[Hiring] Senior Brand Graphic Designer @Foundant + smartsimple

Role Description

• Establish and maintain Foundant’s brand framework — color, logo usage, typography, photography, iconography, and illustration — as a documented, living system rather than a static style guide.
• Define how the brand flexes across client segments (community foundations, corporate and private foundations, nonprofits, grantmakers, government, and education) without losing a single, unified identity.
• Set product-level visual standards across Foundant’s product lines — CommunitySuite, GLM, SLM, SmartSimple, and GivingData — that stay recognizably connected to the parent brand.
• Maintain and evolve a scalable brand architecture that can absorb future M&A activity — defining how acquired products, teams, and sub-brands get integrated into the Foundant brand hierarchy.
• Partner with marketing, product, and sales leadership to translate business and positioning strategy into visual standards other teams can apply with confidence.
• Build guidelines, templates, and components that non-designers across the company can use correctly without needing design support for every asset.
• Personally produce brand and marketing creative — campaigns, newsletter templates, content assets, sales collateral, web assets, product launch materials, event and trade show materials, and social content in a high-volume environment while maintaining a high standard of quality.
• Use generative AI creative tools to enhance speed and volume of creative output while still applying the judgment needed to keep the work distinctly Foundant.
• Build and maintain a library of reusable templates and components that speed up production without sacrificing quality or consistency.
• Direct photography and illustration style and execution, whether shot, sourced, or AI-generated.
• Scope, brief, and quality-check work from external freelancers or agencies when volume exceeds what one person can produce — this role decides when and how to use outside help and holds the standards on what is produced.

Qualifications

• 7-10 years in brand/graphic design, including direct ownership of brand systems or style guides — not just executing someone else’s.
• A portfolio that shows both strategic thinking (frameworks, systems, guidelines) and polished, shipped production work.
• Real, hands-on fluency with AI creative tools (e.g., Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, and similar), integrated into a professional creative practice — not just casual experimentation.
• Experience designing across multiple client segments, sub-brands, or product lines while keeping a cohesive identity.
• Strong command of Adobe Creative Suite and Figma.
• Has worked as a strategic collaborator to cross-functional partners to deliver work that drives business results.
• Comfort operating as a creative team of one: able to set priorities, drive creative strategy and execution work, and know when and how to bring in outside help.
• Experience building or evolving brand architecture through M&A or multi-brand growth — and the ability to execute on a decision to merge, sub-brand, or retire.
• A strategist that is genuinely energized by doing both brand strategy and execution — defining the frameworks and owning the tools to deliver amazing work.
• Experience briefing and managing freelancers or agencies.
• Experience designing for the social good sector preferred.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits, including tuition and lifestyle reimbursements, and bespoke mindfulness and fitness initiatives.
• Flexible PTO policy, allowing you to manage your time in a way that supports your personal well-being and professional success.
• Commitment to professional and personal development, with opportunities to collaborate across teams and gain exposure to diverse ideas, expertise, and projects.
• Opportunities for career growth within a larger organization, including exploring new roles, leadership opportunities, or shifting to different departments.
• Autonomy and responsibility, empowering you to approach your work creatively and independently.
• Employee recognition as a core part of our culture, ensuring that great work is acknowledged.