Job Description
About Northwood Space:
Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company focused on connecting space and Earth. The world runs on space. Space will run on Northwood. Our global ground network ensures that missions ranging from national security, to global connectivity, to disaster response can unlock their full potential and operate every day without fail. How this takes shape across our brand matters.
Role:
We are looking for a Head of Design to define how Northwood shows up in the world. You will partner closely with the CEO, founding team, and Head of Communications to build and execute our visual presence from the ground up.
You’ve taken ideas from first principles through to final production, aligning stakeholders and making tradeoffs without diluting quality. You operate fluidly between hands-on work and creative direction, leading internal efforts and external partners with equal clarity. You set the bar and ensure the work meets it, acting as the creative through-line across everything Northwood puts into the world.
Responsibilities:
Define and evolve Northwood’s visual identity, ensuring it reflects the vision, ambition, and clarity of the systems we build.
Concept and art direct major external touch points—from investor materials and announcements to customer-facing collateral, recruiting assets, and web presence.
Translate complex technical systems into clear, compelling visual narratives that can be understood by diverse audiences, including customers, partners, regulators, and talent.
Partner closely with the Head of Communications to bring Northwood’s narrative to life visually, ensuring alignment between what we say and how we show up.
Direct photo, video, and design production, working with external creatives (photographers, filmmakers, illustrators, agencies) to execute at a high level of quality.
Decide when to build in-house versus through external partners, and lead external engagements as the creative authority—setting direction, giving feedback, and maintaining a consistent standard.
Develop repeatable visual systems and frameworks that allow Northwood to scale its output without losing coherence or quality.
Act as a creative partner to leadership, shaping how the company communicates in high-stakes moments where clarity and credibility matter.
Establish and uphold a high bar for craft across all outputs, from small artifacts to flagship moments.
Qualifications:
10+ years of experience in visual design, brand, or art direction, with a portfolio that demonstrates a high bar for quality across different mediums.
Experience defining and evolving visual identity systems, not just executing within existing ones.
Strong conceptual thinking paired with the ability to carry ideas through to high-quality execution across formats (presentation, web, print, photo, video).
Hands-on proficiency in design tools and workflows; you are comfortable making the work yourself when needed.
Experience directing external partners (agencies, photographers, filmmakers, etc.) and maintaining creative control through production.
Ability to translate complex or technical concepts into clear, credible visual narratives for sophisticated audiences.
Strong creative judgment and the confidence to make decisions with incomplete information, especially in high-stakes or ambiguous situations.
Experience working closely with senior leadership or founders, with an understanding of how to shape company-level communication and perception.