[Hiring] Illustration Assistant @Hadley Designs

Role Description

At Hadley Designs, we are seeking an Illustration Assistant to work hand-in-hand with our Chief Creative Officer, taking her creative direction and carrying it through to finished, production-ready product art. This is a maker's seat, not a template-and-layout role. If you love to draw, have a genuine eye for cute, playful, kid-friendly design, and want to grow your craft inside a brand that ships beautiful products every month, this is a rare opportunity to build your portfolio while doing work that reaches millions of families.

Key Responsibilities

• Original Illustration & Artwork:
  • Create new artwork and complete sets in Hadley Designs' established style across our product lines.
  • Draw and illustrate original elements like characters, motifs, patterns, and scenes that fit our cute, kid-friendly aesthetic.
• Product Design Execution:
  • Turn the CCO's concepts and creative direction into finished, production-ready product designs.
  • Carry a design from initial handoff through final build-out without kicking work back up the chain.
• Creative Production Support:
  • Own the execution offload (variations, building out a design across a full set, and file prep) that frees the CCO's hands.
  • Prepare print and production files to spec, and build mockups and product previews for listings.
• Style Consistency:
  • Keep every piece on-style and on-brand across the full product set.
  • Maintain the living style-reference so the look stays consistent as the catalog grows.

How Success Is Measured

• First-pass approval rate: the share of deliverables the CCO accepts with no major rework.
• New original art created: the volume of original artwork generated to feed the product pipeline.
• Sets / SKUs completed: finished design sets shipped per month.
• On-time delivery: the share of assigned pieces delivered by the agreed deadline.
• Framework-to-finish independence: the share of projects carried from CCO handoff to production-ready without kicking work back up.

Qualifications

• A portfolio of original illustration work that shows a cute, playful, kid-friendly or product-design sensibility.
• Working proficiency in Adobe Illustrator for native illustration (not just file handling or layout).
• Ability to match and extend an existing art style, completing a set so new pieces sit naturally alongside the originals.
• Strong ability to take written and verbal creative direction and turn it into finished work.
• Reliability on deadlines while managing several pieces at once.

Requirements

• Experience preparing print / production files to spec.
• Familiarity with the children's, educational, or consumer-product space.
• Comfort with lightweight project tools (Notion, ClickUp) and file organization.

Benefits

• Impact: Your work will directly impact how families experience learning through the Hadley Designs brand.
• Culture: Join a passionate, mission-driven team that values trust, creativity, and collaboration.
• Flexibility: Enjoy the freedom of a remote role with flexible working hours.
• Growth: Learn directly from our Chief Creative Officer and build a portfolio of shipped, real-world product work.
• Remote-first work environment.
• Paid time off and holidays.
• Access to learning resources and professional development.
• Free access to Hadley Designs products.
• Regular interaction with leadership, including the CEO and CCO.
• Stability from a decade as a family-founded, mission-driven brand.