Design Director, Brand

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Design Director, Brand

Company: Applied Intuition

Location: Sunnyvale, California, United States

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Brand Design / Marketing Operations

Date Posted: 2026-05-05T19:08:07

Experience Level: 10+ years

Remote Status: Hybrid (5 days in office expected, with occasional flexibility)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead and evolve the brand language and visual identity for Applied Intuition across all digital and physical touchpoints, ensuring a cohesive and impactful brand experience.

• Manage, mentor, and grow a high-performing brand design team, fostering a culture of creativity, strategic thinking, and operational excellence.

• Conceptualize, design, and execute a broad spectrum of marketing collateral, including digital campaigns, website assets, event experiences (e.g., CES, Physical AI Day), and print materials.

• Elevate and standardize presentation resources for global sales and product teams, ensuring consistent brand messaging and professional delivery.

• Contribute strategically to the Design and Marketing leadership teams, driving brand initiatives and aligning creative efforts with business objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role bridges Brand Design and Marketing Operations by requiring the management of creative output for marketing campaigns, sales enablement, and large-scale events. The emphasis on evolving brand language and managing collateral across diverse touchpoints suggests a need for strong operational oversight of the creative process, including workflow management, resource allocation, and ensuring brand consistency across all initiatives.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive brand strategy that defines and evolves Applied Intuition's visual identity and messaging across all platforms, from digital interfaces to physical event activations.

• Lead the brand design team in conceptualizing and producing high-quality marketing collateral, including digital advertisements, website graphics, social media assets, brochures, and trade show materials.

• Oversee the design and implementation of engaging event experiences, such as trade show booths, user conferences, and product launch events, ensuring alignment with brand objectives and audience engagement goals.

• Manage the creation and maintenance of presentation templates and guidelines for sales, product, and executive teams, ensuring all external communications reflect the company's brand standards and key messaging.

• Collaborate with Product Design, Marketing, Production, Sales, and executive leadership to ensure brand consistency and strategic alignment across all company verticals and initiatives.

• Drive creative concept development for integrated marketing campaigns, translating business goals into compelling visual narratives.

• Manage the company's Swag store, ensuring branded merchandise aligns with brand aesthetics and quality standards.

• Contribute to the strategic direction and operational planning of the Design and Marketing departments as a key member of the leadership team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibility to "assist executive leadership with producing engaging communications for internal and external audiences (e.g. board meetings, customer on-sites etc.)" implies a need for exceptional discretion, strategic communication design, and the ability to translate complex information into clear, impactful visual narratives for high-stakes audiences. This elevates the role beyond typical marketing collateral design.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Marketing, or a related field is typically expected. An advanced degree or specialized certifications in design or brand management can be advantageous.

Experience:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in brand design, art direction, and creative strategy, with a proven track record of developing and executing successful brand initiatives.

Required Skills:

• Strategic Brand Development: Proven ability to conceptualize, define, and evolve brand identity, messaging, and visual systems.

• Art Direction: Expertise in guiding creative vision and execution across diverse media, ensuring high-quality and on-brand output.

• Team Leadership & Management: Demonstrated success in leading, mentoring, and developing design teams, fostering collaboration and performance.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Ability to effectively partner with and influence stakeholders across Marketing, Product, Sales, and Executive leadership.

• Presentation Design & Execution: Skill in creating compelling presentations for executive audiences, board meetings, and customer engagements.

• Marketing Collateral Creation: Proficiency in designing a wide range of marketing materials, including digital assets, print collateral, and event experiences.

• Portfolio Excellence: A strong portfolio showcasing world-class design work that demonstrably elevates brands and drives business impact.

Preferred Skills:

• High-Growth Startup Experience: Prior experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment, understanding the unique demands and opportunities.

• Event Design & Production: Experience in conceptualizing and managing the design and execution of large-scale events and trade show activations.

• Digital Marketing Campaign Design: Familiarity with designing assets for various digital marketing channels and campaigns.

• Understanding of Physical AI Industries: Familiarity with the nuances and visual language relevant to automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining, and agriculture sectors.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a portfolio that "showcases world class design that up-levels the brand" implies that candidates should be prepared to discuss not just the aesthetic quality of their work, but also its strategic impact, how it contributed to brand growth, and how it was implemented operationally across different touchpoints.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Brand Evolution Case Studies: Showcase projects where you led the evolution or significant enhancement of a brand's visual identity, detailing the strategic rationale, design process, and measurable impact.

• Marketing Campaign Design: Include examples of integrated marketing campaigns where you directed the creative execution across multiple channels, demonstrating your ability to translate objectives into cohesive visual narratives.

• Presentation Design Excellence: Present examples of high-impact presentations developed for executive leadership, board meetings, or critical client engagements, highlighting strategic communication and visual clarity.

• Team Leadership Evidence: If possible, include examples or descriptions of how you have managed, mentored, and grown design teams, illustrating your leadership style and impact on team performance.

• Cross-functional Project Examples: Highlight projects where you successfully collaborated with diverse teams (e.g., Product, Sales, Engineering) to achieve unified brand outcomes.

Process Documentation:

• Creative Briefing & Execution Workflows: Demonstrate an understanding of how to translate business objectives into clear creative briefs and manage the end-to-end design execution process efficiently.

• Brand Guideline Development & Implementation: Provide examples or describe your approach to creating and maintaining comprehensive brand guidelines and ensuring their consistent application across an organization.

• Project Management & Prioritization: Illustrate your ability to manage multiple design projects simultaneously, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines in a dynamic environment, potentially through project management tool usage.

• Feedback Integration & Iteration: Showcase your process for incorporating feedback from stakeholders and iterating on designs to achieve optimal results, demonstrating a collaborative and iterative design approach.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the role's emphasis on leading a team and collaborating across departments, the portfolio should ideally demonstrate not just individual design talent but also the candidate's ability to operationalize creative processes, manage workflows, and ensure brand consistency through structured methodologies.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $200,000 - $302,000 USD annually.

📝 Enhancement Note: This salary range is based on the provided job posting for a Design Director, Brand in Sunnyvale, California. The range reflects a senior leadership role in a high-cost-of-living area and a company valued at $15 billion. The actual salary offered will depend on factors such as the candidate's specific experience, credentials, interview performance, and the scope of their responsibilities.

Benefits:

• Equity: Stock options and/or restricted stock units (RSUs) offer potential for long-term financial growth tied to company success.

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Includes health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and potentially dependents.

• Life and Disability Insurance: Provides financial security for employees and their families in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

• 401k Retirement Benefits: Includes an employer match, enhancing retirement savings potential.

• Learning & Development: Access to learning stipends and wellness stipends supports continuous professional growth and personal well-being.

• Paid Time Off (PTO): Generous paid time off for vacation, personal days, and holidays.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours are expected, likely around 40 hours per week, with an emphasis on in-office presence 5 days a week. However, the company acknowledges the importance of flexibility, allowing for occasional remote work or adjustments to accommodate personal commitments, provided schedules are managed responsibly.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Physical AI and Autonomous Systems, serving Automotive, Defense, Trucking, Construction, Mining, and Agriculture. Applied Intuition is at the forefront of creating the digital infrastructure for intelligent moving machines.

Company Size: Valued at $15 billion, indicating a significant, well-funded, and rapidly scaling organization, likely with a substantial employee base across multiple global offices.

Founded: 2017, suggesting a relatively young but highly successful company that has experienced rapid growth and market traction.

Team Structure:

• Design & Marketing Leadership: The Design Director will report to a Head of Design and Marketing, contributing to a broader leadership team that influences company-wide creative and marketing strategies.

• Brand Design Team: Direct management responsibility for a team of brand designers responsible for visual identity, collateral, and campaign execution.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Close partnerships with Product Design, Marketing Operations, Production, Sales, and executive leadership across various industry verticals.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Brand Evolution: Emphasis on using insights to inform brand strategy and creative execution, ensuring alignment with market needs and business objectives.

• Agile Creative Processes: Likely employs agile methodologies for campaign development, project management, and iterative design improvements to adapt to fast-paced market demands.

• Scalable Design Operations: Focus on building and maintaining design systems and processes that can scale with the company's rapid growth and global expansion.

Company Website: applied.co

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's rapid growth and significant valuation suggest a culture that values innovation, speed, and impactful execution. For operations professionals, this implies a dynamic environment where processes may be evolving, and there's a strong need for individuals who can bring structure, efficiency, and strategic thinking to creative operations.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is at a senior leadership level, responsible for strategic brand direction, team management, and significant cross-functional influence. It requires a blend of creative vision, operational execution, and people management.

Reporting Structure: The Design Director, Brand will report to the Head of Design and Marketing, playing a key role in shaping the department's strategy and operational framework.

Operations Impact: The Design Director will have a substantial impact on Applied Intuition's market perception, customer acquisition, and brand loyalty by ensuring a compelling, consistent, and professional brand experience across all touchpoints. This directly influences sales enablement and overall business growth.

Growth Opportunities:

• Strategic Leadership Expansion: Potential to expand responsibilities within the Design and Marketing departments, potentially overseeing broader creative functions or taking on more strategic marketing initiatives.

• Team Development & Mentorship: Opportunity to build and scale a world-class design team, developing talent and establishing best practices in brand operations.

• Industry Influence: Contribute to shaping the brand narrative in the rapidly evolving Physical AI sector, potentially leading to industry recognition and thought leadership opportunities.

• Impact on a High-Growth Company: Direct involvement in the growth trajectory of a $15 billion company, offering significant learning experiences and career acceleration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Nice to have: Prior work experience at a high-growth startup" suggests that candidates who can demonstrate adaptability, a proactive approach to problem-solving, and the ability to build processes from the ground up will be highly valued, indicating a potential growth path towards more senior operational leadership roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Applied Intuition is an in-office company, with the expectation that employees primarily work from their designated office 5 days a week. However, they recognize the importance of flexibility, allowing for occasional remote work or schedule adjustments for personal commitments.

Office Location(s): The primary office for this role is Sunnyvale, California. The company also has offices in Washington D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The emphasis on in-office work suggests a culture that values face-to-face collaboration, brainstorming, and team synergy.

• Resource Availability: As a well-funded $15 billion company, expect access to modern design tools, technology, and resources necessary for high-level creative output.

• Cross-functional Interaction: The Sunnyvale office likely hosts key teams from Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Sales, facilitating frequent interaction and collaboration.

Work Schedule: While the expectation is 5 days a week in the office, the acknowledgment of flexibility suggests a results-oriented environment where individual autonomy is respected, provided operational needs and team collaboration are maintained. This allows for managing work around critical design tasks and team syncs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit statement about being an "in-office company" with "flexibility" indicates a hybrid model that leans heavily towards in-office presence. Operations professionals in this role should be prepared for a structured work environment that prioritizes in-person collaboration while offering some degree of personal schedule management.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

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

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussion focused on your experience in brand design, art direction, team management, and strategic thinking. Expect questions about your leadership style and approach to building creative teams.

• Portfolio Presentation: A dedicated session where you will present your portfolio, detailing specific case studies, your creative process, strategic rationale, and the impact of your work. Be prepared to discuss how you've "up-leveled" brands.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Meetings with key stakeholders from Marketing, Product, and potentially Sales or leadership to assess collaboration skills, communication style, and understanding of business objectives.

• Executive/Founder Interview: A final discussion with senior leadership to evaluate strategic alignment, cultural fit, and overall vision for Applied Intuition's brand.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 of your strongest projects that best represent your brand leadership, strategic thinking, and ability to drive impact.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the challenge, your strategic approach, the design process, your specific role, and the measurable results (e.g., increased engagement, brand perception improvements, sales enablement success).

• Showcase Leadership: Include examples or explanations of how you've managed teams, mentored designers, and fostered a collaborative creative environment.

• Highlight Operational Acumen: Demonstrate how you've managed creative workflows, collaborated with cross-functional partners, and ensured brand consistency across diverse touchpoints.

• Tailor to Applied Intuition: Research Applied Intuition's current brand and industry. Be prepared to discuss how your skills can specifically contribute to their mission of powering "physical AI."

Challenge Preparation:

• Brand Strategy Discussion: Be ready to discuss how you would approach evolving the brand for a company like Applied Intuition, considering its industry, target audiences, and rapid growth.

• Team Management Scenarios: Prepare for questions about how you handle team challenges, motivate designers, and manage performance.

• Presentation Design Critique: You might be asked to critique an existing presentation or discuss best practices for executive communications.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on presenting work to founders and leadership suggests that candidates should be adept at high-level strategic communication and able to articulate the business value of design decisions, not just the aesthetic merits.

🛠 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 for visual design, layout, and asset creation.

• Prototyping & Wireframing Tools: Experience with tools like Figma, Adobe XD, InVision, or similar for creating interactive prototypes and user flows, particularly for digital touchpoints.

• Presentation Software: Advanced skills in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote, or specialized presentation design tools for creating impactful executive-level presentations.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web Analytics: Familiarity with platforms like Google Analytics to understand website performance and user behavior, informing digital design decisions.

• Data Visualization Tools: Experience with tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Looker for analyzing creative performance metrics and presenting data-driven insights.

CRM & Automation:

• Marketing Automation Platforms: Basic understanding of how design assets are used within platforms like HubSpot, Marketo, or Pardot for campaign execution.

• Project Management Software: Proficiency in tools such as Asana, Monday.com, Jira, or Trello for managing design projects, workflows, and team tasks.

📝 Enhancement Note: While not explicitly a "Revenue Operations" role, a Design Director in a high-growth tech company like Applied Intuition must understand how design operations integrate with marketing automation, CRM data, and project management systems to ensure efficient campaign execution and measurable impact.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Excellence & Impact: A drive to produce world-class design that demonstrably elevates the brand and achieves business objectives.

• Collaboration & Partnership: A commitment to working effectively with diverse teams across the organization to achieve unified goals.

• Innovation & Vision: A forward-thinking approach to brand development, pushing creative boundaries to define the future of physical AI.

• Ownership & Accountability: Taking full responsibility for the brand's visual representation and its operational execution.

• Growth Mindset: Embracing continuous learning and development to stay ahead of design trends and industry advancements.

Collaboration Style:

• Strategic Partnership: Working closely with leadership to align brand strategy with company goals, acting as a strategic advisor on all visual communications.

• Cross-functional Integration: Actively engaging with Product, Marketing, Sales, and other departments to ensure brand consistency and support their objectives through design.

• Team Empowerment: Fostering an environment where the brand design team can thrive, share ideas, and contribute to a collective vision.

• Feedback-Driven Iteration: Openness to constructive feedback and a process for iterative refinement to achieve the best possible outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission-driven focus on "physical AI" suggests a culture that values innovation, technical excellence, and a tangible impact on the world. The Design Director will need to embody these values in their creative leadership and team management.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Rapid Growth & Scaling: Managing brand consistency and operational efficiency as the company scales rapidly across global markets and industries.

• Balancing Creative Vision with Business Needs: Ensuring the brand remains bold and unique while effectively supporting diverse business objectives and vertical-specific marketing efforts.

• Elevating a $15 Billion Brand: Continuously pushing creative boundaries to maintain a cutting-edge brand image for a highly valued and rapidly advancing company.

• Cross-functional Alignment: Navigating the complexities of collaborating with multiple departments, each with unique needs and perspectives, to maintain brand integrity.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Industry Leadership: Opportunity to shape the visual identity of a leader in the physical AI space, potentially becoming a thought leader in brand strategy for advanced technology.

• Team Building & Mentorship: Developing a high-performing design team and establishing best practices in brand operations for a rapidly growing organization.

• Strategic Influence: Direct involvement in high-level strategic discussions with executive leadership, influencing the company's overall brand trajectory.

• Exposure to Diverse Industries: Gaining deep insights into the visual communication needs of automotive, defense, construction, and other critical sectors.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenge of "elevating a $15 Billion brand" implies that this role requires not just strong design execution but also the strategic vision and operational capability to manage and grow a brand of significant market value.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your process for developing or evolving a brand identity from scratch or for an established company. How do you incorporate market analysis and business objectives?"

• "How would you approach building and leading a high-performing brand design team in a fast-paced, high-growth environment like Applied Intuition?"

• "Walk us through a time you had to present a significant creative strategy or a new brand direction to executive leadership or founders. What was the outcome?"

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Based on your research, what do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for Applied Intuition's brand in the Physical AI space?"

• "How do you foster collaboration between design teams and other departments like Product, Marketing, and Sales?"

• "Describe a time when you had to manage conflicting feedback from different stakeholders. How did you resolve it?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with a high-level overview of Applied Intuition and your understanding of their brand needs. Then, dive into 2-3 key case studies.

• Quantify Success: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your strategic solution, your specific role, and the measurable results or impact achieved. Use data where possible.

• Showcase Leadership: Be ready to discuss your management philosophy, how you empower your team, and how you drive creative excellence.

• Address Operational Nuances: Explain how your projects were executed, managed, and scaled, demonstrating your understanding of design operations and cross-functional collaboration.

• Engage and Discuss: Be prepared for in-depth questions about your choices, processes, and strategic thinking. View this as a collaborative discussion, not just a presentation.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should be prepared to discuss their experience with design operations, including workflow management, resource allocation, and ensuring brand governance, as this is critical for a senior role in a growing company.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Design Director, Brand position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Greenhouse.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate a portfolio that highlights your most impactful brand strategy, art direction, and team leadership projects, specifically tailoring it to showcase experience relevant to a high-growth tech company in the physical AI sector.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 10+ years of brand design experience and 5+ years of management experience, using keywords related to brand evolution, creative direction, marketing collateral, and team leadership. Quantify achievements whenever possible.

• Prepare for Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio with a focus on storytelling, strategic rationale, measurable impact, and your leadership approach. Be ready to discuss your vision for Applied Intuition's brand.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Applied Intuition, its mission, its target industries, and its current brand presence. Understand their position in the market and prepare to discuss how your expertise can contribute to their continued growth and brand elevation.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions. All details, particularly regarding company culture, team structure, and specific interview processes, should be verified directly with Applied Intuition during the application and interview stages.