Evaluate insight-to-action capability and strategic application.)

• "How do you influence senior stakeholders (e.g., Marketing VPs, R&D Directors) to adopt your design vision and recommendations, especially when there are differing opinions?" (Gauge influence, communication, and negotiation skills.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "Based on your understanding of Haleon's purpose and values, how would you ensure our design work reflects 'better everyday health with humanity'?" (Assess cultural alignment and value integration.)

• "How do you foster a culture of design thinking and innovation within a cross-functional team?" (Understand leadership and team-building approach.)

• "What are your thoughts on the current landscape of wellness branding, and where do you see opportunities for Haleon to innovate visually?" (Demonstrate industry awareness and strategic foresight.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: Begin with an executive summary of your role and key achievements. For each case study, clearly define the business objective, your strategic approach, the design solution, the operational implementation, and the measurable outcomes.

• Quantify Impact: Use data and metrics to support your claims regarding brand growth, consumer engagement, or operational improvements driven by your design work.

• Highlight Systems: Emphasize your ability to create and manage scalable design systems that ensure brand consistency and efficiency across a portfolio.

• Showcase Collaboration: Be prepared to discuss your role within teams and how you partnered with other functions to bring designs to life.

• Be Concise and Engaging: Present your work clearly, passionately, and with a focus on how your contributions delivered value to the business.

📝 Enhancement Note: These interview questions and preparation tips are designed to probe the candidate's strategic thinking, operational execution capabilities, and ability to align design with business objectives, which are critical for a role of this caliber.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Design Manager, Wellness position:

• Submit your application through the official Haleon careers portal via the provided link.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your resume and portfolio to specifically highlight your experience in visual brand systems, category-level design leadership, and omnichannel brand expression within FMCG or healthcare sectors. Showcase projects that demonstrate scaling brand assets and driving business impact.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 10+ years of experience, emphasizing achievements in brand strategy, design systems, innovation design, and cross-functional leadership using keywords found in the job description. Quantify achievements where possible.

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio with a focus on strategic rationale, operational execution, and measurable outcomes. Prepare answers to common strategy, leadership, and culture-related questions, articulating how your skills align with Haleon's purpose and values.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Haleon's brands, current marketing campaigns, and stated values. Understand their market position within the wellness category and identify potential areas where design can drive further growth and consumer connection.

⚠️ 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.