Vice President of Brand

Overview :

Responsible for leading the firm's brand strategy and visual identity, ensuring that HKS is consistently represented as a bold, innovative, and trusted architecture firm across every practice and region.

Owns brand positioning, guidelines, creative direction, and brand governance, and ensures brand equity is protected and amplified across all channels. Partners closely with Practice Marketing Directors (PMDs), Centers of Excellence (COEs), and firmwide leadership to make sure the HKS brand shows up consistently while adapting appropriately for market needs.

Responsibilities :

Defines, manages, and evolves the HKS brand strategy and architecture

Ensures brand consistency across all practices, regions, and offices

Creates brand governance frameworks and enforce adoption across marketing and BD functions

Leads the development of brand campaigns and creative assets that reinforce HKS's positioning

Oversees visual identity, design systems, and templates to support both practice and regional needs

Partners with COEs (Creative, Digital, PR) to ensure brand is integrated across every touchpoint

Partners with PMDs to translate practice strategies into brand-aligned assets, campaigns, and content

Ensures practice value propositions are consistently expressed in all materials

Partners with firmwide leadership to localize the brand for regional relevance while protecting consistency

Develops scalable brand tools, playbooks, and templates for regional teams and local coordinators

Provides direct brand support for priority regional campaigns and pursuits

Defines KPIs to measure brand strength (awareness, perception, consistency)

Monitors adoption of brand guidelines and consistency of execution across practices and regions

Reports regularly to CMO and firm leadership on brand performance and alignment

Collaborates with PR, Digital, and Creative teams to deliver fully integrated campaigns

Provides high level of interactive service to others, building relationships, addressing identified needs and following through with implementing resolutions for the firm's brand identity system

Stays current on trends and developments in graphic design

Models and holds others accountable to the firm's cultural values, including a commitment to quality, innovation, learning and growth

Oversees and actively invests in the professional development of staff through mentoring, performance management and career planning

Leads efforts in attracting, training, retaining, growing and recognizing diverse talent

Manages conflict effectively and encourages a healthy team environment

Partners with leadership, business development and marketing teams to implement / maintain the strategic plan goals for brand

Fosters and maintains a collaborative professional working relationship with the project team, including promoting communication and creating approachability

Takes personal responsibility for fostering a green workplace through sustainable work practices

Develops budgets and timelines of team projects in collaboration with Chief Marketing Officer

Responsible for the financial implications of overhead and chargeable time, including accountability to project plan and planned utilization rate

Collaborates in managing projects to satisfy requirements with best possible ROI and delivering projects on defined budget requirements

Collaborates with practice leaders and Marketing team to ensure the brand is presented across all tactics and assets in a synchronized and impactful way

Qualifications :

Bachelor's degree in Advertising or related degree

Typically with 15+ years of experience in advertising / design agency environment, with experience in brand strategy and visual identity within a global or matrixed organization

Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite such as InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Sketchup graphic software

Proficiency in MS Office Suite, including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint preferred

Prior experience in professional services or design industries

Successful track record with managing a team and performing duties in a fast-paced environment

Proven experience in successfully scaling a global brand in a competitive market landscape

Proven ability to balance consistency with flexibility across diverse practices and markets

Proven ability to work across stakeholder groups, functional areas, geographies, and differing levels of seniority

Proven ability in identifying issues, determining their cause, developing creative solutions

Excellent writing skills with leadership experience in creative direction, storytelling, and visual communication

Excellent attention to detail and commitment to excellence

Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with all levels of staff and clients; ability to forge trusting relationships within a diverse team

Strong presentation skills

Strong organizational skills and the ability to work on multiple projects at the same time

Ability to thrive in a complex, matrixed global organization

Ability to influence senior stakeholders across practices, regions, and BD teams

Ability to measure and report brand performance

Ability to manage team with diplomatic and collaborative leadership style which puts value on relationships and collaboration, both internal and external

Ability to communicate and present ideas in a clear, concise and professional manner both verbally and in writing

Ability to proactively problem solve and apply innovative solutions

Ability to collaborate and encourage collaboration in a team environment, and ability to work independently and prioritize work

Ability to effectively meet deadlines at expected quality

Travel may be required

Base Salary Range : $115k to $175k annually - Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Seattle and Washington DC locations only.

The estimate displayed represents the general base salary range of candidates hired in the above locations only. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on the location of the role. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training.

HKS offers a comprehensive total compensation & benefits package with health, dental, and vision care coverage, 401(k) plans, life & AD&D insurance, short / long term disability plans, paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, vacation), and much more for benefits-eligible employees. To learn more about our benefits visit this page.

Application Deadline : 1 / 1 / 2026

If you currently work for HKS, please submit your application via the Internal Careers Portal .

HKS is an EEO / AA Employer : M / F / Disabled / Veteran