Head of Brand Studio

About the Role:

We’re looking for an inspiring, visionary leader for our small but mighty in-house Brand Studio. This is a unique opportunity for a creative powerhouse who thrives in a fast-moving, high-impact environment—someone who can set the creative vision, build and implement a scalable approach to brand design, and empower a talented team while staying hands-on in the work. 

As the leader of our Brand Studio team, you’ll oversee the creation of high-impact creative across a range of marketing deliverables—including our website, brand advertising, social campaigns, digital displays, email, and landing pages. You’ll also work closely with our Product Design team to ensure our brand is well represented in our product experiences, with a particular focus on collaboration with our Growth Design team. You’ll guide your team to produce work that is not only visually stunning but also strategically effective, driving engagement and brand affinity.

We need someone with exceptional taste, craft, and leadership skills who can build collaborative partnerships with marketing, product, and founders to elevate our brand. You’ll foster a culture of creative excellence, and ensure our work is bold, distinctive, and unmistakably Gusto. You’ll also wear your business hat, measuring impact and ensuring that everything we create is not just beautiful but also moves the needle.

This role is empowered by our Chief Design Officer, Amy Thibodeau.

About the Team:

At Gusto, we believe a cohesive brand is a strategic advantage. We have an opportunity to build a world-class brand that reflects our deep love for small businesses, and we’re looking for someone to lead this effort. You’ll be responsible for defining and maintaining a cohesive brand identity that aligns with our brand and company strategy, and ensure that every design choice augments and reinforces who we are and how we want to show up in the world.

If you love executing, leading with vision, and building a design system that makes every interaction with our brand feel cohesive and powerful, we’d love to meet you.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Set the Creative Vision: Define and evolve our brand’s visual identity, voice, and storytelling across all platforms with a focus on our owned web properties like Gusto.com, and marketing channels  
• Lead & Inspire: Manage, mentor, and empower a team of designers, writers, and creatives, fostering a culture of collaboration, feedback, and innovation.
• Ensure Brand Consistency: Oversee creative execution across website, digital, tv, social, product marketing, and events, ensuring every touchpoint is cohesive and impactful.
• Be Hands-On: While leading strategy, roll up your sleeves when needed—whether it's concepting, reviewing work, or jumping in to refine a campaign.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with Marketing, Product, and Gusto Senior Leadership to align creative strategy with business objectives and internal client needs.
• Operationally Excellent: Deliver high quality creative on time, at a high velocity, aligned with stakeholder expectations and briefs.
• Client Service Mindset: Ensure internal teams—our clients—feel heard, supported, and excited by the creative process and outcomes.
• Approve Final Assets: Provide clear, high-quality creative direction and sign off on final deliverables to maintain brand integrity.
• Measure Creative Impact: Define and track KPIs for brand and creative success, ensuring we’re delivering measurable results.
• Drive Innovation: Stay ahead of design, storytelling, and brand trends, pushing creative boundaries while maintaining brand integrity.

Here’s what we're looking for:

• 15+ years of experience in brand design, advertising, or creative direction, preferably in startups, tech, or consumer brands.
• Proven track record of leading and growing creative teams, with strong management and mentorship skills.
• Expert-level design and brand craft—you have exceptional taste and can articulate what makes great creative work great.
• Experience working across multiple mediums (digital, video, print, social, experiential, etc.).
• Deep understanding of brand strategy, storytelling, and user experience.
• Ability to balance creativity with business impact, aligning creative work with company objectives.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills—you know how to advocate for great creative while bringing people along.
• Resilient, adaptable, and excited to thrive in a fast-paced, get-stuff-done startup environment.
• Experience with TV advertising, commercial production, or high-impact brand campaigns is a plus.
• Background in design systems and product marketing creative is preferred.
• Knowledge of growth marketing and performance-driven creative, and familiarity with AI and emerging creative technologies is also a plus.