Senior Manager, Brand Design

Title: Senior Manager, Brand Design

Department: Marketing

Reports to: Creative Director
 
Manages: Graphic Designers and Photographers

Collaboration: Daily collaboration with the broader Creative and Content team, Integrated Marketing, Brand Strategy and Marketing Operations; Regular collaboration with leaders across the organization including Game Operations, Basketball Operations, Ticketing, Corporate Partnerships, Community, Communications, Facilities and HR

Team Overview: Creative and Content Production is part of the marketing department, leading brand identity, visual design and art direction for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team is responsible for generating creative ideas and forming campaign concepts to achieve long-term and short-term business objectives, guided by the broader marketing team. The creative and content production team designs and delivers creative stories and assets to serve a variety of organization needs prioritizing brand storytelling, fan engagement, broadcast support, corporate partnerships and season ticket members. This team is responsible for producing creative and editorial content daily during the season to tell the basketball story. Creative and Content Production also serves the broader business, supporting longer-term fan engagement, international growth, basketball operations, community programs, DEIB initiatives and internal employee programming. 
 
Position Summary: This position serves to lead a dynamic team of graphic designers and photographers. In this pivotal role, you will drive the evolution and execution of our brand’s visual identity, ensuring it resonates emotionally with our audiences and elevates the storytelling experience. Reporting directly to the Creative Director, you will work collaboratively with cross-functional teams to create innovative, compelling, and cohesive creative that reflects the core values and personality of our brand. This role also requires the ability to confidently present creative concepts, storytelling approaches, and design rationale to executive stakeholders across the organization.

Essential Functions (Duties & Responsibilities**):

Creative Leadership and Team Management:

• Guide a team of graphic designers and photographers, fostering a creative environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and professional growth. Provide regular feedback and career development opportunities.
• Lead the entire brand design process, from pre-production (concept development, storyboarding, etc.) through production (designing and shooting) to post-production (editing, graphic treatments, approvals, and final delivery).
• Remain actively involved in hands-on design execution across campaigns and content initiatives, contributing high-level creative, art direction, and visual design work alongside the broader team
• Lead by example through active participation in the creative process, contributing visual concepts, design direction, and creative problem-solving across key brand initiatives

 Brand Design and Content Development:

• Receive and implement direction from brand strategy briefs and integrated marketing plans to ensure content aligns to business objectives.
• Shape and craft brand narratives through emotionally engaging visual content. Use expertise to create visuals that connect with audiences on a deeper level, telling stories that drive engagement and strengthen brand loyalty.
• Elevate the Lakers brand experience and fan engagement through design-driven storytelling and creative problem-solving.
• Accept and implement campaign performance learnings and consumer insights for future production.

Collaboration and Cross-Departmental Partnerships:

• Partner with integrated marketing, basketball operations, communications, and other departments to assess and fulfill talent requests for production, as needed.
• Present brand design storyboards and final work to stakeholders, including the Creative Director, senior leadership, and other departments. Clearly articulate the vision, process, and rationale behind creative decisions.

Creative Development and Execution:

• Stay current on industry trends, tools, and emerging technologies in design and photography. Incorporate new trends and techniques into the work where appropriate, keeping the brand fresh and forward-thinking.
• Develop innovative, best-in-class interactive brand design materials including website, app, print, and social media.

**Responsibilities subject to change based on organizational needs and direction from management.

Education (Required/ Preferred): Bachelor’s degree in graphic design (required)

Previous Experience: 

• Minimum 8 years working in graphic design
• Minimum 3-5 years management experience overseeing designers, photographers, or other creative staff 
• Proven success with high-profile brand design and content design 
• Proven experience overseeing art direction and identity for high-profile global brands
• Experience in a creative leadership role 

Technology Capabilities:

• Adobe Creative Suite
• Understanding of web, email, social design and content requirements
• Project Management Software (Wrike, Trello, Asana, etc.)
• Microsoft Office (including Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint)

Knowledge, skills, abilities:

• Strong presentation and communication skills, with the ability to confidently pitch and present creative ideas to marketing leadership and executive stakeholders 
• You are upbeat in your work and have a strong positive attitude
• Highly organized, resourceful, and can prioritize and multitask under the pressure of deadlines
• Strong understanding of graphic design principles, methods and practices, as well as all phases of design, production, and delivery for print and digital materials
• A fundamental understanding of typography, photography and layout for print and web
• Knowledge of production for collateral including resolution, sizes, file types, and building final mechanical artwork (e.g. color correcting and create clipping paths to prepare files)
• Ability to ensure consistent branding standards
• Ability to give and take design direction and implement feedback/edits in a timely manner
• Excellent grammatical, spelling, proofreading abilities
• Able to come up with original ideas for designs, as well as integrate ideas from others
• Knowledge of basketball (preferred)
• Previous experience working with celebrities or professional sports players (preferred)
• You continuously look for ways to improve and exceed expectations.

Physical Demands: N/A

Location: El Segundo (offices M-F), downtown Los Angeles (Crypto.com Arena for Laker home games), and other occasional off-site events

Travel: Less than 10% of time

The pay range for this role is $105,000 - $125,000 annually. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, depth of experience and certifications. In addition to those factors, we consider the relative pay of our current employees in similar positions when making a final offer.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.