Associate Director, Brand Design

Company Description

CoLab is a fully integrated, cross-discipline team that provides best-in-class services in a fluid and modular way. With our clients at the center, we create brand movement at the speed of people’s lives by connecting real-time data with world-class creative, content, and media in service of growth and Return on investment.

CoLab is a “power of one” solution, encompassing data, media, and production. By drawing from across the vast Publicis Groupe network, we are uniquely positioned to deliver innovation and specialized skills to our clients, as well as enriching opportunities and inclusive benefits to our employees. We pride ourselves on combining the atmosphere of a startup company with the stability and experience of a global leader.

Job Description

As Associate Director on the Brand Design team, you are the external lead for your assigned brand initiative(s). You are responsible for driving projects forward, which will include connecting dots across teams, rallying resources, managing client expectations, and ensuring seamless collaboration across agency disciplines.

The Associate Director is responsible for owning the short- and long-term success of brand initiatives to which you are assigned. You will work closely with disciplinary leads across Account, creative, production, and agency operations to launch brand solutions that directly serve our clients’ business objectives.

The Associate Director is a trusted advisor to clients and key internal leaders, responsible for translating complex branding challenges into actionable creative and operational solutions. You will balance big-picture thinking with executional excellence, ensuring all initiatives align with brand objectives, enterprise level priorities, .

Responsibilities

Ensure a seamless Creative Team workflow by structuring effective agency resource planning, articulating business and creative context, and streamlining decision-making to protect the integrity of Enterprise, Brand and Executive level project deliverables.

Lead the development and implementation of branding initiatives, helping to shape brand narratives, architecture, and strategic platforms that guide creative development.

Champion and help guide the development of brand guidelines, toolkits, and playbooks that ensure consistency across campaigns, channels, and internal and external teams.

Drive team decision-making and act as the central hub for client insights and information, ensuring creative development strategically aligns back to project and enterprise level business objectives.

Demonstrate the ability to be an effective dot connector by identifying challenges and opportunities early and ensuring proactive solutions that enhance brand consistency and project success.

Foster strong client relationships, building trust through clear communication, collaboration, and a results-driven approach—anchored in a deep understanding of brand strategy and overall operations of your working creative team.

Support the management of the annual scope of work for your assigned initiatives, ensuring that team resourcing, agency fees, and work output align with agency leadership, brand priorities, and client expectations.

Provide daily oversight for a skilled branding team with a steady volume of quick turn projects, ensuring executional excellence, on-brand delivery, and a culture of collaboration and accountability.

Provide leadership and oversight for mid- and junior-level team members, delivering both daily guidance and long-term career development support, particularly in brand stewardship and cross-functional project leadership.

Qualifications

5–6 years of experience in brand management or a related field, within a Creative Agency.

Proven ability to lead and support brand development initiatives.

Experience managing brand assets, guidelines, and multi-channel deliverables with a strong understanding of brand governance.

Skilled in navigating complex client organizations, engaging senior stakeholders with confidence and clarity, and reinforcing brand strategy through every interaction.

Experience leading cross-functional teams to deliver high-impact branding and creative solutions across digital, experiential, and traditional platforms.

Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate brand and business needs into clear, actionable directives.

Passion for brand building and a deep understanding of how strategic branding drives long-term business success and consumer engagement.

Additional Information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer / temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact USMSTACompliance@publicis.com. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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