Lead Designer, Brand

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Designer, Brand

Company: Exact Sciences

Location: Madison, WI, United States (with potential for Boston, MA; San Diego, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Chicago, IL)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Brand Design / Marketing Operations

Date Posted: April 28, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ years (Senior/Lead)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic vision and execution of brand identity across a diverse portfolio of Exact Sciences products and brands, ensuring a cohesive and impactful presence.

• Develop and maintain scalable brand identity systems that seamlessly integrate with digital and physical customer experiences, enhancing overall brand recognition and recall.

• Serve as a key creative partner to product, marketing, and cross-functional teams, translating brand strategy into compelling visual narratives that drive business objectives.

• Drive brand literacy and consistency across the organization by advocating for brand thinking and providing expert guidance on best practices.

• Deliver polished, well-documented brand systems and guidelines that serve as definitive sources of truth, enabling consistent application and flexibility over time.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a senior creative leader within the Customer Experience (CX) team, focusing on brand strategy and its visual manifestation across multiple products. The emphasis on "scalable identity systems" and integration with "digital and physical experiences" suggests a strong need for understanding how brand translates across various touchpoints, which is a core tenet of modern GTM operations and brand stewardship.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Spearhead the end-to-end brand design process, from initial concept development to final execution, defining the creative and strategic direction for numerous brands and products.

• Create innovative, relevant, and scalable brand identities that not only strengthen digital product interfaces but also bolster broader business initiatives and market positioning.

• Act as a crucial, trusted advisor and partner to internal stakeholders, guiding teams through a structured yet adaptable branding process and providing education on brand strategy and best practices.

• Collaborate closely with Product Designers, Product Managers, Marketing professionals, and other cross-functional teams to ensure brand identity is harmoniously aligned with product experiences and customer journeys.

• Champion brand awareness and consistent application throughout the organization, fostering increased brand literacy and adherence to visual standards across diverse teams.

• Produce high-quality, meticulously documented brand systems and guidelines that function as enduring references for internal teams, ensuring clarity and consistency in all brand-related outputs.

• Explore and integrate advanced creative elements such as motion graphics, 3D design, and interactive components to elevate brand experiences and create more engaging customer interactions.

• Effectively present, influence, and defend creative work and strategic recommendations to various stakeholder groups, ensuring alignment, buy-in, and clarity at every stage of the design and development lifecycle.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership, creative execution, and cross-functional collaboration. The emphasis on "scalable brand identities," "digital products and broader business initiatives," and "polished, well-documented brand systems" indicates a need for a candidate who can not only design but also operationalize brand standards for consistent application across a growing organization.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Marketing, Business, Life Sciences, or a related field of study is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of experience in User Experience (UX) Design.

• At least 5 years of experience in a senior or lead design capacity, demonstrating leadership and strategic oversight.

• Extensive experience in applying modern user experience design, discovery, and delivery techniques and methodologies.

• Proficiency with design and user experience platforms and tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Miro, and Jira.

• Experience with content management systems (CMS), with Sitecore being a notable advantage.

• Experience with user testing tools and methodologies.

• Proven ability to simplify and effectively communicate complex ideas to diverse and broad audiences.

• Demonstrated experience managing a design process from initial strategy formulation through to the successful delivery of the final product.

• Experience in building and nurturing collaborative relationships with product, engineering, design, and operational teams, influencing decisions and driving alignment.

Required Skills:

• Advanced understanding of accessible, inclusive, and equitable design principles and their practical application.

• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum/Kanban methodologies and experience working within these frameworks.

• Strong organizational and time management skills, exhibiting a proactive and logical approach to managing workload and priorities.

• Ability to work effectively both independently and as a collaborative member of a team.

• Demonstrated ability to perform the Essential Duties of the position with or without accommodation.

• Strong working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, alongside proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and associated design tools.

• Demonstrated strong understanding of the current web and mobile technology landscape.

• Advanced understanding of human-centered design and design thinking methodologies.

• Knowledge of best-in-class design systems (e.g., Material Design, Carbon Design System, Fluent Design System) and their respective strengths and weaknesses.

• Experience in evolving, adapting, or building design systems from inception.

• Extensive experience in problem-solving, with strong organizational and analytical skills to evolve UX strategy based on research, data, and industry trends.

• Strong analysis skills, including process and user flow definition.

• Extensive experience translating complex user, business, operational, and technical requirements into clear, accurate, and compelling user experience deliverables.

• Experience in relationship building, motivation, and fostering curiosity to unite diverse personalities for creative thinking and collaborative solutioning.

• Extensive experience engaging constructively and collaboratively with strategists, product managers, engineers, researchers, subject matter experts (SMEs), and company leaders, fostering mutual learning and influence.

• Experience in recruiting, coordinating, developing, and managing a design team.

Preferred Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to translate brand strategy into cohesive visual identities, comprehensive design systems, and multi-channel brand materials.

• Strong presentation and communication skills, with a proven track record of articulating design rationale to diverse stakeholder groups.

• Proficiency in Figma, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop, with practical experience in developing and documenting robust brand systems.

• Strong storytelling ability, with experience crafting compelling narratives that support brand engagement and strategic clarity.

• Experience leading brand workshops, design exercises, or collaborative alignment sessions to drive consensus and strategic direction.

• Deep understanding of product design principles and how brand strategy effectively integrates with digital user experiences.

• Experience incorporating motion graphics, 3D elements, or interactive components into brand expression.

• Strong writing skills, including experience contributing to brand guidelines, messaging frameworks, or strategic positioning documents.

📝 Enhancement Note: The extensive list of required skills, particularly those related to design systems, human-centered design, accessibility, and cross-functional collaboration, points to a role that requires not just creative talent but also a deep understanding of operationalizing design at scale within a complex organization. The preference for specific tools like Figma and experience with Sitecore suggests a modern tech stack and a focus on digital experience management.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio is mandatory, showcasing a strong ability to simplify complexity and translate strategic vision into tangible, experience-driven design outcomes.

• The portfolio must demonstrate the creation of compelling visual systems that resonate with diverse audiences and drive meaningful results at scale, with clear articulation of the problem, process, and impact.

• Showcase examples of developing and implementing scalable brand identity systems, detailing how these systems were applied across digital products and broader business initiatives.

• Include case studies that highlight your expertise in managing the design process from strategy through to execution, emphasizing collaboration with product, marketing, and cross-functional teams.

Process Documentation:

• Provide examples of how you have documented and maintained brand systems, including style guides, asset libraries, and usage guidelines, to ensure consistency and flexibility.

• Showcase your process for educating and guiding stakeholders through branding initiatives, demonstrating how you foster brand literacy and adherence to best practices.

• Include examples of how you have collaborated with product and engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of brand identity with digital and physical experiences.

• Detail your approach to measuring the impact of brand initiatives, demonstrating how you track and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and business objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio that demonstrates "simplifying complexity," "bringing strategy to life through experience," and "driving meaningful outcomes at scale" is crucial for operations-focused roles. This suggests a need to showcase not just aesthetic design but also the strategic thinking and process behind it, highlighting how design contributes to measurable business objectives and efficient implementation.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• National Range: $124,000 - $211,000 USD per year.

• California Range: $150,420 - $225,630 USD per year.

• The stated salary range is for a full-time position and may vary based on the specific hiring location.

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary ranges indicate a senior-level position. The significant difference between national and California ranges reflects regional market variations in compensation for design and marketing leadership roles. This compensation structure is typical for specialized roles requiring extensive experience and strategic impact.

Benefits:

• Paid Time Off: Comprehensive PTO including vacation days, holidays, dedicated volunteering time, and personal time.

• Paid Leave: Generous paid leave policies for parents and caregivers.

• Retirement Savings: A robust retirement savings plan to support long-term financial security.

• Wellness Support: Resources and programs dedicated to employee well-being.

• Health Benefits: Comprehensive health coverage including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision insurance.

Working Hours:

• This is a full-time position, typically requiring approximately 40 hours per week, with the understanding that flexibility may be needed to meet project deadlines and business needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The extensive benefits package, including specialized paid leave and wellness support, aligns with a company culture that values employee well-being and work-life balance, particularly for demanding senior roles. The mention of bonus eligibility suggests performance-based incentives tied to individual and company success.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Exact Sciences operates within the healthcare and biotechnology sector, specifically focusing on cancer diagnostics and treatment guidance. This context means that brand design decisions must be made with a deep understanding of scientific accuracy, patient empathy, and regulatory considerations.

Company Size: Exact Sciences is a significant player in its field, suggesting a dynamic environment with opportunities for growth and impact, but also requiring structured processes and clear brand governance for consistency.

Founded: Exact Sciences was founded with a mission to transform cancer diagnostics. Understanding the company's history and founding principles can provide insight into its core values and long-term strategic vision, which the brand design will aim to embody.

Team Structure:

• The Lead Brand Designer will be part of the Customer Experience (CX) team, which is responsible for defining and delivering customer-centric journeys across all channels.

• This role will likely collaborate closely with Product Designers, Product Managers, Marketing teams, and other cross-functional stakeholders, requiring strong interdepartmental communication and alignment.

Methodology:

• The team emphasizes defining, driving, and delivering innovative, customer-centric journeys, indicating a data-informed and user-focused approach.

• Brand identity development will need to be integrated with product and marketing strategies, suggesting a need for iterative processes, A/B testing of creative concepts, and continuous feedback loops.

• The role requires building scalable identity systems, implying a focus on creating flexible frameworks that can be adapted and applied consistently across a growing portfolio.

Company Website: Exact Sciences Careers

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission in cancer diagnostics is critical context for brand design. The brand must convey trust, scientific rigor, and hope, while the CX team's focus on customer journeys implies that brand integration needs to be seamless across all touchpoints, from initial awareness to ongoing engagement.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a "Lead" position, indicating a senior individual contributor role with significant strategic influence and potential for team leadership. It signifies a career stage where one is expected to set direction, mentor others, and drive complex projects with autonomy.

Reporting Structure: The role reports into the Customer Experience (CX) team, likely to a design director or CX lead. Collaboration will be extensive with Product Management, Marketing, and other creative teams, requiring strong partnership skills.

Operations Impact: The Lead Brand Designer's work directly influences how Exact Sciences is perceived by patients, healthcare providers, and partners. Strong brand identity and cohesive visual systems are critical for market differentiation, building trust, and supporting GTM strategies that rely on clear and compelling communication.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Opportunity to deepen expertise in brand strategy, design systems, motion graphics, 3D design, and interactive elements, potentially leading to specialized design leadership.

• Leadership Development: Potential to mentor junior designers, lead brand initiatives, and influence organizational design strategy, paving the way for future management roles.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gain broad experience collaborating across product, marketing, and business units, fostering a holistic understanding of GTM operations and business drivers.

• Industry Impact: Contribute to a mission-driven company in healthcare, with the opportunity to shape the brand narrative of life-changing diagnostic tools.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Lead" title suggests growth potential beyond individual contribution, possibly into design management or specialized brand strategy leadership within the broader GTM or operations framework. The emphasis on "scalable identity systems" implies opportunities to build and refine frameworks that have a lasting operational impact.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is primarily on-site, indicating a collaborative office environment. Exact Sciences has multiple locations, suggesting potential for hybrid work arrangements or office-based collaboration in hubs like Madison, WI.

Office Location(s): While the primary listing is Madison, WI, other potential locations include Boston, MA; San Diego, CA; Minneapolis, MN; and Chicago, IL. This offers flexibility depending on candidate location and talent needs.

Workspace Context:

• The office environment is likely to be collaborative, fostering interaction with product teams, marketing professionals, and other creative individuals.

• Access to modern design tools and technology is expected, given the requirements for Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, and other relevant software.

Work Schedule:

• The standard working hours are approximately 40 per week, typical for full-time roles. However, the fast-paced nature of a growing biotech company and the demands of creative project lifecycles may require flexibility to meet deadlines.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement emphasizes the importance of in-person collaboration for creative brainstorming and stakeholder alignment, which is often crucial for brand strategy development and ensuring cohesive visual execution across teams.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

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

• Portfolio Presentation: A dedicated session where candidates present their portfolio, detailing their strategic thinking, design process, and the impact of their work on business objectives. Be prepared to discuss specific case studies related to brand identity development and design systems.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews with key cross-functional partners (e.g., Product Managers, Marketing leads, other designers) to evaluate collaboration style, strategic thinking, and communication skills.

• Creative/Strategy Challenge: Potentially a design challenge or case study exercise to assess problem-solving abilities, strategic approach, and execution capabilities under timed conditions.

• Final Interview: Discussion with senior leadership to assess cultural fit, leadership potential, and overall alignment with Exact Sciences' mission and values.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Strategic Narrative: For each project, clearly articulate the business problem or objective, your role, the strategic approach taken, the design process followed, and the quantifiable outcomes or impact achieved.

• Design Systems Focus: Highlight projects where you developed or significantly contributed to design systems, showcasing your understanding of scalability, consistency, and documentation.

• Brand Strategy Integration: Demonstrate how your design work aligns with and enhances overarching brand strategy, showing examples of cohesive visual identity across various touchpoints.

• Problem-Solving Emphasis: Showcase how you tackled complex design challenges, simplified concepts, and collaborated with diverse stakeholders to achieve successful outcomes.

• Tool Proficiency: Briefly mention the primary tools used for each project (e.g., Figma, Adobe Creative Suite) and your level of expertise.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Business: Research Exact Sciences' mission, products, target audiences, and current brand positioning.

• Brand Audit Practice: Be prepared to analyze an existing brand (yours or a hypothetical one) and identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.

• System Thinking: Practice articulating how brand strategy translates into actionable design guidelines and scalable systems.

• Communication Clarity: Prepare to present your ideas clearly and concisely, anticipating questions about your rationale and approach.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio review and potential creative challenge underscores the practical, execution-oriented nature of this role. Candidates should prepare to demonstrate not just creative talent but also strategic thinking, process management, and the ability to articulate the business impact of their design decisions.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for interface design, prototyping, and collaborative design system development.

• Adobe Creative Suite: Including Illustrator for vector graphics and logo design, Photoshop for image manipulation, and potentially After Effects for motion graphics.

• Miro: Likely used for collaborative ideation, brainstorming, journey mapping, and workflow visualization.

• Jira: For project management, task tracking, and workflow management within Agile teams.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Sitecore: Mentioned as a preferred CMS, indicating experience with content management systems is valuable for understanding how brand assets are deployed online.

• General Understanding: Awareness of how CRM systems and marketing automation platforms interact with brand messaging and digital experiences would be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma and Adobe Creative Suite, along with Jira and Miro, points to a modern, collaborative design workflow. Experience with content management systems like Sitecore is also noted, highlighting the importance of understanding how designed assets integrate into digital publishing workflows.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A core value driving the CX team, ensuring all design decisions are made with the customer's needs and experience at the forefront.

• Innovation & Impact: A drive to create novel solutions that make a tangible difference, aligning with Exact Sciences' mission to improve cancer detection and treatment.

• Collaboration & Partnership: Emphasis on working effectively with diverse teams to achieve shared goals, valuing input and fostering mutual respect.

• Excellence & Rigor: Commitment to high-quality standards in design execution, strategic thinking, and process management, particularly important in a healthcare context.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilizing research, analytics, and user feedback to inform design choices and measure effectiveness.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expectation of close collaboration with product management, marketing, engineering, and other creative disciplines to ensure brand consistency and strategic alignment.

• Iterative & Feedback-Oriented: A culture that encourages continuous feedback, iteration, and refinement of designs based on input from various stakeholders and user testing.

• Knowledge Sharing: An environment where best practices, insights, and learnings are shared openly to elevate the collective expertise of the team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on customer-centricity, innovation, and collaboration aligns with best practices in GTM operations and product development. The brand designer will need to be adept at navigating diverse perspectives and contributing to a unified brand vision that supports the company's overarching mission.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Brand Consistency with Product Diversity: Managing a portfolio of brands and products requires maintaining a cohesive overarching identity while allowing for unique expressions tailored to specific audiences or offerings.

• Translating Complex Science into Accessible Brands: Communicating sophisticated diagnostic and treatment information through brand visuals and messaging in a way that is clear, empathetic, and trustworthy.

• Influencing Stakeholders Across Disciplines: Gaining buy-in and alignment from various departments (e.g., R&D, Sales, Marketing, Legal) on brand strategy and creative direction.

• Rapidly Evolving Healthcare Landscape: Adapting brand strategies and visual systems to keep pace with scientific advancements, market changes, and regulatory updates.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Specialized Design Expertise: Deepen skills in areas like motion graphics, 3D design, and interactive branding through internal projects and external training.

• Brand Strategy Leadership: Develop advanced strategic thinking and leadership capabilities through leading major brand initiatives and mentoring junior designers.

• Industry Immersion: Gain in-depth knowledge of the cancer diagnostics and treatment industry, understanding the nuances of patient and provider needs.

• System Design Mastery: Contribute to the evolution and scaling of Exact Sciences' design systems, becoming an expert in their application and governance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the need for a strategic thinker who can navigate complexity and influence diverse stakeholders. Growth opportunities are geared towards developing leadership in specialized design areas and deepening industry-specific knowledge, crucial for long-term career progression in a mission-driven company.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you developed a brand identity system from scratch. What was your strategic approach, and how did you ensure its scalability and consistency across different product lines?" (Focus on process, strategy, and scalability).

• "How do you balance the need for a strong, unified brand identity with the requirement for product-specific visual differentiation? Provide an example." (Focus on strategic differentiation and brand governance).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "How would you approach understanding and embodying the Exact Sciences brand, given our mission in cancer diagnostics?" (Focus on research, empathy, and mission alignment).

• "Describe your experience working within cross-functional teams. How do you ensure effective collaboration and alignment between design, product, and marketing?" (Focus on collaboration and GTM integration).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• The "Why" and "How": For each portfolio piece, clearly articulate the strategic objective, the problem you were solving, your process, and the measurable impact. Don't just show what you made; explain why you made it and how it achieved its goals.

• Highlight Design Systems: Dedicate time to showcasing your experience with design systems, explaining their architecture, your contribution, and how they facilitate operational efficiency and brand consistency.

• Storytelling: Weave a narrative around your projects that engages the interviewer, demonstrating your passion, strategic thinking, and ability to communicate complex ideas effectively.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your design work (e.g., improved conversion rates, increased brand recall, enhanced user satisfaction).

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, process management, and the ability to translate brand strategy into impactful, scalable design solutions. Candidates should be ready to discuss their experience with design systems, cross-functional collaboration, and measuring design's contribution to business objectives.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Brand Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Exact Sciences careers portal.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight projects demonstrating strong brand identity development, scalable design systems, and successful integration with digital experiences. Focus on case studies that show strategic thinking, process, and measurable business impact.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your experience in senior/lead design roles, your proficiency with key tools (Figma, Adobe Creative Suite), and your understanding of brand strategy, user experience, and cross-functional collaboration. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio, focusing on the strategic rationale behind your work and your ability to articulate complex design concepts clearly. Prepare to discuss your experience with design systems, stakeholder management, and working within Agile frameworks.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Exact Sciences' mission, products, target audiences, and current brand identity. Understand their position in the healthcare and diagnostics market and how brand plays a role in their GTM strategy.

⚠️ 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.