Return to Corporate - Creative Director Consultant

Return to Corporate - Creative Director Consultant Basic information

Job Name:

Return to Corporate - Creative Director Consultant

Location:

New York/OVA

Line of Business:

Job Function:

Investor Services

Date:

Thursday, January 22, 2026

This role is part of our returnship (Return to Corporate) program, designed to provide experienced professionals re-entering the workforce with an opportunity to re-engage, refresh, and contribute meaningfully. Participants will receive mentorship, onboarding, and exposure to senior stakeholders. Typically, Return to Corporate consultants are on a 6 month contract and work part time, 3 days a week, in our DC or NYC office.

This role is open to candidates in Washington DC or New York City.

The Creative Director Consultant is responsible for overseeing and implementing Carlyle’s visual identity across all external marketing and communications channels. Reporting to the Global Head of Content, this consulting opportunity focuses on how Carlyle’s brand is expressed visually, ensuring consistency, clarity, and integrity across touchpoints.

With a firmwide brand refresh launching shortly, alongside a new website redesign, a refreshed content strategy, new sponsor ships, and growing engagement in the wealth channel, this role is critical to advancing and protecting Carlyle’s brand.

The Creative Director Consultant will assume full ownership of Carlyle’s visual system, art direction, and design standards. While the Head of Content delivers the firm’s content strategy and leads the content marketing team in execution, the Creative Director defines how the brand is conveyed visually and ensures that execution aligns with Carlyle’s values, audience expectations, and regulatory requirements.

This consulting opportunity is designed for an experienced creative leader returning to a corporate environment in a part-time capacity, bringing senior judgment, hands-on art direction, and disciplined brand stewardship.

The ideal candidate will complement the reactive, tactical responsibilities of this role with a proactive, owners’ mindset that brings structure and governance to our visual identity – while also providing art direction when needed, as well as delivering strong brand judgment and visual storytelling skills.

Core competencies include:

• Disciplined, detail-oriented approach to design governance.
• Clear point of view on creative quality and consistency.
• Ability to translate complex business and investment concepts into refined visual expressions.
• Collaborative mindset with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.

Please attach a short cover letter explaining your career break and why you are interested in getting back to a corporate setting.

Brand Stewardship and Visual Identity

• Own and protect Carlyle’s global visual identity following the transition from external brand partners.
• Serve as the firm’s internal authority on brand expression, art direction, and design quality across all marketing and communications.
• Ensure consistent application of the brand across regions, channels, and audiences, including institutional, wealth, and retirement-oriented communications.
• Provide guidance and approvals on creative execution to maintain alignment with Carlyle’s brand standards and editorial voice.

Design System and UX Standards

• Lead the development and documentation of a comprehensive design system, expanding beyond the existing style guide.
• Define and document UX standards and visual patterns to ensure consistency, accessibility, and usability across digital properties.
• Partner with digital marketing, video, website, and technology teams to embed brand standards into workflows and platforms.
• Ensure the design system evolves thoughtfully as business needs, audiences, and channels expand.

Creative Direction and Execution

• Provide hands-on art direction and creative leadership across priority initiatives, balancing direct contribution with review and guidance.
• Set creative direction for major firm initiatives, including brand campaigns, website experiences, advertising, sponsor ships, and flagship content series.
• Translate strategic objectives and messaging into clear…