Design Manager (Contract)
Pet Circle
Design Manager (Contract)
Dogs, cats, budgies and everything in between - pets deserve the world. They make us want to be better humans. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to build the most engaged and passionate community of pets and pet parents across the world. And we’re looking for talented team mates who can help us do it.
Founded in Sydney, our team of 500+ pet obsessives span Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. We’ve scaled to become one of Australia's top five eComm companies and the no.1 online pet store. But we’re just getting started. Like a whippet who’s spotted their mate across the dog park, our growth is only going to accelerate, as we continue to disrupt the way that pet parents shop.
Excitingly, the pet industry is booming (as in $15 billion kind of booming) and online pet retail is set to grow exponentially in the next five years. So this is a unique career opportunity to be part of our epic growth story.
The opportunity
*Maternity leave contract*
Are you a visionary Senior Designer or Design Manager ready to transform how the world shops for pets? We’re looking for a hands-on creative leader to head our in-house design team, blending art direction with strategy to launch brands, build campaigns, and craft compelling experiences across every touchpoint. If you obsess over design and ideas that move people (and their pets) and want to shape the future of a booming $15B pet industry, pull up a chair.
What you’ll be doing
Manage design projects across out-of-home, editorial, on-site, email, PR, social and experiential platforms.
Translate marketing strategies and creative briefs into high-impact visual executions.
Develop brand standards, style guides, graphic templates, and layouts.
Mentor a team of digital designers (graphic, motion, and UI), providing clear direction and constructive feedback.
Partner cross-functionally with channel managers, copywriters, and external agencies to bring the Pet Circle brand and exclusive suppliers to life.
Use performance data, customer insights, and cultural trends to inform design decisions.
Use AI tools to innovate and amplify your daily tasks
Scope design initiatives and proactively oversee workloads and schedules.
The ideal toolbox
6+ years in a multi-channel senior design role (agency or in-house retail preferred).
High proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, and Keynote/PPT; knowledge of Canva and digital content production.
Strong experience using AI for image and video generation.
A stellar portfolio showing deep expertise in conceptual thinking, graphic design, typography, layout, UI, across web and print (with understanding of motion design).
Proven ability to autonomously thrive in a fast-paced, iterative environment to provide strategically creative clarity and meet aggressive deadlines.
Knowledge of digital content production, including familiarity with post-production retouching and editing
Fluency with contemporary social media platforms, technologies, and trends, including experience with motion design for web and social
High proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, use of AI generative tools, Google slides/PPT, and knowledgeable skills in Canva.
Expert knowledge of e-commerce and digital marketing best practices with experience designing and producing content for onsite retail merchandising
The proven ability to use performance data and customer insights to inform and defend strategic recommendations
Role location
We believe that building connections and collaborating as Pet Circlers is super important. So this role is based in Sydney with a hybrid arrangement of 3 days per week in our pet friendly offices (your pet might love coming to the office even more than you). This is subject to change in line with business requirements.
Juicy perks
Heaps of development opportunities - stretch projects, secondments and unlimited learning courses via Go1
Flexible working environment
Up to 50% employee discount
Product sample giveaways
Pawrental leave and wellbeing leave
Team charity volunteer days
Classpass subsidy
Why Join?
We reckon our mission to help the world Pet Better is an important one, but also an incredibly fun and rewarding one. Becoming a Pet Circler means you’re committed to help shape an entire industry - it’s pretty exciting stuff. Here’s what we stand for:
We're better together
We operate with humble hearts and hungry minds
Pets matter' so pets and pet parents always have a seat at our table
We're instinctively curious. Always.
Belong at Pet Circle
Our unique perspectives and expertise is our superpower - we value diversity in all forms. So, no matter your background, please apply if this role makes you excited to bring your full self to work each day.
- Department
- Marketing
- Locations
- Sydney Office
- Remote status
- Hybrid
- Employment type
- Contract