Design Director Watertown, MA

Department: Creative Studio

Reports to: Senior Director, Creative & Content

Salary Range: 160,000-182,500

Summary: ButcherBox is entering an exciting new chapter. As we introduce a new brand identity and expand how the brand shows up across campaigns, packaging, retail, digital experiences, photography, video, and culture, we are looking for a Design Director to help bring that vision to life. Reporting to the Senior Director, Creative & Content, the Design Director will lead the day-to-day design discipline within the Creative Studio. This person will guide and develop the design team, establish effective systems and practices, and ensure that our identity is expressed consistently and thoughtfully across every consumer touchpoint. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone with exceptional taste, strong conceptual thinking, and experience creating design‑led consumer brands. The right person has helped build brands known for pushing creative boundaries and understands how typography, photography, packaging, composition, and craft work together to create a distinctive and recognizable brand—and how to help a team deliver that standard consistently. The Design Director will remain close to the work: directing, designing, refining, and solving problems alongside the team. They will bring the focus and depth of design leadership needed to turn an ambitious creative vision into a distinctive and enduring brand experience.

What You’ll Do: Translate the ButcherBox creative vision and new brand identity into clear, flexible, and scalable design systems. Guide design development across integrated campaigns, digital advertising, email, web, social, video, out-of-home, print, partnerships, and activations. Extend central brand and campaign ideas across consumer touchpoints while maintaining a cohesive and recognizable visual identity. Lead the application of the brand across packaging, product labels, and retail, with an understanding of hierarchy, navigation, appetite appeal, claims, and shelf presence. Help shape photography and visual storytelling across food, product, lifestyle, people, farms, and animals. Develop creative treatments and visual references, participate in selecting production partners, and provide confident art direction on set. Provide clear, actionable direction as work moves from early exploration through final execution. Manage, mentor, and develop designers across experience levels, helping them strengthen their conceptual thinking, craft, and visual judgment. Build a collaborative critique culture rooted in trust, curiosity, directness, and a shared commitment to exceptional work. Collaborate closely with copy, video, production, marketing, growth, product, external agencies, and other cross‑functional partners. Present and explain design thinking clearly during creative reviews and cross‑functional conversations. Remain hands‑on by concepting, designing, refining, and contributing directly to high‑priority work when needed. What You Bring 7+ years of relevant experience in brand design, art direction, or a related creative discipline. Substantial experience within a leading branding, design, or creative agency; additional in‑house consumer‑brand experience is strongly preferred. Experience building or evolving distinctive consumer brands, ideally within food, beverage, wellness, retail, or another consumer-focused category. A portfolio demonstrating exceptional taste, conceptual thinking, brand-building, and meaningful personal contribution to the work. The ability to translate a central brand idea across campaigns, packaging, digital experiences, photography, retail, and other consumer touchpoints. Meaningful packaging experience and an understanding of how design performs in a competitive retail environment. Experience developing photography concepts and providing art direction during pre‑production and on set. Experience formally leading, managing, or mentoring a team of designers. Proven ability to draw outstanding conceptual and design work from team members without taking ownership away from them. Strong knowledge of typography, composition, image‑making, identity systems, packaging, and production. Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and fluency with contemporary design tools and workflows. Exceptional written, verbal, visual, and presentation skills. The ability to balance high creative standards with real timelines, budgets, production requirements, and business priorities. How You WorkYou have exceptional visual instincts and can clearly explain the thinking behind them. You are exacting about quality but generous and collaborative in how you lead people. You enjoy being close to the work and are willing to step in when a project needs your craft or experience. You know how to elevate work while helping the person creating it maintain ownership. You value direct communication, curiosity, and low‑ego problem‑solving. You can work within real constraints without allowing the work to become ordinary. Health: medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, an employer‑funded HSA, and short & long‑term disability benefits Financial: 401(k) with generous employer match Annual bonus based on company performance Time off: unlimited paid time off policy, 20 weeks parental leave, an executive team that encourages a good work/life balance Personal growth: Annual Learning & Development stipend, and access to a range of personal and professional coaching solutions through BetterUp Food: a free Custom Classic ButcherBox each month and weekly lunch reimbursement Others: reimbursement for wellness activities, an exceptional EAP, fertility benefits, life insurance and more ButcherBox is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive environment at all steps in the hiring process. Every qualified applicant will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We are happy provide reasonable accommodations during our hiring process. Please click here if you need to request an accommodation for your interview. ButcherBox does not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in any part of our hiring process. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.