Design Director

Job Description

Shape beautifully crafted work in our New York studio. We’re looking for a hands‑on Design Director to support our Creative Director and lead day‑to‑day design delivery from our Manhattan studio, helping set a high creative standard across the team.

You’re a natural leader: strategic, insightful and creatively driven. You see the potential in every brief and the opportunity in every constraint. You bring calm confidence to the room, balancing clarity with care and guiding the team to deliver their best work. You inspire belief – in the work, in the process and in the people around you. Your vision is sharp, your instincts are trusted and your leadership lifts everything it touches.

• Creative thinking & crafting excellence You set the creative standard for your team, guiding and shaping the work to meet JDO’s high bar for originality, relevance and beauty. You push for design that provokes emotion, inspires belief and holds true to the brand’s purpose. You inspire confident, strategic use of AI across the team, knowing where it adds value and where human creativity must lead.
• Strategic & brand alignment You connect the creative to the bigger picture. You understand your client’s business, the audience’s mindset and the brief’s intent, and you use that knowledge to shape bold, brand‑right solutions. You challenge assumptions thoughtfully and champion clarity throughout.
• Studio process & project delivery You lead multiple work streams with confidence and care. You make informed choices around project structure and resource allocation, based on clear understanding of brief complexity, timings and budgets. You work closely with account and production teams to keep work flowing and teams supported.
• Team collaboration & contribution You help create a studio environment that fosters bravery, clarity and growth. You contribute with presence, guide with generosity and ensure conversations stay constructive and focused. You help your teams feel energised, empowered and part of something bigger.
• Leadership & mentoring You coach and support others by modelling high standards and holding space for learning. You give clear, thoughtful feedback and help people grow through clarity, care and stretch. Your presence brings confidence to clients, teams and peers alike.
• Commercial acumen You take ownership of project scope, creative viability and team resourcing. You balance creative ambition with sustainable delivery: ensuring time is tracked, hours are respected and decisions support long‑term value. You guide others in understanding how commercial clarity empowers creative freedom.

Role is based in Manhattan. Ideally full‑time (40 hours, 3 days per week in the studio).

• Have significant experience in and a passion for personal care packaging design
• Have a strong portfolio across global FMCG and personal care packaging
• Be a team builder, able to mentor more junior team members and bring clarity to others
• Work with pace without losing sight of the bigger picture
• Have 6+ years in agency environments delivering across categories and multiple work streams

We’re looking for a hands‑on Design Director to work closely with our Creative Director, supporting creative leadership and driving high‑quality design delivery in our New York studio. If that sounds like a good fit, we’d love to hear from you.

Please note:

No recruiters please. Regretfully, we can’t always respond to every applicant, but we do try.

From our studio in midtown Manhattan, just steps from the Empire State Building, we partner with clients across North America. As part of this small but ambitious team, you’ll help shape the culture of the studio, building smart ways of working, setting a high creative bar and bringing our values of bravery, generosity and clarity into everything we do. We’re part of JDO’s international network of designers, strategists and client partnership experts, working with some of the world’s most loved and influential brands.

Our work spans brand and creative strategy, packaging and product design, innovation and sustainability, and…