Senior Designer, Brand and New Business

LOCATION:  NYC, New York or Durham, NC

The Role

As Senior Designer, Brand & New Business, you will help McKinney tell its story through compelling visual design.

Your primary focus will be new business, partnering with Marketing & New Business and agency leadership to develop pitch presentations that bring our thinking, ideas and capabilities to life. You will take complex, often still-evolving information and transform it into clear, memorable and beautifully designed visual stories.

While pitch work will be the center of the role, your impact will extend beyond the pitch deck. You will also help visualize how McKinney talks about its work, capabilities, culture and point of view; contributing to credentials, case studies, capability stories, agency presentations and other high-visibility communications.

This is a highly hands-on role for an experienced designer who combines strong craft with good judgment. You are comfortable moving quickly, collaborating with senior leaders and creative teams, navigating ambiguity, and delivering excellent work in the high-pressure environment of new business.

Core Responsibilities

• Design and develop new business pitch presentations, credentials, capabilities presentations, RFP materials and other business-development communications.
• Partner closely with New Business, Creative, Strategy and agency leadership to translate ideas, strategy and information into clear and compelling visual narratives.
• Think beyond individual slides to help determine how a story should flow visually, including hierarchy, pacing, information design and narrative structure.
• Create original design elements including diagrams, information graphics, data visualizations, iconography and other visual frameworks that simplify complicated ideas.
• Develop visual concepts and approaches that help important pitches feel distinctive while remaining consistent with McKinney's brand.
• Contribute design support to broader McKinney storytelling, including agency credentials, case studies, capability materials, thought leadership, awards and select agency communications.
• Help visualize emerging agency capabilities and offerings when the story or visual expression is still being defined.
• Develop and maintain presentation templates, reusable design systems and visual assets that improve the quality and efficiency of new business work.
• Work within McKinney's established visual identity while finding fresh ways to bring individual stories and ideas to life.
• Collaborate with creative leadership, responding quickly and thoughtfully to feedback throughout the pitch-development process.
• Manage multiple projects, priorities and changing deadlines while maintaining exceptional attention to craft and detail.
• Explore emerging design and AI-enabled visualization tools that can improve the quality, speed and possibilities of our storytelling.

What Success Looks Like

Success means our pitch teams have a designer who can do more than make slides look good. This person can understand the story, see the visual opportunity, and turn evolving thinking into a compelling presentation.

Qualifications & Experience

• 4–6+ years of professional design experience, ideally within an advertising agency, branding firm, design studio or similarly fast-moving creative environment.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional presentation design, typography, layout, information design and visual storytelling.
• Experience taking complex or incomplete information and developing it into polished, easy-to-understand visual communication.
• Advanced proficiency in Google Slides and PowerPoint, along with strong proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite.
• Ability to create diagrams, data visualizations, infographics and other visual tools that make complicated concepts easier to understand.
• Strong design judgment and enough experience to work independently while knowing when to bring creative leadership into the process.
• Ability to travel, work some nights and weekends. 
• Strong communication, organization and time-management skills.
• Curiosity about emerging design technologies, including AI-enabled creative and visualization tools.

Salary Range

Our estimated range for this role is $90k - $100k

Compensation packages are based on the skill level and experience each candidate brings to their role. There may also be a more senior or junior position available that could be a better fit with your expertise. Each level has its own compensation range.

We pride ourselves on competitive salaries, and ensuring pay equity exists across our organization. We benchmark each position against existing employee competencies and 4As compensation data which includes geographic and agency size benchmarks. We also meet with department leaders 3x/year to ensure we are supporting employees in living into their full potential.  Our promotions are not limited to a specific time per year. Promotions are tied to performance.  

Right To Work In The US

You must be authorized to work in the US for any employer.  At this time, we are not sponsoring or providing assistance with obtaining work authorization.

McKinney is a place where everyone can grow. Studies have shown that marginalized communities  such as women, LGBTQ+ and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. However you identify, and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day.

We are in the office Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on a hybrid schedule. We look forward to meeting you!