Associate Design Director, Product
akqaDenver (CO)
About the role
Associate Design Director At AKQA Amsterdam, we use creativity to help brands and businesses move forward, from stories and identities to products, services and experiences. We follow the idea wherever it takes us, bringing different people and disciplines together to make it real. As an Associate Design Director, you help shape how brands come to life through digital experiences. You combine strong design thinking with exceptional digital craft, turning ideas into interfaces, interactions and systems that feel intuitive, distinctive and unmistakably part of the brand. Your depth is digital, but you understand brand, UX, motion, behaviour and technology, and work closely with experience and service designers to make the work stronger. You design by doing. You're as comfortable shaping an experience as you are getting into Figma, building a prototype or defining a design system. You use AI naturally to explore possibilities, improve how you work and make the systems you create more effective. Working closely with our Design Director and Creative Director, you bring a distinct point of view to the studio, raise the craft of the work and help the designers around you grow.
Role Requirements:
Lead the digital craft. Shape the experience. Bring brands to life. Design by doing. Understand the experience. Build smarter systems. Use technology creatively. Lead together. Raise the standard. Qualities and CharacteristicsA digital craftsperson. A strong design thinker. A maker at heart. A systems thinker. A generous sparring partner. Technically curious. AI-native in your approach. Versatile by nature. High standards, low ego.
Before you apply
Applying takes about a minute. These four things decide how fast it moves after that.
Your profile is current
It's what we read first. Occupations, seniority and locations matter more than a long history.
Two examples you can talk through
Not a portfolio — just two pieces of work where you can explain the decisions and what you'd change.
A number in mind
What you're on now and what would make you move. We negotiate better when we know both.
Your notice period
Employers plan around it, and it's the question that stalls offers most often.
Once you apply, someone reads it and calls you before anything reaches the employer — usually within two working days.
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