VP of Design

On Board Experiential Marketing

On Board Experiential (OBE) is an award-winning, full-service, experience-led agency that creates meaningful brand experiences worldwide. We work out of our homes and physical offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and NYC, or wherever our adventures take us! Our clients include Nike, Meta, JPMorgan Chase, The Infatuation, Stripe, and OpenAI, to name a few. We know, "Cool, cool, but what's it like to work at OBE?" We thought you'd never ask. Event Marketer has recognized OBE as one of the best places to work in events and well, we couldn't agree more.

The most important part of our business is our people. They are hardworking, brave and make magic happen on the regular. But under each majestic exterior is a human deserving of a healthy work-life balance. That's why we believe in recovery days, happy hours, friendly but competitive fitness challenges and company offsites.

We conduct open meetings to facilitate discussions that heal, inspire, and bring us closer. We encourage each other to bring our whole selves to work. We want to hear about your lived experiences and unique perspectives. We don't just want you to be unapologetically you: it's part of the job description.

We are considering candidates for any of our office locations: New York, San Francisco (Mill Valley), and Los Angeles.

Summary of Position

The Vice President, Design is a senior creative leader responsible for elevating OBE's design excellence, shepherding all design disciplines, and overseeing the development and delivery of world-class experiential, spatial, and integrated design work. Reporting directly to the Chief Creative Officer, the Vice President, Design leads a multidisciplinary team of designers, including 3D/environmental specialists, graphic and UX/UI designers, and visual storytellers to craft immersive, culturally relevant brand experiences that compete at the level of top design agencies.

As both a visionary and operational leader, this individual ensures the design function is both innovative and strategically grounded. They bring deep expertise in environmental + 3D design, creative technology and interactive experience integration, and design execution (including fabrication, technical requirements, compliance best practices, etc.).

They also have a proven ability to lead large, high-performing creative teams, and an extensive network of freelance and specialist talent nationwide. The Vice President, Design strengthens our design brand, inspires creative ambition across the organization, and ensures every project reflects extraordinary craft, clarity, and cultural insight.

Essential Job Functions

Design Leadership & Strategic Direction

• Lead the overall vision, quality, and execution of OBE's Design function, overseeing outputs across integrated design disciplines (spatial/environmental, graphic, interactive, digital, etc.)
• Ignite imagination and push design limits by delivering and inspiring best-in-class experiential design.
• Champion innovation, pushing design boundaries while maintaining brand integrity and strategic alignment.
• Set and implement short- and long-term design goals aligned with agency growth and CCO's creative strategy.
• Proactively track and apply design trends + thinking to maintain a cutting-edge, future-focused creative offering for OBE.
• Oversee conceptual and visual direction for high-profile projects, ensuring all design work meets the highest standards of craft and creativity.
• Lead select client projects, gaining client trust, selling in industry-defining design, and translating client objectives into strategic design solutions that elevate brand impact.

Team Management & Department Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and/or manage a design team of 10+ designers-fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, curiosity, and growth.
• Articulate clear career paths and provide development plans plus ongoing feedback to strengthen team capability, growth, and morale.
• Work with CCO and Creative Leadership to drive and develop department programming, including content for Creative Department Meetings and/or Design-specific trainings.
• Contribute to hiring strategy and talent acquisition, helping attract top-tier design talent to OBE.
• Expand, maintain, and grow OBE's bench of freelance and specialty designers; work with Creative Operations to activate this network quickly as needed for project demands.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Creative Directors, Strategy, Production, Technology and Account teams to ensure design thinking is fully integrated across all phases of work. Partner closely with Creative Directors, Strategy, Production, Technology and Account teams to ensure design thinking is fully integrated across all phases of client work.
• Guide internal and client teams through all stages of design-from initials sketches and mood boards to final renderings and presentations to execution drawings and site maps.
• Participate in leadership discussions, offering perspective on design innovation, creative process, and organizational growth.
• Collaborate with Production to realize ambitious design concepts, maintaining design integrity from concept through execution.
• Develop, direct and inspire compelling design concepts to win new business, including provocative pitch materials, resonant visuals, and clear executive presentations.

Design Execution & Experiential Innovation

• Ensure design concepts integrate cultural insight, user experience, visual storytelling, and technical feasibility.
• Leverage deep understanding of brand experiences, environmental branding, creative technology and design execution to vet and integrate top vendors in partnership with Production.
• Leverage expertise to balance creative ambition with practical feasibility, fostering an agile mindset across teams to deliver bold design on time and on budget.
• Elevate and evolve design execution through quality assurance and control (materials evaluation, fabrication process audit, etc.), inspiring executional excellence and ensuring accuracy, craftsmanship, and on-brief delivery.
• Oversee and/or lead on-site installation to maintain design excellence through delivery.

Operational Excellence

• Develop and refine design workflows, templates, tools, and standards to improve quality, efficiency, and cross-team collaboration.
• Work with 2D design team lead to oversee software, hardware, and platform needs for the design team; advocate for new tools that strengthen creative output.
• Review project budgets, timelines, hours assessments and SOWs to ensure design scopes appropriately outlined and budgeted, setting teams up for operational excellence and profitability.
• As part of Creative Leadership, oversee team resourcing, staffing, and utilization, ensuring optimal balance of talent, workload, and quality.

Desired Skills and Experience

Education/Experience

• 10+ years of design experience in experiential, environmental, architectural, or multidisciplinary creative roles.
• 4+ years leading design / creative teams or running a design function within an agency, event production company or creative studio.
• Proven experience managing a team designers / creatives or successfully running an agency/design studio.
• A portfolio demonstrating exceptional experiential design work, architectural / 3D design expertise, integrated strategic thinking, compelling spatial storytelling and environmental branding, and thoughtful technology integration.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture, Design, Environmental Design, Creative Direction, or related field (or equivalent professional experience).

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Mastery across key design disciplines including spatial/environmental design, 3D and architectural conception, experiential design, and visual storytelling.
• Expertise in 3D design with advanced proficiency in modeling and rendering software (e.g. SketchUp, Rhino, Vray, Unreal Engine) and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Passion for and familiarity with interactive experience design and implementation.
• Strong understanding of fabrication processes, materials, production workflows, and feasibility considerations for brand experiences.
• Ability to synthesize complex client needs into strategic, actionable design directions.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, including the ability to persuade, inspire, and guide both internal teams and clients.
• Skilled at managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced, creatively demanding environment.
• Deep network of freelance creative resources, including 2D & 3D designers, production artists, CAD designers, creative technologists, content creators, lighting designers, art directors and stylists.

Other Qualities and Skills

• Inspirational leader who motivates teams through clarity, empathy, and creative ambition.
• High energy, adaptable, and thrives in evolving, entrepreneurial environments.
• Strong problem-solving capabilities with calm, grounded decision-making.
• Naturally curious, culturally aware, and committed to pushing design excellence.
• Hybrid in-office requirement: Must be based in and work from NYC, LA, or SF.
• Willingness to travel and work flexible hours as needed

Compensation

Range: $240,000+ annually. This is the pay range OBE believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on level of experience, relevant skills, professional certifications, market pay, and demand for the role. OBE reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time.

For this role, Benefits include: medical/dental/vision insurance, employer paid basic life and personal accident insurance. Also included: Annual Profit Sharing/Bonus Plan based on the company's performance and your individual performance, 401(k), Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, PTO, STD/LTD insurance benefits.