Design Manager (Digital)

Who we are:
At Fresh, we partner with clients, leverage strategy, design, development, and engineering to harness the power of technology and create what's next. We bring together amazing designers, sophisticated developers, talented strategists, and experienced engineers to help companies create optimized experiences that connect humans, systems, and machines.

People are the core of everything we do. Our cross-disciplinary approach blends human ingenuity and technology, empowering us to meet uncertainty with confidence. What got us there today won't get us to tomorrow. We test our assumptions and always strive for growth. From the products we build to the partners we collaborate with, we believe people make the difference.

As a Manager, Digital Design, you'll help shape not only the work we deliver, but how we work together.

You'll lead multiple client engagements across a portfolio of digital products and services while helping designers do their best work. You'll partner closely with project managers, developers, industrial designers, and studio leadership to ensure projects are well-defined, thoughtfully executed, and delivered at a consistently high standard.

This role balances design craft, operations, people management, and mentoring. You'll manage designers directly, oversee work across project teams, and help build the collaborative multidisciplinary studio environment we're growing at Fresh.

What You'll Do

Lead Design Across Projects

• Guide multiple concurrent client engagements from discovery through delivery.
• Ensure work is grounded in user needs, technical realities, and business objectives.
• Maintain a high bar for UX quality, interaction design, visual execution, and overall experience.
• Partner with Project Management to balance scope, schedules, budgets, and quality.

Grow Designers

• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and constructive critique on projects.
• Manage individual designers, conduct performance reviews and support career development.
• Help onboard new designers and create an environment where people can grow.
• Foster curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

Improve How We Work

• Balance workload across projects and identify resource needs early.
• Lead design critiques, workshops, and alignment sessions.
• Improve studio processes, documentation, and delivery practices.
• Help remove bottlenecks before they impact projects.

Collaborate Across Disciplines
You'll work closely with:

• Product Management
• Development
• Industrial Design
• Motion Design
• Business Development
• Program Management

You'll help teams navigate ambiguity, align around shared goals, and make informed design decisions.

Support Studio Growth
As a consulting practice, every engagement is an opportunity to build long-term relationships. You'll contribute to project planning, staffing, estimates, proposals, and client presentations, helping ensure we deliver exceptional work while continuing to grow the practice.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years designing digital products, software, or services.
• Experience leading designers within a consulting, agency, or product environment.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating systems thinking, UX, interaction design, and product strategy.
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, and presentation skills.
• Comfortable balancing strategic thinking with practical execution.
• Ability to mentor designers while building trust across disciplines.

Success in This Role Looks Like

• Designers become stronger through your guidance.
• Projects stay aligned, focused, and moving forward.
• Clients trust your judgment.
• Cross-functional collaboration improves.
• Teams deliver ambitious work without sacrificing quality or sustainability.

Our Perspective
At Fresh, we believe design is evolving.

The value of a designer no longer comes from mastering a particular tool. It comes from understanding people, framing problems, connecting disciplines, and turning ideas into meaningful products and services.

As AI changes how software is created, our work increasingly depends on judgment, collaboration, systems thinking, and creative leadership.

We're building a multidisciplinary studio where designers, developers, strategists, and industrial designers work together to solve problems that none could solve alone.

If you're energized by thoughtful collaboration, enjoy mentoring others, and want to help shape the future of design consulting, we'd love to meet you.

Please submit your portfolio link for consideration.

At Fresh Consulting, we strive to hire a workforce representative of the communities we serve, understanding that a diverse workforce strengthens our organization. We value diversity and support a positive and welcoming environment where all of our employees can thrive.

For Washington-based roles, the base salary hiring range for this position is $130,000 to $145,000. Compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Equal employment opportunity: All qualified persons will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, familial status, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability for which a reasonable accommodation can be made or any other status protected by law. Assistance will be gladly provided upon request for any applicant with sensory or non-sensory disabilities.

*Fresh Consulting is a participating E-Verify company.