Lead PopSockets’ global creative direction across brand identity, campaigns, packaging, retail, and digital merchandising. Manage US creative teams and the China design studio, establish creative processes and quality standards, and ensure consistent execution across international markets. Partner with product, marketing, sales, supply chain, and executive leadership on launches and brand initiatives. Regular travel to China is required.
Launched in 2014 by former philosophy professor David Barnett, PopSockets is a global digital-lifestyle company that sells empowering, fun, and expressive products that improve people’s digital lives. PopSockets has sold close to 300 million of its iconic phone grips in 75 countries and now has an expanding ecosystem of related products, including phone cases, wallets, mounts, batteries, and chargers.
Our mission is to empower enhanced mobile functionality, self-expression, and authentic human connection. We imagine an Eternal Positivity Machine that sparks joy, creativity, and meaningful relationships. We bring this vision to life by upholding the highest standards in materials, packaging, logistics, and design—while ensuring our supply chain and labor practices remain ethical, responsible, and transparent.
In 2021, PopSockets was honored as one of Fast Company’s World's Most Innovative Companies.
The Role:
PopSockets makes products people wear on their identity as much as their phone. The Creative Director is the person who keeps that idea sharp across every visual touchpoint, every campaign, every market, and every format we operate in.
This is a senior leadership role with real creative authority and real operational complexity. You'll set the visual and conceptual direction for the brand, lead a US-based creative team, and manage an in-house design studio in China, a relationship that is central to how PopSockets operates at scale. The ability to lead across time zones, cultures, and creative disciplines isn't a nice-to-have; it's the job.
You'll report to the VP of Global Brand & Marketing and work closely with our founder, product, marketing, sales and executive leadership to ensure the creative output of the company is cohesive, ambitious, and unmistakably PopSockets.
Responsibilities:
- Set and steward the visual identity and creative direction of the PopSockets brand across all channels, digital, physical, packaging, retail, and campaign
- Lead the development of seasonal creative concepts, campaign frameworks, and brand campaigns from brief through execution
- Maintain a strong, consistent brand POV while pushing creative ambition and keeping the work fresh
- Partner with the copywriting team and brand voice leads to ensure visual and verbal expression are fully unified
- Serve as the primary US-side creative lead and day-to-day relationship manager for PopSockets' in-house design studio in China
- Establish clear creative briefs, feedback frameworks, and quality standards that allow the China studio to operate effectively and at brand across time zones
- Travel to China regularly to build relationships, align on seasonal priorities, and maintain creative continuity between the US team and the studio
- Work cross-functionally with product and supply chain teams to ensure the China studio's output integrates cleanly into broader product and brand workflows
- Lead, mentor, and grow a US-based creative team, setting high standards for craft, collaboration, and creative thinking
- Build and manage creative processes and workflows that allow the team to move fast without sacrificing quality
- Foster a creative culture grounded in curiosity, constructive feedback, and accountability
- Partner with recruiting to grow the team as the business scales
- Lead packaging design direction across all key markets, US, China, and international, ensuring creative consistency while accounting for market-specific requirements, regulatory needs, and consumer expectations
- Own the visual merchandising strategy for digital retail environments (virtual merchandising) across PopSockets.com, Amazon, and major wholesale partner platforms globally, including how product is presented, sequenced, and experienced online
- Partner with the China studio to develop and maintain market-adapted packaging and digital shelf assets that meet both brand standards and local market execution requirements
- Collaborate with product, sales, and e-commerce teams to ensure packaging and virtual merchandising creative supports sell-through and reinforces brand at the point of decision
- Establish scalable asset systems and templates that allow regional teams and retail partners to execute within brand guardrails without requiring bespoke creative for every SKU or market
- Act as a strategic creative partner to marketing, product, and sales, translating business goals into compelling creative strategy
- Contribute to go-to-market planning for new product launches, seasonal moments, and brand initiatives
- Present creative work confidently to senior stakeholders and external partners, articulating the strategic rationale behind creative decisions
Creative Leadership & Brand Direction
China Studio Management
US Team Leadership
Packaging & Virtual Merchandising
Cross-Functional Partnership
Requirements:
- 10+ years of creative experience, with at least 3 years in a Creative Director or senior creative leadership role
- The ability to operate at both the strategic and executional level, i.e. you can write a creative brief and redline a layout in the same day
- Hands-on experience with packaging design and virtual merchandising, i.e. you understand how product shows up on a shelf and on a digital page, and you know the difference between the two
- A portfolio that demonstrates strong visual craft and conceptual thinking across brand identity, campaigns, packaging, and digital consumer products or lifestyle brand experience strongly preferred
- Demonstrated experience managing creative teams or studios across international locations, China experience is a significant advantage
- Cultural fluency and genuine comfort working with Chinese design partners; Mandarin proficiency is a plus but not required
- Strong communication and presentation skills; you can make a room understand and believe in a creative direction
- Familiarity with multi-market packaging requirements and the operational complexity of adapting creative for different regional standards
- Experience working in a fast-paced, product-driven brand environment where the creative needs to be both beautiful and commercially grounded
- Willingness to travel internationally, regular trips to China are a firm expectation of this role
PopSockets is dedicated to the practice of equal opportunity employment. We prohibit unlawful discrimination against applicants and employees on the basis of age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, military status, genetic information, color, creed, ancestry, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law. This prohibition includes unlawful harassment based on any of these protected classes. Unlawful harassment includes verbal or physical conduct which has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual’s work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile, offensive, unsafe or otherwise non-welcoming work environment. This policy applies to all employees, including managers, supervisors, co-workers; and non-employees such as customers, clients, vendors, consultants, etc.
PopSockets LLC Boulder, Colorado, USA Office
We're just outside Downtown Boulder (no traffic!) in a gorgeous, newly built and designed office with terrific mountain views!
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