Graphic Design Manager

Job Description

Job DescriptionOur Work

We are an architecture and real estate development social enterprise creating spaces that embody justice, healing, and self-determination. By designing with communities most impacted by incarceration and disinvestment, we build infrastructure that supports community ownership, redistributes power, and lays the foundation for a world rooted in care, not punishment.

To achieve this mission our team is composed of architects, designers, real estate developers and community members working together to create solutionary spaces and places that bring dignity, well-being and care to the communities we serve.

How You Fit In

Title: Graphic Design Manager
Location: Oakland, CA — Hybrid (3+ days/week on-site)
Salary: $90,000 – $110,000
Reports To: Director of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships

Our work spans architecture, community engagement, fundraising, and advocacy. And right now, the way we show up visually (in proposals, presentations, social media, donor materials, and everything in between) needs a dedicated creative leader to bring it all into focus.

The Role

This is a newly created position, built for someone who brings both strong graphic design sensibility and production management discipline, and who is energized by the opportunity to shape how a mission-driven organization communicates its work to the world.

You'll serve as DJDS's internal creative engine: owning and evolving our visual identity, building the systems and templates that help everyone work better, and rolling up your sleeves on everything from client presentations to social media assets to RFP packages. You'll work across every team in the organization: design studio, communications, fundraising, business development, and operations.

You'll have real visibility, real ownership, and real impact on how one of the most compelling social enterprises in the country presents itself to the world.

Who You Are

You're a mid-career creative professional who has done meaningful work before. You are confident about who you are, what you stand for, and are willing to continuously grow and evolve. You will bring your full self to the DJDS community and lean into your experiences to help us find new ways to share and tell our story and offerings. You are:

• A skilled, adaptable graphic designer whose portfolio reflects range. Not a signature style imposed on every client, but a practiced ability to read an ethos and create something that feels true to it.
• Someone who has managed people and wants to keep doing it. You understand that great creative work requires great coordination, and you're as comfortable leading a process as you are executing within one.
• Culturally competent and genuinely curious about the communities we work alongside. Not just willing to learn, but already practicing the kind of humility and attentiveness that community-centered design requires.
• A systems thinker who can build processes and do the work at the same time. You don't freeze waiting for perfect structure. You create the structure as you go.
• Proactive and communicative. When ten things land on your plate at once, you don't go quiet. You surface the tension, help prioritize, and keep things moving.
• AI-familiar and curious in practice, not just in principle. You're open to using AI tools in your workflow and can speak to how they're beginning to shape the way you work.
• Energized by variety, not just tolerant of it. You're the kind of person who finds it genuinely interesting to move between a donor deck in the morning, a community engagement flyer in the afternoon, and a website update at the end of the day.

What You'll Do

Your work will span five areas of organizational life:

Creative Direction & Visual Brand

• Own and evolve DJDS's visual identity across all touchpoints: social media, client deliverables, the website, and beyond.
• Establish and maintain design guidelines: fonts, color standards, logo lockups, and templates for our core communications channels.
• Translate DJDS's design ethos and mission into outputs that feel true to who we are and the communities we serve.
• Provide creative direction for a forthcoming website overhaul and lead in-house graphic production.

Production Coordination & Project Delivery

• Coordinate timelines, inputs, and deliverables across the organization, including for fee-for-service projects.
• Build lightweight systems (templates, trackers, checklists) that make everyone's work easier to find, easier to complete, and easier to hand off.
• Flag risks early, resolve blockers, and keep things moving without waiting to be asked.

Design Studio Production Support

• Provide day-to-day graphic design support for active and potential design studio projects: client presentations, final documentation packages, community engagement materials.
• Attend Project Manager and Milestone Meetings to create and complete deliverables alongside the design team.
• Organize community engagement assets so they're findable, reusable, and ready when the team needs them.

Communications, Social Media & Business Development

• Produce communications assets: one-pagers, reports, decks, digital flyers, and internal materials.
• Support social media workflows and content calendars so materials are always ready on schedule.
• Own the RFP and proposal production process: building out project typologies, managing copy intake from stakeholders, and coordinating the full workflow from first draft to final submission.
• Maintain an organized, up-to-date library of organizational photographs, project descriptions, team bios, and data.

Fundraising & General Organizational Support

• Produce donor-facing materials: decks, one-pagers, impact updates, event collateral, sponsorship packets.
• Support event production: run-of-show documents, logistics, materials creation and prep.
• Own and maintain the DJDS website, keeping content current and visually aligned with who we are.
• Produce internal materials (agendas, slide decks, meeting notes) that help the team operate well together.

What We're Looking For

Non-Negotiables

• 5+ years in a comparable role. Scope and demonstrated impact matter more than a number, but this is not an early-career position.
• Proven experience managing people, and a genuine desire to keep doing it.
• A portfolio that demonstrates: range across output types (decks, reports, social assets, web, print, community materials), adaptability across communities and organizations, and creativity you're proud of.
• Cultural competency, demonstrated through your work and not just listed on your resume.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (required).
• Google Workspace and Microsoft Office (required).
• WordPress and/or Webflow for website ownership (required).
• Some hands-on experience with AI tools in your workflow. You can reference tools you've used or ways you're experimenting with AI in your design process.

What We'd Love to See

• Experience at a startup, scale-up, or mission-driven organization where the infrastructure was still being built.
• Familiarity with community engagement processes and producing culturally relevant engagement materials.
• Experience supporting fundraising collateral, thought leadership content, or RFP/proposal production.
• Background in social enterprise, nonprofit, or design-centered organizations, especially where you've had to craft a case for support, articulate a problem statement, or pitch a solution.
• Experience with ClickUp, Notion, or similar project management tools.
• A strong visual sensibility and curiosity about current design trends, color theory, digital design, and the cultural contexts that shape visual communication.

Who You'll Work With Closely:

This is a multi-departmental role. Your closest collaborators will include:

• The Design Team: primary creative partners on studio projects and community engagement materials.
• The Community Engagement Manager: co-production of culturally relevant materials and assets.
• The Director of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships (your manager): RFP production, BD collateral, and targeted marketing.
• The Communications & Advancement Team: asset production, content calendars, and shared design standards.
• The Operations Manager: internal policies, playbooks, and organizational resources.
• Project Managers: milestone deliverables and client-facing materials.
• The Executive Director: fundraising materials, thought leadership, and organizational representation.

Benefits and Compensation

This full-time, salaried position includes:

• 100% employer-covered medical, dental, and vision for employees and their children under 26, with optional coverage for domestic partners, long-term disability, and life insurance.
• Generous paid time off: vacation (tiered by tenure), sick leave, bereavement, jury duty, and 16 total holidays (12 standard + 4 flexible personal days).
• Up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, supported by California state benefits and DJDS supplemental pay.
• Sabbatical eligibility after 7 years of service: 12 weeks paid leave plus a reduced-load continuation period.

How to Apply

We'd love to hear from you. Along with your resume, please submit a portfolio.

The strongest portfolios will show:

• A diverse range of output types — not just one medium or industry.
• Work across different communities and organizations, demonstrating adaptability and cultural responsiveness.
• Creativity and craft you're genuinely proud of.

Please combine your resume and portfolio into a single PDF, or submit your resume and upload a link to your online portfolio to the link provided. Applications without a portfolio will not be considered.

We're reviewing applications on a rolling basis and will be in touch with candidates as we move through the process. We're aiming for a May start date.

Ready to Apply?

If this role resonates with you, we encourage you to apply—even if your experience doesn't match every requirement. We value curiosity, lived experience, and a deep commitment to community.

We're building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, and we're excited to learn more about what you bring to the work.