MSCI Inc.

Design Studio Lead

ID
2025-4328
Category
Marketing and Communications
Position Type
Full-Time
Location
US-NY-New York
Role Category
Local Office flex

Your Team Responsibilities

We’re seeking a Head of Design Studio to lead MSCI’s marketing design team — a leader who can shape the visual language of our brand across every touchpoint, from campaigns and events to digital and social.  

 

You’ll oversee a team of multidisciplinary designers and drive the modernization of our design systems, processes and standards, especially the incorporation of AI tools.  

 

The design studio is focused on many various tasks, including brochure and sales collateral, event banners, social media banners, website imagery, data visualization, and partnering with our creative campaign team amplify our campaigns across touchpoints. You will need to balance operational and creative skills to manage a large workload across the team with speed and efficiency, while also leading our brand visual guidelines and partnering on creative campaigns.  

 

You’ll be a change agent — elevating design quality, championing our creative identity, and ensuring design plays a central, respected role in how we communicate with the world. 

Your Key Ressponsibilities

1. Lead and Elevate the Design Studio 

  • Manage, mentor, and inspire a team of 4–6 designers spanning digital, events, social, and brand systems. 

  • Foster a culture of creativity, growth, and accountability within the studio. 

  • Ensure up to 75% of team capacity is protected for critical BAU design needs, while embedding designers into key campaign teams to collaborate with the Creative Director. 

  • Elevate our data visualization – a key growth area for MSCI.  

  • Serve as the managerial home for all designers, responsible for hiring, training, performance, and career development. 

 

2. Shape the Visual Brand 

  • Following the recent launch of our new visual identity system, you will take ownership of its evolution, ensuring MSCI’s brand remains consistent, forward-looking, and reflective of our leadership in the industry. You’ll guide how our visual language shows up across every touchpoint, helping express where the company is today and where we’re headed next. 

  • Partner with the Creative Director to ensure campaign work consistently meets brand and creative standards. 

  • Oversee design systems, templates, and toolkits that empower teams globally while maintaining creative integrity and consistency. 

 

3. Drive Operational Excellence 

  • Champion the integration of AI and automation tools into the design process — driving innovation, speed, and quality across deliverables. You’ll help the team adopt new technologies that amplify creative output, streamline workflows, and free designers to focus on higher-value creative thinking. 

  • Introduce modern processes that streamline workflows, creative briefs, and design prioritization. 

  • Create scalable systems for managing BAU requests and protecting design focus for high-value work. 

  • Develop a self-service ecosystem of branded templates and assets to support repeatable needs across marketing and business units. 

 

4. Partner Across the Creative Organization 

  • Collaborate closely with the Creative Director, Video Production Lead, Content Marketing Lead, as well as the digital team and product marketers to deliver integrated creative assets across channels. 

  • Work with product marketing leads to align design output with strategic priorities and campaign goals. 

  • Provide advocacy and “air cover” for the design team, ensuring they have the space, respect, and resources to do their best work. 

 

5. Lead Design as a Strategic Force 

  • Position design as a consultative, creative partner that drives business impact and brand strength. 

  • Evangelize the power of design within MSCI — helping teams see it not just as executional support, but as a key driver of clarity, storytelling, and differentiation. 

 

Your skills and experience that will help you excel

  • A seasoned design leader (10+ years of experience) with a track record of leading design teams within an in-house agency or top-tier agency. 

  • Equally comfortable discussing typography and timelines — you blend craft, creativity, and operational discipline. 

  • Adept at managing and mentoring diverse design talent across global markets. 

  • Experienced in modern design operations and workflow tools, especially AI, with the ability to introduce scalable systems and process improvements. 

  • A confident collaborator who thrives in matrixed environments and knows how to partner with creative, content, and marketing leads. 

  • Passionate about brand storytelling, visual systems, and the role of design in shaping perception and driving business results. 

About MSCI

 

What we offer you

  • Salary range: $143,000 - $186,000 / year plus eligible for annual bonus
  • Transparent compensation schemes and comprehensive employee benefits, tailored to your location, ensuring your financial security, health, and overall wellbeing.
  • Flexible working arrangements, advanced technology, and collaborative workspaces.
  • A culture of high performance and innovation where we experiment with new ideas and take responsibility for achieving results.
  • A global network of talented colleagues, who inspire, support, and share their expertise to innovate and deliver for our clients.
  • Global Orientation program to kickstart your journey, followed by access to our Learning@MSCI platform, LinkedIn Learning Pro and tailored learning opportunities for ongoing skills development.
  • Multi-directional career paths that offer professional growth and development through new challenges, internal mobility and expanded roles.
  • We actively nurture an environment that builds a sense of inclusion belonging and connection, including eight Employee Resource Groups. All Abilities, Asian Support Network, Black Leadership Network, Climate Action Network, Hola! MSCI, Pride & Allies, Women in Tech, and Women’s Leadership Forum.

At MSCI we are passionate about what we do, and we are inspired by our purpose – to power better investment decisions. You’ll be part of an industry-leading network of creative, curious, and entrepreneurial pioneers. This is a space where you can challenge yourself, set new standards and perform beyond expectations for yourself, our clients, and our industry.

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data, and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process.

MSCI Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy (including unlawful discrimination on the basis of a legally protected parental leave), veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. MSCI is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please email Disability.Assistance@msci.com and indicate the specifics of the assistance needed. Please note, this e-mail is intended only for individuals who are requesting a reasonable workplace accommodation; it is not intended for other inquiries.

 

To all recruitment agencies

MSCI does not accept unsolicited CVs/Resumes. Please do not forward CVs/Resumes to any MSCI employee, location, or website. MSCI is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited CVs/Resumes.

 

Note on recruitment scams

We are aware of recruitment scams where fraudsters impersonating MSCI personnel may try and elicit personal information from job seekers. Read our full note on careers.msci.com

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