Brand Manager for Top Law Firm

Top NY Law Firm - Downtown. 5 days in office.

About the Role

The Manager – Branding & Creative leads the Law Firm’s Branding & Creative group and is responsible for the quality, consistency and effective delivery of creative work across the Firm. The role provides creative direction and brand stewardship, leads and develops a team of creative professionals, and ensures the Firm’s visual identity is applied thoughtfully and consistently across print, digital, presentation, multimedia and experiential materials. The position serves as an adviser and brand ambassador to lawyers and business services professionals throughout the Firm, helping internal clients identify effective creative solutions to support their objectives. The Manager is also a working creative professional who will lead high-impact projects while providing broader direction, review and quality control across the group.

Responsibilities

Essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Lead and manage the Branding & Creative team, including senior, mid-level and junior creative professionals, as well as contingent and external creative resources.
• Provide regular creative direction, coaching, feedback and professional development to team members, fostering a collaborative culture that emphasizes creativity, accountability, knowledge sharing, high quality standards and continuous improvement.
• Lead and execute high-impact creative projects, including:
• firmwide campaigns and communications;
• major publication- and event-related visual identities;
• digital and multimedia initiatives;
• special branding and visual identity projects.
• Serve as a trusted adviser to internal clients, helping to clarify objectives, evaluate creative approaches and recommend solutions to support business and communications needs.
• Build strong working relationships with colleagues across Business Development, Communications, Events and Recruiting, as well as with lawyers, senior business services professionals and other stakeholders throughout the Firm.
• Steward and evolve the Firm’s visual brand in coordination with Firm leaders, ensuring the brand remains distinctive, relevant and appropriate for the Firm and its audiences.
• Oversee the development, maintenance and appropriate use of Firm brand assets and systems, including:
• brand guidelines and visual standards;
• PowerPoint and Word templates;
• photography and image libraries;
• digital asset management resources;
• social media and digital templates;
• Take a proactive role in project assignment, prioritization and workload management across the team, balancing deadlines, complexity, skill sets and available resources.
• Evaluate and improve creative workflows, project intake, prioritization, resource allocation and related processes to increase efficiency, transparency and quality.
• Oversee contingent creative resources and external agencies and vendors, including assignment of appropriate work, quality review and monitoring of service levels.
• Proactively evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-enabled creative tools, and identify appropriate opportunities to improve creative quality, efficiency, scalability and ways of working while maintaining Firm standards.
• Support collaboration with international offices as needed and identify opportunities to extend the influence and consistency of the Firm’s brand in partnership with local teams.

Qualifications

• Strong creative judgment and demonstrated ability to develop and direct sophisticated visuals across print, presentation, digital, multimedia and experiential formats.
• Significant experience leading, mentoring and developing creative professionals, including providing constructive feedback and supporting high levels of performance.
• Professional-level proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office products, including PowerPoint and Word, with the ability to execute high-quality creative work.
• Strong understanding of brand systems, visual identity, typography, layout, imagery, information hierarchy and communications design.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to prioritize competing demands, manage complex workloads and deliver high-quality work in a fast-paced professional environment.
• Experience managing external agencies, vendors and other creative resources.
• High degree of professionalism, discretion and sound judgment.

Required Skills

• Professional-level proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office products, including PowerPoint and Word, with the ability to execute high-quality creative work.
• Strong understanding of brand systems, visual identity, typography, layout, imagery, information hierarchy and communications design.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to prioritize competing demands, manage complex workloads and deliver high-quality work in a fast-paced professional environment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience managing external agencies, vendors and other creative resources.
• Experience within a law firm or other professional services environment preferred.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Marketing, Communications or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Approximately 10 or more years of relevant professional experience, including substantial experience leading creative teams, advising senior stakeholders and independently managing a creative function or significant area of responsibility.
• Experience within a law firm or other professional services environment preferred.
• Portfolio submission required during the application process.