Design Manager, Visual Merchandising and Experiential Design

Industrial Color is looking for a highly creative and skilled Design Manager, Visual Merchandising and Experiential Design, to play a pivotal role in translating brand narratives into compelling physical retail experiences and innovative pop-ups and events activations for our luxury beauty client. This role will primarily support the Visual Merchandising and Experiential Design teams by developing ideas for all merchandising expressions, creating conceptual mockups, detailed renders, and preparing presentations.

The Design Manager will act as a crucial liaison between creative strategy and the development and cascade of directives and guidelines to markets, ensuring seamless alignment with marketing messaging and successful adaptation of guidelines with regional teams. This role operates in a hybrid model with several days per week spent onsite at our client in Midtown Manhattan.

• Concept Development & Visualization:Contribute to the ideation and development of innovative visual merchandising concepts and experiential design strategies that elevate brand presence and drive consumer engagement across various retail touchpoints.
• Creative Execution & Prototyping:Develop and execute detailed mock-ups, high-fidelity renders, and technical drawings for proposed merchandising solutions and experiential activations, ensuring design integrity and practical feasibility.
• Presentation & Communication:Prepare and deliver clear and engaging presentations to internal stakeholders, including marketing teams and zone partners, effectively communicating design intent and strategic rationale.
• Liaison & Alignment:Serve as the primary liaison between creative strategy and concept development, working closely with Project Managers in Visual Merchandising and Experiential Design to translate strategic vision into actionable directives and guidelines.
• Marketing Integration:Ensure all visual merchandising and experiential designs are fully aligned with marketing strategies and messaging, effectively supporting campaigns and product launches.
• Global & Local Adaptation Support:Collaborate with regional/zone teams to support the adaptation and localization of global visual merchandising guidelines and experiential concepts, ensuring relevance and impact across diverse markets.
• Guideline & Directive Development:Assist in the establishment, development, and maintenance of comprehensive visual merchandising guidelines, directives, and planograms to ensure consistent brand representation and execution excellence.
• Vendor Communication:Support coordination with external vendors and production partners to ensure high-quality execution of merchandising elements and experiential activations for strategic initiatives.

• Creative Vision:Demonstrated ability to conceptualize and represent engaging visual merchandising and experiential design ideas that capture brand essence.
• Strategic Support:Capacity to understand business objectives and marketing strategies, translating them into effective design solutions.
• Strong Communication:Excellent ability to articulate design concepts clearly and effectively communicate with cross-functional partners.
• Collaborative Team Player:Proven ability to foster strong relationships and work effectively with internal teams (marketing, sales, zones, creative) and external partners.
• Organizational & Detail-Oriented:Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple projects efficiently, adhering to deadlines in a dynamic environment.
• Problem-Solving:Proactive and resourceful in addressing design and implementation challenges.

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Architecture, Environmental Design, Visual Merchandising, or a related creative field.
• 4-5 years of total experience in visual merchandising, retail design, or experiential marketing, preferably within a beauty, fashion, or luxury brand environment.
• A strong portfolio showcasing visual merchandising concepts, experiential designs, and project executions.
• Proficiency in Sketch Up and other 3D modeling software, as well as 2D design software (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite - Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop).
• Experience with creating presentation decks.
• Understanding of retail environments, consumer behavior, and brand storytelling through physical spaces.

The anticipated salary range for this role is $95,000 - $110,000 annually. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience, and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

We offer a competitive benefits package including major medical, dental and vision insurance, FSA, HSA, commuter benefits, and employee discounts.

Industrial Color is a division of CoCreativ, a family of integrated creative production companies that includes Globaledit, and Smashbox Studios. We partner with top brands, agencies, and creative professionals…