VP, Product Design, Connected… at Warner Bros… · New York…

VP, Product Design, Connected Experiences - CNN Location: NY New York 30 Hudson Yards Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of. Who We Are… When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next… From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive. We are CNN. THE WORLD'S MOST ESSENTIAL AND ENGAGING SOURCE OF DIGITAL NEWS. We are in the midst of rapid transformation and need our next generation of innovators, makers, and dreamers who will lead and drive our growth. We aim to make the world a better, more connected place. Your New Role… CNN is seeking a VP Product Design, Product Creative to lead our agile Product Creative team. This role functions as a high-level player-coach, responsible for owning the creation of premium visual assets that sit directly adjacent to the UI. You will define and execute the creative direction for critical touchpoints—including partnering with the design systems team to develop and implement product style guides, ensure our digital products reflect CNN’s brand promise, delivering creative cohesion at scale through our design system and in targeted product UI. In this role, you will collaborate closely with leadership in Product Design, Editorial Visuals, Merchandising and Brand to align and execute a cohesive creative direction across all CNN digital products. You will oversee a specialized agile team of visual and product designers. You must be as comfortable utilizing your hands-on, high-fidelity craft as you are driving executive alignment and shaping the overarching creative strategy. The ideal candidate leverages deep design expertise and innovative workflows to bridge the gap between systematic UI design and dynamic brand expression. Above all, this leader will be deeply committed to advancing CNN’s mission by ensuring that our product experience feels as premium and trusted as our journalism Your Role Accountabilities… • Lead the Product Creative Team: Oversee a specialized, agile team of visual and product designers dedicated to defining creative direction and executing high-fidelity work that sits close to the product UI. • Own UI-Adjacent Assets: Direct and execute the creation of critical visual touchpoints, including avatar systems, interactive collection headers, dynamic backgrounds, curated hubs, bespoke promotion CTAs, and UI templates. • Operate as a Player-Coach: Act as an Executive Creative Director who balances hands on design execution and craft with high-level strategic alignment. • Drive Cross-Functional Cohesion: Work intimately with leadership in Editorial Visuals and Brand—maintaining a dotted reporting line to these groups—to align and execute a unified creative vision across all CNN products, playing a key role in guiding our Design Council initiatives. • Elevate the Product Design Quality Bar: Provide expert craft guidance and detailed feedback to your team, ensuring that all visual assets achieve tactile resonance, support our narrative-led design philosophy, and maintain strict brand integrity. • Systematize Creative Intent: Collaborate with platform and design system teams to translate the creative aspirations of Marketing and Editorial partners into scalable product style guides that bake the "CNN Look" into the platform. Qualifications & Experience… • 15+ Years of Hybrid Experience: A robust background spanning visual design, product design, and creative direction. Content creation (Broadcast, UGC, Agency, or Editorial) experience is a strong plus. • Player-Coach Mentality: You possess the strategic vision of a high-level leader but remain deeply connected to the craft, highly comfortable executing world-class design work yourself. • The "Creative Director’s Eye": Exceptional visual judgment with a track record of providing detailed, actionable feedback that helps designers elevate the fidelity of their work. • Agile Team Leadership: A proven history of developing and inspiring top-tier talent within specialized, fastmoving visual and product design teams. • Strategic Collaboration: You view other creative cultures not as competitors, but as partners. You excel at navigating matrixed environments and guiding conversations toward shared visual goals through diplomacy and design expertise. • Experience in News, Media, UGC or Entertainment streaming services is a nice to have. • Understanding of frontend technologies to have informed conversations with engineering regarding the implementation of dynamic backgrounds and interactive components. • Experience implementing innovative design workflows at an enterprise scale. How We Get Things Done… This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview. Championing Inclusion at WBD Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law. If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request. In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, skill set, experience, and/or performance. Base pay is just one component of Warner Bros. Discovery’s total compensation package for employees. Pay Range: $231,000.00 - $429,000.00 salary per year. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, an employee wellness program, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays and sick time and vacation.