Brand Design Specialist

Design at Portillo’s is unlike design anywhere else. As our Brand Design Specialist, your job is to bring the brand of Portillo’s to life through content curated and created for all our brand touchpoints. You will be responsible for the look and feel of our merchandising and retail, helping to turn Portillo’s into a lifestyle brand. You will collaborate with our other Brand Designers, photographers, food stylists and more. We believe that the best design is done when we keep our hearts close to our Portillo’s values – family, greatness, energy, and fun.

Enable our Purpose to create lifelong memories by igniting the senses with unrivaled food and experiences:

• Family: Work together to make everyone feel at home, and we step up when someone needs help

• Greatness: We’re obsessed with being the best and work hard to continuously improve. Our greatness is rooted in Quality, Service, Attitude, and Cleanliness.

• Energy: We move with urgency and passion while maintaining attention to detail

• Fun: We entertain our guests, we connect authentically, and we make each other smile

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Enable our Purpose to create lifelong memories by igniting the senses with unrivaled food and experiences:

Family:

• Lead the creation and execution of branded assets to meet the evolving needs of internal departments, including People, Training, and Operations, ensuring alignment with broader organizational goals.

• Support restaurants in training and educating best merchandising practices through the implementation of new guidelines and teach Managers in Training on a quarterly basis.

Greatness:

• Partner with the Ever Creative team to drive the strategic ideation and creation of dynamic social media content, ensuring consistent brand voice while staying ahead of industry trends.

• Oversee and refine daily graphic design and branding initiatives across multiple channels, including in-store merchandising, digital marketing, advertising, and packaging, enhancing brand consistency.

• Innovate and manage a comprehensive omnichannel retail program, continuously introducing new ideas and ensuring product offerings remain fresh and relevant.

Energy:

• Design high-quality digital and print assets to support Field Marketing and Recruiting initiatives, ensuring alignment with overall brand objectives value proposition.

• Manage end-to-end execution of quarterly in-restaurant merchandising rollouts, from brainstorming and ideation to production, implementation, and post-rollout validation.

Fun:

• Conceptualize and produce engaging digital assets for email marketing, social media, digital ads, website banners, and news articles, driving audience engagement and brand awareness.

• Lead and execute monthly photoshoots, collaborating with food photographers and stylists to create compelling visual content. Manage the process from shot list creation and art direction to on-set leadership, ensuring high-quality deliverables aligned with brand vision.

ORGANIZATION RELATIONSHIPS

This position reports to a Brand Design Leader. The position has no direct reports but may occasionally coordinate and hire sub-contracted workers for special occasions, events, and additional support. The Brand Design Specialist regularly collaborates with our Team Members, Operations, Marketing, HR & Recruiting, and third-party vendors.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Educational Level/Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic design or related field.

• Experienced with Microsoft suite

• Experienced with e-commerce sites

Minimum Work Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• 6 years of professional experience in graphic design and marketing

• An online portfolio of design work that demonstrates your creative vision and design execution skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design or a related field

• Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite required

• Demonstrated ability to think creatively in order to solve design challenges

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment

• Able to execute projects independently from start to finish

• Exceptional communication and management skills

• Demonstrated ability to think creatively in order to solve design challenges.

• Proven self-starter who sets aggressive plans and consistently meets the challenge.

• A creative spirit with an organized mindset.

• A desire for constant improvement and continued learning in the field of marketing and graphic design.

• Previous work experience in designing for retail or restaurants is highly desired

• A genuine love for Portillo’s.