Strategic Design Lead

Welcome to a workplace where everyone passionately believes in one purpose!
 
Our company's commitment extends beyond tasks; it's about infusing every action with purpose. We are dedicated to bringing unparalleled passion and customer focus to every facet of our business, creating an environment where your contribution truly matters.
 
With 70 years of experience, we are the leading strategic partner, providing specialized solutions for airlines, airports, and enterprises across 21 countries throughout The Caribbean and Latin America.
 
At GCG, we believe the secret recipe for a perfect team blends talent, focus, and discipline. We seek these qualities in candidates eager to thrive in a diverse and multicultural environment.
 
Our comprehensive solutions include Sky Dining, Airport Dining, Aviation Support, and Culinary. With a team of over 5,500 highly skilled experts dedicated to excellence, we uphold the highest standards of quality and service. We are committed to elevating travel & culinary experiences for all our customer's journeys, becoming the top choice in the region.

JOB PURPOSE

The Strategic Creative & Design Lead is a senior designer responsible for shaping, protecting, and elevating GCG’s visual identity, brand architecture, and creative expression across all markets, departments, and projects.

This role combines strategic thinking, world-class design expertise, strong branding capability, and audiovisual skills to lead the creative direction of the company and its portfolio of corporate and B2C brands.

This person acts as the guardian of brand excellence, developing brand systems, leading creative concepts and campaigns, and ensuring that all internal and external touchpoints—digital, physical, and audiovisual—reflect a unified and powerful brand experience.

Additionally, this profile requires strong stakeholder management, the ability to lead end-to-end projects with autonomy, and proven experience within multinational environments. The ideal candidate demonstrates sharp problem-solving skills, thrives under pressure, and brings a confident, strategic mindset to influence relationships, defend ideas, and navigate complex situations with emotional intelligence and presence.

Duties & Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead the development, governance, and improvement of corporate visual identity in alignment with the company’s vision and positioning.
• Develop and govern brand systems, guidelines, and toolkits for consistent implementation in all regions.
• Design and deliver brand training programs and workshops to build brand literacy, drive adoption, and promote cross-departmental alignment.
• Develop restaurant branding concepts, including naming, logos, brand books, renderings, and experiential frameworks.
• Oversee trade marketing materials and brand deployment for new openings (planograms, packaging, menu boards, sales kits, and launch communications).
• Guide the visual integration of branding in physical spaces—architectural renderings, signage, and environmental branding—in partnership with the Architecture team.
• Develop high-impact marketing and communication assets aligned with brand standards, including brand books, guidelines, presentations, brochures, videos, and other strategic materials.
• Bring innovative, cutting-edge digital solutions —whether from AI, global trends, or market insights— to elevate the graphic image of the company and its brands or business lines.

2. Creative Direction & Campaign Development

• Lead and design creative concepts for internal, external, and digital campaigns (corporate positioning, employer brand, launches, engagement, B2C, etc.).

• Partner with the Strategic Communications Manager to ensure narrative and visual coherence in all campaigns.
• Translate business strategy into creative ideas, storytelling, and high-impact design.
   

3. Internal Communication & Visual Systems

• Lead the visual identity for all internal communications, including presentations, internal channels such as the SharePoint intranet, and internal campaigns.
• Collaborate with the Strategic Communications Manager to ensure visual alignment and consistency.
• Create templates, content kits, and visual toolkits that support consistent communication across all regions.

• Lead and create the visual development of external-facing materials, including RFP proposals, commercial presentations, and marketing/brand campaigns.
• Oversee the rollout of brand assets across business lines, maintaining alignment with both corporate identity and local market strategies.
• Review and optimize the visual performance of current web platforms, recommending improvements for design, UX, and brand consistency.
• Oversee the visual identity and content formats of corporate social media channels.

• Manage the end-to-end production process: planning, shooting, editing, and animation.
• Lead the conceptualization and direction of video and multimedia content for internal and external brand communication.
• Guide the planning and production of audiovisual pieces: corporate videos, training capsules, and other key formats.
• Ensure strong understanding and use of audiovisual platforms and tools (video, motion, animation).

6. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Manage multiple concurrent projects, ensuring adherence to timelines, budgets, and quality standards.

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with high-performing internal stakeholders to facilitate project success.

• Oversee the work of external creative agencies, production partners, and vendors, ensuring alignment with company goals and standards.

• Take full ownership of tasks and projects from end to end, demonstrating autonomy and accountability.

• Update and maintain project status formats in coordination with key departments, including business line directors and their teams, as well as departmental project tracking systems.

• Demonstrate strong task prioritization, organization, and planning skills to ensure efficient workflow and project execution.

• Bring executive-level judgment to project management, including how deliverables are presented, communicated, and sold internally.

• Expert execution in Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects), Figma, and other design tools.
• Use AI tools (Synthesia, Midjourney, Runway, etc.) to accelerate content creation, videos, animations, and brand assets.
• Develop motion graphics, animations, renders, templates, and digital toolkits for scalable use across the organization.
• Any other tools required by the role according to the company’s needs.

Qualifications & Skills

• 10+ years in strategic branding, graphic design, and creative direction in multinational environments.
• Master's degree in graphic design, with additional studies or expertise in Creative Direction, Advertising, Marketing, Comms or related fields.
• Proven experience building brands from scratch: naming, branding systems, visual identity, and B2C concepts.
• Proven portfolio in audiovisual production, covering video, animation, and digital formats.
• Experience leading internal and external creative campaigns at regional or global scale. Must be a plus to have experience working with Latam and Caribbean countries.

• Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects).
• AI tools for design and video (Midjourney, Runway, Synthesia, etc.).
• Figma, motion graphics, video editing tools.
• Knowledge of UX/UI and digital content design.

• Strategic thinker with strong creative judgment.
• Ability to influence and guide stakeholders at all levels.
• Exceptional storytelling, attention to detail, and aesthetic sense.
• Bilingual: Spanish and English.
• Strong stakeholder management with the ability to build and maintain effective, trust-based relationships.
• Proven capability to lead end-to-end projects with autonomy, structure, and accountability.
• Experience operating within multinational environments and navigating cross-cultural dynamics.
• Sharp problem-solving skills and sound judgment to address challenges with clarity and focus.
• Ability to remain composed under pressure while sustaining high-quality execution.
• Confident and strategic communicator able to influence, present, and defend ideas effectively.
• Strong emotional intelligence and interpersonal maturity to manage complex situations with sensitivity and presence.

Travel requirements

The position requires domestic and international travelling up to 25% of the time. The role requires moving between business locations locally for example between the office and locations located within the airport and surroundings.

Embark on a journey with us, where every day brings new opportunities for growth and success. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and want to be part of a team that celebrates achievements, come, be a part of our story. Your career adventure starts here!