Senior Brand Design Manager

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Brand Design Manager

Company: Zymo Research Corporation

Location: Tustin, CA

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Marketing Operations / Brand Management / Creative Operations

Date Posted: May 19, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• This role is pivotal in establishing and maintaining a cohesive and impactful visual identity for Zymo Research across all marketing and communication channels, driving brand consistency and recognition within the life science industry.

• The Senior Brand Design Manager will be responsible for developing and evolving the company's design systems, ensuring scalability and clarity in visual communication for a global scientific audience.

• This position requires a strategic approach to design, focusing on translating brand strategy into practical visual principles that enhance engagement and support scientific advancements.

• The role involves significant cross-functional collaboration, working with marketing, product, scientific, and commercial teams to synchronize visual messaging and uphold brand integrity.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job title is "Senior Brand Design Manager," the responsibilities heavily lean into operational aspects of design management, including building systems, templates, and workflows. This suggests a role that bridges creative execution with operational efficiency, aligning with a "Creative Operations" or "Marketing Operations" function focused on brand. The emphasis on "design systems" and "templates" points to a need for scalable, repeatable processes for visual asset creation, a core tenet of operations.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Visual Identity & Brand Cohesion: Refine, maintain, and evolve Zymo Research’s visual identity across all marketing touchpoints, including campaigns, digital platforms, social media, email marketing, print collateral, presentations, product documentation, and trade show materials.

• Design Systems Development: Translate brand strategy, voice, and philosophy into a practical and scalable visual communication system, defining principles for typography, layout, color usage, imagery, hierarchy, and iconography.

• Brand Guidelines & Template Creation: Develop and update comprehensive brand guidelines, moving beyond basic logos to establish a practical visual system. Create and refine standardized templates for recurring needs (e.g., decks, social media assets, brochures, product sheets, event materials, internal communications) to ensure consistency and efficiency.

• Creative Quality Assurance & Direction: Provide clear, constructive creative feedback and serve as a key reviewer for major brand and marketing assets, guiding in-house designers and external agencies to ensure strong visual hierarchy, clarity, polish, and adherence to brand standards without micromanaging.

• Creative Organization & Workflow Improvement: Organize existing templates and assets, identify and rectify outdated or inconsistent materials, and support the implementation of cleaner file systems, approved examples, and version control. Partner with project management and operations leads to streamline creative intake, review, and delivery workflows.

• Cross-Functional Partnership & Alignment: Collaborate closely with Marketing, Product Marketing, Scientific Communications, Social Media, Commercial, and Web/UX teams to ensure the Zymo Research visual identity is expressed consistently across all channels and product lines.

• Asset Management & Standardization: Audit and organize current design assets, ensuring proper file structure, version control, and accessibility for relevant teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong operational component. "Help build the next version of Zymo Research’s brand guide, moving beyond logos and colors into a practical visual system" and "Create and refine templates for recurring needs" are direct indicators of process and system development. The mention of "Partner with project and operations leads to improve creative intake, review, and delivery workflows" explicitly links this role to operations management within the creative function.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in brand design, visual identity development, graphic design, art direction, or the creation and management of creative systems.

• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing comprehensive brand guidelines, design systems, or visual standards.

• Proven ability to translate complex brand strategies and company voice into clear, actionable visual principles.

Required Skills:

• Visual Identity: Expertise in defining and maintaining a strong, consistent visual identity across diverse media.

• Design Systems Thinking: Ability to conceptualize, build, and manage scalable design systems and style guides.

• Typography & Layout: Exceptional command of typography, layout, visual hierarchy, and composition.

• Creative Review & Feedback: Skill in providing constructive, actionable feedback to designers and creative teams.

• Cross-Functional Communication: Proven ability to collaborate effectively with marketing, product, scientific, and commercial stakeholders.

• Organizational Skills: Strong instincts for organizing design assets, templates, file structures, and version control.

• Problem-Solving: A creative and analytical approach to design challenges, viewing design as a problem-solving discipline.

Preferred Skills:

• Life Science/Technical B2B Experience: Prior experience in the life science, biotechnology, healthcare, or complex technical B2B industries.

• Agency/In-house Direction: Experience directing external creative agencies or managing in-house design teams.

• Digital & UX Integration: Familiarity with web/UX design systems and their relationship to broader brand identity.

• Content Creation Direction: Experience directing photography, video visuals, campaign imagery, or social-first creative content.

• AI & Emerging Tools: Familiarity with using AI or emerging creative tools to support visual exploration, template development, or production efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "design as a visual and creative problem-solving discipline — not decoration" and the requirement for "Strong organizational instincts around templates, asset libraries, file structure, and design process" clearly indicate that this role requires an operational mindset for design. The preference for experience in complex industries like life sciences suggests a need for understanding how to communicate technical information visually and maintain brand integrity in a regulated or highly specialized field.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Comprehensive Case Studies: Showcase at least 2-3 detailed case studies demonstrating the development and implementation of visual identity systems, brand guidelines, or design templates.

• System Design Focus: Clearly illustrate your approach to building practical, scalable design systems that ensure brand consistency and efficiency across multiple channels (digital, print, social, presentations, etc.).

• Process & Workflow Documentation: Include examples of how you've organized design assets, improved creative workflows (intake, review, delivery), or managed version control and asset libraries.

• Problem/Solution Articulation: Each case study should clearly define the design challenge, your strategic approach, the execution, and the measurable impact or improvements achieved through your systematic design solutions.

Process Documentation:

• Demonstrate experience in creating and documenting clear brand guidelines and template usage instructions that are easy for internal teams and external partners to follow.

• Showcase your ability to map out and optimize creative processes, from initial brief to final asset delivery, highlighting efficiency gains and quality improvements.

• Provide examples of how you've integrated design operations best practices, such as asset management systems, standardized file naming conventions, or approval workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role's focus on "practical visual system," "templates for recurring needs," and "cleaner file systems, approved examples, and version control" implies that a portfolio demonstrating systematic thinking and process-oriented design solutions will be highly valued. Candidates should highlight projects where they built repeatable design frameworks rather than just standalone creative assets.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• The estimated base compensation range for this position is $100,000 to $115,000 annually.

Benefits:

• Health & Wellness:

  • Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance Coverages
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Sessions

• Time Off:

  • Generous Vacation Time
  • Company Holidays
  • Paid Sick Leave

• Financial & Retirement:

  • Generous 401(K) plan with company matching
  • Employee Referral Bonus program

• Perks & Amenities:

  • Complimentary fruit, snacks, and beverages
  • Complimentary catered lunches on Thursdays

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time role, likely around 40 hours per week, with flexibility expected to meet project deadlines and operational needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific to the Tustin, CA location, which is a high cost-of-living area in Southern California. The range of $100,000-$115,000 is competitive for a Senior Brand Design Manager with 5+ years of experience in a specialized industry like life sciences in this region. The benefits package is comprehensive, reflecting a company that values employee well-being and retention.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Life Science / Biotechnology / Molecular Tools

Company Size: Zymo Research is a well-established company, indicated by its founding in 1994 and recognition as a "Top Workplace." While an exact employee count isn't provided, being a global life science company with multiple awards suggests a significant operational footprint, likely in the hundreds to a few thousand employees. This size indicates a structured environment with established processes, but also potential for impact as a senior individual contributor.

Founded: 1994, with over 25 years of experience in developing molecular tools.

Team Structure:

• The Senior Brand Design Manager will report to the Marketing Director, indicating a key role within the marketing department's leadership.

• The role requires close collaboration with various internal teams, including Product Marketing, Scientific Communications, Social Media, Commercial departments, and Web/UX teams, highlighting a matrixed and collaborative operational environment.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design Application: While not explicitly stated for design, Zymo Research's core philosophy is "the beauty of science is to make things simple," and they provide tools for scientists to "generate better data, accelerate discovery, and advance innovations." This implies a focus on clarity, efficacy, and problem-solving, which should extend to their brand's visual communication.

• Process Optimization: The emphasis on building "practical visual systems," "templates," and improving "creative intake, review, and delivery workflows" indicates a strong operational focus on efficiency and scalability in creative output.

• Scientific Rigor & Clarity: Given the industry, there's an underlying need for accuracy, clarity, and a professional, trustworthy aesthetic in all visual communications.

Company Website: Zymo Research Corporation

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's focus on simplifying science and accelerating discovery is a key cultural differentiator. This should be reflected in the brand's visual identity – it needs to be sophisticated, clear, and professional, but also accessible and supportive of scientific progress. The "Top Workplace" accolades suggest a positive, employee-centric culture that values collaboration and growth.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a "Senior" manager, indicating an experienced individual contributor or a potential lead within the brand design function. It implies a level of autonomy in shaping design strategy and systems, with a direct impact on how the company's brand is perceived.

Reporting Structure: The role reports directly to the Marketing Director. This provides a clear line of communication and strategic alignment with senior marketing leadership, ensuring brand design initiatives are integrated with broader marketing objectives.

Operations Impact: The Senior Brand Design Manager will have a significant impact on Zymo Research's market presence by:

• Enhancing brand recognition and recall through consistent visual identity.

• Improving the clarity and effectiveness of marketing communications, leading to better audience engagement and understanding of complex scientific products.

• Increasing operational efficiency in creative asset production through standardized templates and streamlined workflows.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization & Leadership: Potential to deepen expertise in design systems and creative operations within the life science sector, potentially leading to a Creative Operations Manager role or a broader Brand Director position focused on visual strategy.

• Process Improvement Leadership: Opportunity to champion and implement advanced design operations methodologies and tools, becoming a subject matter expert within Zymo Research.

• Cross-Functional Influence: Develop strong relationships and influence across various departments, potentially leading to broader strategic roles in marketing or corporate communications.

• Industry Impact: Contribute to the visual representation of a company at the forefront of scientific advancement, impacting how critical research tools are communicated globally.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Senior" title, coupled with responsibilities like building systems and improving workflows, suggests this role is designed for someone who can operate with significant autonomy and strategic foresight. The growth path likely involves either deepening specialization in design ops or expanding into broader marketing leadership by leveraging their operational and strategic design expertise.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: On-site at Zymo Research Operations in Tustin, CA. This indicates a traditional office environment conducive to in-person collaboration and team cohesion.

Office Location(s): 2961 Dow Ave., Tustin, CA 92780. This location is in Orange County, known for its vibrant business community.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Atmosphere: The role requires close partnership with various teams, suggesting an open and communicative work environment where designers are integrated with marketing, product, and scientific communications functions.

• Resource Availability: As a "Top Workplace" with comprehensive benefits, it's likely that Zymo Research provides necessary design tools, software, and resources to support the team's work effectively.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for direct interaction with colleagues across departments, fostering a holistic understanding of the company's goals and how design supports them.

Work Schedule:

• Standard full-time hours, likely Monday to Friday, with the expectation of flexibility to meet project demands. The on-site nature supports structured workdays and immediate team collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement is crucial for roles that involve hands-on collaboration, team reviews, and fostering a unified creative culture. For a Senior Brand Design Manager, this environment is ideal for quickly building rapport with cross-functional teams and ensuring design consistency through direct interaction.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

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

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: Expect to present your portfolio, focusing on case studies that demonstrate your experience with brand systems, guidelines, templates, and workflow optimization. Be prepared to discuss your design process, strategic thinking, and problem-solving approach.

• Skills Assessment/Challenge: You may be given a design challenge or asked to critique existing brand materials, focusing on your ability to identify issues, propose solutions, and articulate your rationale clearly.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with the Marketing Director, potentially other marketing leads, and key stakeholders from product, scientific communications, or web/UX teams to assess your collaboration style and understanding of their needs.

• Final Interview: Likely with senior leadership to discuss overall fit, strategic vision, and long-term impact.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Prioritize case studies that highlight your development of design systems, brand guidelines, and scalable templates. Demonstrate how you created repeatable frameworks.

• Quantify Impact: Where possible, include metrics or qualitative results demonstrating how your design solutions improved efficiency, consistency, or brand perception.

• Process Over Polish: While strong design is essential, explain your thought process, problem-solving approach, and how you managed projects and workflows.

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize experience relevant to B2B, technical industries, and operational aspects of design management. Highlight your ability to translate strategy into practical visual applications.

• Clarity and Organization: Ensure your portfolio is well-organized, easy to navigate, and clearly articulates the context and results of each project.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Zymo Research: Research the company's products, mission, current branding, and target audience (scientists, researchers).

• Focus on Systems & Consistency: If given a challenge, think about how you would apply systematic thinking to improve brand consistency and operational efficiency for Zymo Research.

• Articulate Your Rationale: Be prepared to explain the "why" behind your design decisions, linking them back to brand strategy, operational goals, and audience needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the emphasis on systems and operational efficiency in the role description, candidates should ensure their portfolios and interview discussions strongly highlight these aspects. Demonstrating how they build repeatable processes, create functional templates, and manage design assets systematically will be key differentiators.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

• Adobe Creative Suite: Proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign is a given.

• Figma / Sketch: Essential for developing and managing design systems, templates, and collaborative design work.

• Prototyping Tools: Experience with tools like Adobe XD, InVision, or Figma for interactive mockups.

Asset Management & Workflow:

• DAM (Digital Asset Management) Systems: Familiarity with or ability to implement and manage a DAM solution for organizing and distributing brand assets.

• Project Management Software: Experience with tools like Asana, Trello, Jira, or Monday.com for managing creative projects and workflows.

• Collaboration Platforms: Tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for cross-functional communication.

Content & Web Integration:

• CMS (Content Management Systems): Basic understanding of how design assets are used within CMS platforms (e.g., WordPress, Drupal).

• Web/UX Design Tools: Familiarity with tools and principles related to web design systems, user experience, and interface design.

Emerging Technologies (Preferred):

• AI-Powered Design Tools: Experience with tools that assist in visual exploration, template generation, or content creation efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "design systems," "templates," and "creative organization" strongly suggests that proficiency in collaborative design platforms like Figma or Sketch is critical. The ability to manage assets and workflows efficiently implies familiarity with project management tools and potentially Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Simplicity & Clarity: Reflecting Zymo Research's core philosophy, the brand design should aim to simplify complex scientific information and make the brand accessible and understandable.

• Precision & Reliability: In the life science industry, accuracy and trustworthiness are paramount. The visual identity must convey these qualities.

• Innovation & Advancement: The brand should visually support Zymo Research's role in driving scientific discovery and innovation.

• Collaboration & Integration: A strong emphasis on working effectively with diverse teams to ensure cohesive brand messaging across all touchpoints.

• Efficiency & Scalability: Building design systems and templates that enable consistent, high-quality output with optimized effort.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Proactively engage with marketing, product, scientific, and commercial teams to understand their needs and ensure design alignment.

• Constructive Feedback Culture: Foster an environment where feedback is given and received openly and constructively to elevate the quality of creative work.

• Systematic Approach: Encourage the use of established brand guidelines and templates to facilitate smoother collaboration and ensure consistency.

• Knowledge Sharing: Willingness to share best practices in design systems and brand management with internal teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's stated belief, "the beauty of science is to make things simple," is a guiding principle that should inform the brand's visual expression. This translates to design that is clean, intuitive, and focused on clarity, avoiding unnecessary complexity.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Brand Consistency with Diverse Needs: Ensuring a unified visual identity across a wide range of scientific products, marketing campaigns, and internal communications, each with potentially unique requirements.

• Translating Complex Science Visually: Developing design solutions that effectively communicate intricate scientific concepts and product benefits to a specialized audience.

• Managing Legacy Assets & Evolving Brand: Organizing and updating existing design materials while guiding the evolution of the brand's visual language.

• Driving Adoption of Design Systems: Encouraging consistent use of new brand guidelines and templates across various internal teams and external partners.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deepen Expertise in Design Systems: Become a go-to expert for Zymo Research on brand consistency, design systems, and visual asset management.

• Industry Immersion: Gain in-depth knowledge of the life science and biotechnology sectors, understanding the unique visual communication challenges and opportunities within this field.

• Creative Operations Advancement: Develop skills in process design, workflow optimization, and the implementation of creative technology solutions.

• Cross-Functional Strategy: Enhance strategic thinking by working closely with diverse departments, understanding their operational goals and how design can best support them.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary challenge will be in harmonizing the brand's visual expression across a complex scientific product portfolio and diverse marketing channels. Success will hinge on the ability to build and enforce robust design systems that are both flexible enough to meet specific needs and stringent enough to maintain overall brand integrity.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you developed a comprehensive brand guideline or design system. What was your process, and what were the key challenges and outcomes?"

• "How would you approach standardizing visual communication for a company like Zymo Research, which has a broad range of scientific products and services?"

• "Walk us through your process for reviewing and providing feedback on creative work to ensure brand consistency and quality."

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What appeals to you about Zymo Research's mission and its place in the life science industry?"

• "How do you see your role contributing to Zymo Research's goal of 'making science simple' through visual design?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Focus on Systems: Select portfolio pieces that best demonstrate your ability to create and implement design systems, templates, and brand guidelines.

• Explain Your Process: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your strategic approach (especially regarding operational efficiency and scalability), the execution, and the results.

• Highlight Operational Impact: Emphasize how your work improved creative workflows, asset management, or overall brand consistency.

• Be Ready for Critique: Be prepared to discuss your design choices and defend them logically, showing your understanding of brand strategy and problem-solving.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interviewers will be looking for candidates who can articulate not just design aesthetics but also the strategic and operational thinking behind their work. Emphasizing process, systems, and the ability to drive consistency will be crucial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Brand Design Manager position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Trinet hiring platform.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your online portfolio or PDF to prominently showcase case studies focused on brand systems, design guidelines, template development, and workflow optimization. Highlight projects relevant to B2B or technical industries.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly details your experience in brand design, art direction, and creative operations. Use keywords such as "brand identity," "design systems," "visual hierarchy," "creative workflow," and "template development." Quantify achievements where possible.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design philosophy, process, and experience with managing creative consistency and operational efficiency. Prepare to discuss specific examples from your portfolio and how they align with Zymo Research's needs.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Zymo Research, its products, mission, and current brand presence. Understand the life science industry and its communication nuances. Prepare thoughtful questions about the role, team, and company culture.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with Zymo Research Corporation or TriNet Hiring before making application decisions.