Design Lead, Applecart
$140-160k
+ Annual cash bonus + Equity
More information about location
3 days a week in office
Social graph platform for marketing
Be an early applicant
Social graph platform for marketing
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$140-160k
+ Annual cash bonus + Equity
More information about location
3 days a week in office
201-500 employees
Company mission
To provide the intelligence that sophisticated organizations use to power their strategy for winning over key decision makers.
Role
Who you are
- This role is ideal for someone at the intersection of design, strategic communications, and technological innovation
- 8+ years of experience in a senior creative role, within an agency, tech company, or fast-growing brand with experience creating corporate affairs content and creative assets for programmatic and social ad campaigns (e.g. communications and earned media, government relations, investor and employee relations, etc)
- Strong understanding of branding, typography, motion, and digital design principles
- Strong understanding of intellectual property considerations, including copyright, fair use, and image and video licensing requirements
- Proficiency with creative software, including Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and motion/video editing tools
- Hands-on experience with AI tools for image and video generation (e.g., Midjourney, Veo, Sora, Runway, DALL E, etc.)
- Strong portfolio showcasing conceptual thinking, storytelling, and multimedia work
- Excellent communication, collaboration, and presentation skills, and experience in a fast-paced, changing environment
- Experience integrating AI content generation into marketing campaigns or automated creative workflows is a plus
What the job involves
- As Design Lead, you will be a key member of Applecart’s Client Delivery organization leading creative strategy and execution for digital advertising placements across strategic communications and marketing campaigns in support of Applecart clients–guiding the look, feel, and best practices of creative across client campaigns
- This role will work cross-functionally with Go-to-Market, Platform, and Operations teams and combine a refined design sensibility and an understanding of emerging technologies—especially AI-driven image and video generation—to craft compelling, scalable, and strategic content offerings
- Collaborate with our account teams of communications and media strategists to understand clients’ communications goals to align digital advertising placements with our clients’ strategic business goals
- Manage graphic designers, oversee the production of, and ensure consistency and excellence across client campaigns and creative assets
- Set and uphold standards and best practices for visual style, tone, and clarity across a variety of client use cases such as legislative advocacy, investor relations, and corporate communications
- Partner with product and media teams to analyze performance across campaigns, identify characteristics of high-performing ads, and implement learnings in creative production
- Build scalable systems and creative processes that leverage graphic designers as well as automation. Stay ahead of emerging trends in generative media and advise on their practical use
- Working with counsel, consistently apply guidelines for fair and brand-safe use of images, videos, logos, news media, and AI-generated content
- While this role’s primary focus is client marketing efforts, it may also support the design and development of Applecart marketing and Go-to-Market materials and templates
Our take
Applecart uses publicly available data, both online and offline, to create a map of real-world interpersonal relationships. Allowing clients to run more effective advertising and marketing campaigns by leveraging social influence, or word of mouth, which Applecart believes is the most powerful motivator.
Initially focused on political campaigns, Applecart worked to increase voter engagement and turnout. However, in recent years, it has expanded into commercial work, partnering with organisations such as Boeing and nonprofits like The Business Roundtable.
A key backer of Applecart is Ari Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, a global entertainment and media agency that owns the UFC. While it's unclear if the UFC is currently a client, Emanuel's involvement signals the high-profile clients Applecart is now attracting. Further success has come in the form of Blackstone's impressive $100 million investment in Applecart, setting up 2026 to be a year of further growth for the company.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
55% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Jan 2026
$100m
LATE VC
Feb 2023
$10.4m
LATE VC
Total funding: $114.5m
Company benefits
- 35 days of Paid Time Off: 20 vacation days, 10 personal days, 5 sick days
- 14 company holidays
- Bereavement leave
- 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave inclusive of birth and adoption for primary and secondary caregivers
- Frequent company-wide and team social events such as games nights, cooking classes, summer boat cruises, paint & sip, karaoke, escape rooms, bowling, team dinners, baseball games, holiday parties, and plenty more
- Stocked fridge full of drinks and plenty of healthy (and less healthy) snacks
- Weekly happy hour and bagel breakfast
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- $300 workstation budget to personalize your at-home or in-office space
- Hybrid in-office setup: we work from our offices in midtown Manhattan every Tuesday - Thursday and give the option to work from anywhere on Monday and Friday
- Applecart pays 75% contribution towards Medical, Dental and Vision
- 401(k) with 4% company match
- HSA and FSA
- OneMedical: On-demand primary care free to all employee whether you take our insurance or not
- Health Advocate: Personal healthcare concierge
- Teladoc: Network of virtual healthcare providers
- Talkspace: Online mental health therapy
- Headspace: Full access to the meditation app
- Kindbody: Fertility and gynecology services
Company HQ
Midtown South, New York, NY
Leadership
Matthew Kalmans
(Co-Founder & Co-CEO)Forbes 30 under 30. Co-founded Applecart while an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sacha Samotin
(Co-Founder & Co-CEO)Forbes 30 under 30. Along with co-founder and co-CEO Matthew Kalmans, studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where Applecart was first launched.
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