Design Manager – Experiential Graphic Design

Gensler’s brand design team changes how people experience their world. We’re fun, talented, passionate, and good at helping our clients enhance their brand and business performance. As a design firm, Gensler is committed to being client-first, diverse, exploratory and sustainable-minded.

Come join our Atlanta lifestyle studio as a project Design Manager for brand projects working with clients across industries and the world to express their story in multiple media from spaces and places to digital, print, signage and wayfinding. You’re a design facilitator who works with varied teams to hear what the client needs and achieve it brilliantly.

Candidates will be expected to provide and review work samples which speak to your experience and impact as a thinker and a doer. Send us a really great introduction of yourself that tells the story of how your efforts as a manager have delivered great results for your company, colleagues and clients.

Your Role

Gensler is searching for an experienced design manager with agility in facilitating all design phases of projects, with a focus on Experiential Brand Design: Environmental Graphics and Signage Wayfinding - from concept through implementation, delivering experiences on time, on budget, and above creative expectations. This hands-on role requires impeccable planning, strategic focus, and creative problem-solving to assure success for clients, internal teams, and freelancers. Your experience in a similar capacity has made you thrive with fast-paced timelines and excel at communication with a wide range of partners.

As a design manager at Gensler, you will have overall project responsibility for client satisfaction, quality control and financial performance.

This position will be involved in managing multiple brand design projects across Gensler’s service areas of: Strategic Brand Development, Visual Identity & Communications Design, and Environmental & Experiential Design. In this role, your tasks will include: budgeting, timeline management, staffing coordination, art production management, supporting the creative process through coordinating interdisciplinary teams, providing guidance, facilitating creative oversight, and mentoring the team including: environmental/experiential graphic designers, graphic designers, signage and wayfinding designers, experience strategists, and collaborative coordination with architects and interior designers.

What You Will Do

• Facilitate great design results by cultivating and maintaining positive client and internal team relationships
• Manage all phases of brand experience design projects, including project immersion, ideation, specification, design, development, and delivery
• Experience managing multidisciplinary project teams to evolve creative concepts into a clear set of deliverables; being agile to manage multiple projects, project types and range of project team sizes; direct teams typically comprise of environmental graphic designers, signage designers, graphic designers, as well as work closely with larger internal/external teams that may comprise of project architects, interior designers, job captains, etc
• Perform as main point of contact on projects for clients, vendors, and teams
• Create and communicate clear and attainable project objectives, requirements, work plans, timelines, budgets, and reporting metrics
• Manage day-to-day scheduling, progress budgets and internal finance reporting
• Coordinate with contractors, vendors, and consultants as needed, per project
• Support business development in preparation of project proposals; ensure projects conform to proposals and contracts
• Overall project responsibility for client management and development, client satisfaction, quality control, and financial performance of projects.
• Create and manage project scopes, budgets, work-plans and project financial performance
• Assist in the development of proposals and collaborate in the strategic development of new business
• Interact with internal team members, project managers from other areas, representatives from accounting and external vendors
• Experience creating and managing key project plans and documentation including scope, schedule, and estimates. Manage asset distribution and other project workflows.
• Proven ability to keep projects on track through clear task lists, issue tracking, status reports, and meeting notes
• Ability to embrace change and hyper-growth with nimble ease in adapting process and approach
• Manage teams and projects from kickoff through delivery with an emphasis on team leadership and client relationship building.
• Provide mentorship and guidance for your teams and other staff.
• Partner with architecture, interiors, and strategy studios and teams to provide visual design services
• Work with teams to prepare presentations, workshops, and related client interactions.
• Organize research and analysis around client issues, consumer behavior and design trends.
• Write and edit project communications for project teams such as scope and fee documents and meeting minutes. Develop and maintain work plans, budgets, and schedules
• Coordinate and manage client follow-up, deadlines, and internal and client meetings.
• Manage projects’ financial health and work closely with project accountant on invoicing and revenue projections. 

Your Qualifications

• 8-15 years’ experience in an agency, design consultancy, environmental graphic design, architecture/interiors or related field.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant discipline.
• Prior experience with brand studio within an architecture design firm is preferred
• Prior experience with an experience/marketing/retail agency, event marketing, tradeshows, or related experience engagement fields a plus
• Candidate will be expected to provide and review work samples which speak to your experience and impact.
• Strong organization, communication and relationship management skills; and team-oriented, knows how to balance demands for time and resources.
• Experience in marketing, writing and delivering proposals for project work.
• Experience with the entire project lifecycle from concept to delivery
• Experience leading, managing and mentoring multiple project teams
• Experience crafting and maintaining work plans and budgets
• Proven fiscal accountability and responsibility on projects
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Knowledge of project management tools and methods.
• Organized and detail-oriented, able to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Comfortable in internal and external client facing situations.
• Proven fiscal accountability and responsibility on projects
• Experience coordinating with multiple vendors to bring experiences to fruition
• Curious and solutions-oriented. You are a person who is not deterred when faced with the unknown. You proactively search for answers. 
• Comfortable with ambiguity, when things aren’t explicitly clear, you are able to find your way through research, asking questions and connecting the dots.
• Must have the ability to maintain existing client relationships serving as a trusted thought leader and solution provider
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Platform, and project management tools (i.e. Asana)

For consideration, please submit resume and relevant work samples. Submittals must include work samples for full consideration.

Life at Gensler

At Gensler, we are as committed to enjoying life as we are to delivering best-in-class design. From curated art exhibits to internal design competitions to “Well-being Week,” our offices reflect our people’s diverse interests.

We encourage every person at Gensler to lead a healthy and balanced life. Our comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, vision, disability, wellness programs, flex spending, paid holidays, and paid time off. We also offer a 401k, profit sharing, employee stock ownership, and twice annual bonus opportunities. Our annual base salary range has been established based on local markets.

As part of the firm’s commitment to licensure and professional development, Gensler offers reimbursement for certain professional licenses and associated renewals and exam fees. In addition, we reimburse tuition for certain eligible programs or classes. We view our professional development programs as strategic investments in our future.

#LI-SS1