Lead Graphic Designer

Pretty Isn’t Good Enough: Your portfolio proves you know how to take a marketing idea and turn it into design that grabs attention, communicates the message fast, and gets people to act. You know how to lead and mentor a team of designers, raise the visual bar, and keep projects moving without sacrificing quality.

Most importantly, you understand this:

Great design isn’t just decoration. It’s salesmanship in pixels. 

If that sounds like you, and you’re excited by the idea of raising the creative standard across a fast-growing health and wellness brand, you might just be the Lead Graphic Designer AlgaeCal is looking for.

This job will give you ALL the feels:

At AlgaeCal, we’re driven by a single idea. To end the fear of bone loss. In the United States, an estimated 54 million people have low bone density. 

The good news? AlgaeCal has the world’s only clinically-backed natural solution to this problem. We give hope to everyone worried about bone loss. If that excites you, you’ll find no better place to continue your career than at AlgaeCal.
Here’s what you’ll be up to in this busy role:

• Helping talented designers become even better. You’ll set the standard, give clear feedback, and make sure the work keeps improving.
• Making sure every piece of creative is on-brand, easy to understand, and built to get a result. Because at AlgaeCal, “looks nice” is never the finish line.
• Taking the lead on major campaigns, product launches, website projects, and other big creative initiatives from the first idea right through to the finished work.
• Reviewing creative before it goes out the door and making sure the feedback process is clear, useful, and fast. No vague comments. No endless revision loops.
• Setting clear goals for the design team so everyone knows what great looks like, what matters most, and where their time should be going.
• Meeting regularly with your designers to coach them, support them, challenge them, and help them grow.
• Working closely with our Project Management Team to keep priorities straight, workloads realistic, and deadlines on track without letting quality slip.
• Looking at how our creative actually performs and asking the important questions. Did it get attention? Did people understand it? Did it work?
• Keeping up with new design trends, tools, and AI technology, then using the good stuff and ignoring the gimmicks.
  

This job might be for you if you’ve got…

• 5+ years of professional graphic design experience and a portfolio that makes us say “holy smokes we HAVE to talk!”
• Proven experience mentoring designers. You know how to give useful feedback, raise the bar, and get great work out of people without becoming the creative tyrant no one wants to work with.
• Serious Adobe Creative Suite skills, especially Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects. Premiere Pro is a nice bonus. You’ll also need to know Figma inside out and back to front.
• A strong background in digital marketing and e-commerce. You’re not just a designer. You understand that your work has to help sell. Sales pages, emails, paid ads, landing pages, funnels... none of this should be foreign territory. If you need to Google “CTR,” this probably isn’t the job for you.
• The ability to design across pretty much everything we throw at you, including ads, websites, email, social, print, packaging, presentations, and other marketing collateral.
• Experience using AI creative tools to work faster, explore ideas, and improve output without making everything look like it was made by AI.
• E-commerce, Amazon, or marketplace experience gets you bonus points.

Now, time to be honest: is this really you? If you’re nodding your head and feeling that flutter of excitement, then we can’t wait to meet you.

Qualities That Make You An Ideal Teammate 

At AlgaeCal we’re going to insist that you have these 3 qualities:

• You’re humble, you put the team and others’ needs ahead of your own
• You’re hungry to learn more
• You’re people smart, in the sense that you’re a great teammate

The truth is, if you don’t have these qualities you won’t last long at AlgaeCal. So if you’re missing one of them, be honest. Save yourself a lot of headaches and skip to a job posting that is a better fit for you.

What Will You Earn?
Let’s discuss your salary during the interview process, but know that we’re a generous team and we know how to reward top talent!

You’ll also enjoy the following benefits:

• A generous healthcare package
• Monthly team events and activities
• Flexible Stat Holidays with the option to bank days for later use
• Weekly team lunches
• Casual dress code
• Incredible dog friendly, Yaletown office one block from SkyTrain
• Professional Development: You’ll get the opportunity to attend professional development conferences or workshops that will enhance your skills, expand your network, and drive your career forward with our support! And of course, we’ll cover your fees, accommodation, travel, meals, and any related materials or resources.

And above all, you’ll join a team that you’ll never want to leave. Culture is everything to us. Yes, we work extremely hard to change as many people’s lives as possible. But we know how to have fun and reward ourselves too.

How To Apply

So, do you have what it takes to become the next member of team AlgaeCal?

Job opportunities like this don’t come along often, and we’ve got a lot to offer our successful applicant. So, to make sure our future Lead Graphic Designer is the real-deal, will be a great fit, and will thrive at AlgaeCal, we ask a little more than your run-of-the-mill job application:

If this sounds like a position for you, please respond to this advertisement with your resume and cover letter. Please, read carefully:

1. Write a cover letter addressing:

1. Why are you the best Lead Graphic Designer for this role? Give quantifiable examples of related achievements and experience.
2. Describe why you fit perfectly with our values. Read them here: http://shorturl.at/lptFT
3. What's the toughest challenge you’ve ever overcome in your life? How did you overcome it?
4. What are the last three books you’ve read?
5. What do you do for fun?

2. Explain what you’re doing now for a job:

1.  If you don’t have one, explain why.
2.  If you have one, explain why you’re looking elsewhere.

3. Upload your cover letter, resume, and link to your portfolio

1. Ensure that your cover letter and resume are saved and sent as one file.

Yes, our hiring process is challenging, but it’s our way of selecting the best--and your way of ensuring your AlgaeCal teammates are tops.

Click the “Apply Now” button on this page and upload your cover letter and resume.

***Note: Please include your cover letter WITH your resume in one document. Applications without a cover letter will not be read! Include the URL to your portfolio***

We are looking to hire as soon as we find the right person, so act quickly and you can also expect a prompt response.