
Spare · Vancouver
Location: Vancouver, BC (Hybrid) Team: Design, reporting to Director of Design THIS IS A RARE ONE Most brand design roles ask you to maintain what exists....
Location: Vancouver, BC (Hybrid)
Team: Design, reporting to Director of Design
Most brand design roles ask you to maintain what exists. This one asks you to define what comes next.
Spare is building AI-powered technology that helps cities run better — and more than 200 communities around the world rely on us
to make that happen. We're growing fast, our product ambitions are significant, and our brand needs to catch up to the company
we're becoming.
We're looking for a Senior Brand Designer who has taken a brand from good to unmistakable — someone who thinks in systems,
executes with taste, and is genuinely excited about the craft of building a brand that means something.
If you're the kind of designer who consistently raises the bar for everyone around you — keep reading.
This position is a hybrid role, and requires you to work in-office from our Vancouver HQ Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Define and evolve Spare's visual language This is a deeply hands-on role — you'll both define the direction and execute the work
that sets the bar. Working closely with the Director of Design, you'll develop a cohesive, modern design language and own how it
shows up across every touchpoint: web, sales materials, conference activations, social content, product storytelling, digital, and
beyond. This includes keeping our web presence sharp and on-brand as the company evolves. This isn't iteration. It's creative
ownership.
Create high-craft work that moves people You'll produce the assets that carry Spare's brand in the world — presentations, campaign
materials, motion and animation, event experiences. You'll bring a sharp animation sensibility and video editing capability, with
a storyteller's instinct for what an audience needs to feel. You'll know when something is right and when it isn't — and you'll
care enough to push until it is.
Bring our product to life on screen Working closely with Product and Marketing, you'll create stunning product showcase videos —
sharp, energetic animations that communicate the value of a new feature in 1-3 minutes. Work that earns its place on social, in
customer emails, inside the platform, and on stage at high-visibility keynotes. Your work looks expensive because of how you
think, not what you spent — and that's exactly the standard we're hiring for.
Partner with Marketing as a creative equal You won't just take briefs — you'll help shape them. You'll work closely with Marketing
to understand what they're trying to achieve and bring a strong creative point of view on how to get there. The best outcomes
happen when strategy and creative thinking happen together, not in sequence. You'll push back when needed and deliver something
better than what was asked for.
Build systems that outlast any single asset Great brand designers don't just make beautiful things — they build the infrastructure
that lets beautiful things scale. You'll create the template libraries, prompt systems, and design frameworks that enable
Marketing and other teams to produce on-brand work independently. You treat AI tools as native extensions of your workflow — not
shortcuts, but force multipliers.
Set the standard You'll be the creative bar-setter for everything Spare puts in market — working alongside an existing design team
and collaborating closely with Marketing. You bring a point of view to every project and make the work around you better as a
result.
This is a senior role. We're not looking for potential — we're looking for proof.
You've built brands that people remember. Your portfolio shows a clear before and after. We want to see the design language you
developed, how you brought it to life across formats, and the creative decisions behind it. Taste is non-negotiable — and so is
the ability to deliver at pace.
You work across the full brand canvas. Motion, animation, presentations, social, real-world activations, video — you're
comfortable across all of it. You know how to shape a story for an audience, not just design an asset for a brief.
You think in systems. You build things that scale. You create templates and frameworks that make great design repeatable — and you
get genuine satisfaction from enabling others to do great work, not just doing it yourself.
You're fluent in AI-assisted workflows. You already use AI tools in your creative process and you push them further than most. You
know when they accelerate the work and when human judgment is irreplaceable.
Your toolkit is broad and current. Adobe Creative Suite (After Effects, Premiere, Illustrator, Photoshop), Figma, Webflow, and AI
design tools. You use what the work requires.
You bring creative confidence. You have a point of view, you advocate for it, and you can articulate the reasoning behind every
decision you make. You don't need to be managed toward good work — you set the direction and bring others with you.
We're building AI-powered solutions for cities — enabling communities to do more through technology that actually works in the
real world. Over 200 cities trust us to deliver. We move fast, care deeply about quality, and believe that how we show up in the
world is part of what makes us worth trusting.
Our brand is at an inflection point. The product is strong. The mission is clear. What we need now is someone who can make the
world feel that — visually, viscerally, consistently.
This role has a real mandate, a strong design leader behind it, and room to do career-defining work.
Send us your portfolio — specifically work that shows how you've shaped a brand's visual identity and brought it to life across
multiple formats and touchpoints. Show us what you're most proud of and tell us why.
We review every application with care. If your work speaks for itself, so will ours.
Senior Designer Vancouver, remote This is a 6 month fixed term contract. This posting reflects an existing vacancy. THE ROLE: This role is part of our Global Studios team. We create emotive yet conversion-focused ideas, products and campaigns at scale and speed. Our specialty is hyper-personalised, digital communications that change perceptions, shape new behaviours, and shift market share for our clients. As Senior Designer, you will work on a broad range of small and large projects across some of the largest, well recognised brands in the world. Our Senior Designers are responsible for creating purpose-driven graphic design that elevates clients’ campaigns and materials. Senior Designers are masters of their craft who can help foster and grow younger talent. They also demonstrate good judgement, emotional intelligence, and inspire self-development. Senior Designers can also be called upon to present their work, either internally to their teams or externally to clients. WHAT YOU’LL DO: * Overseeing the work of and mentoring Junior and Midweight Designers. * Executing on client and peer feedback. * Coach your team members and help them to realise areas of development. * Working on a brief from start to finish. * Image sourcing and artworking, including Gen AI image prompting. * Designing responsive emails, static ads, and landing pages. * Storyboarding and designing paid social ads. * Maintaining existing and designing new onsite marketing templates. * Developing rich visual content for weekly newsletters. * Applying creativity to adhoc projects. * Always striving to create work that contributes towards the client’s business goals. * Researching competitors and staying current with design and marketing trends. * Delivering constructive feedback. * Taking accountability for flawless design output. * Contributing innovative ideas at creative review meetings. * Protecting brand integrity and guardianship. * Drive the delivery of work on time and to the highest standard by understanding your team's capabilities. * Advocate DEPT® as an employer of choice and support in interviewing. WHAT YOU BRING: * 3-5 years of digital design experience * You are well versed in working in an agency context and have relevant experience covering brand, direct and above the line creative work. * Keen to build client relations and pitch ideas to them. * Good eye for layout, skilled in typesetting and retouching * Proficient using digital design software (i.e. Figma, Adobe CS, Google Suite) * Keen to adopt Gen AI tools into day to day design workflow. * A great teammate that supports their colleagues and doesn’t act as an individual. * Very organised with attention to detail. * A great source for up-to-the-minute creative knowledge and digital design trends. * Works with grit and determination in the face of demanding deadlines. * Has a desire to embrace new skills and challenges. WHAT DO WE OFFER? * A flexible hybrid working policy to enjoy the best of both worlds. * Early Finish Fridays, kickstart your weekend early with alternating early-finish Fridays. * 15 days paid holiday annually, increasing with length of service (plus Public Holidays). * Birthday Leave, a paid day-off each year. * Access to dedicated mental health resources including enhanced sick pay scheme, employee assistance programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders. * Dept Allowance, a dedicated company contribution to spend on either your professional development or personal wellbeing. * Refreshments are provided in the office all week. * Enhanced family friendly policies to support parents. * Learning and Development, continuous growth opportunities through internal training, and "inspirational talks” guest speakers. * Buddy Program, you will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you navigate your first weeks’ at DEPT®. * A Certified BCorp Agency and is multi-award winning “Agency of the Year”. * Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together! * Global DEPT® Cares Month, an annual initiative where our teams donate their professional skills and time to support local charities and pr-bono projects. The anticipated annual salary range for this position is $60,000 - $70,000 CAD. Salary is based on relevant experience, expertise, and organizational impact. WHY DEPT®? We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA. We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter. At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build. AI Disclosure: At DEPT®, we use AI-assisted technology (Metaview) to capture notes and summarize interview conversations, so our interviewers can stay fully focused. Using the AI is optional, just let us know if you’d prefer it not be used. DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us. Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here. #LI-Remote
This is a 6 month fixed term employee contract initially, with a likelihood of extension. Toronto, hybrid DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021. JOB PURPOSE: This role is part of our Global Studios team. We create emotive yet conversion-focused ideas, products and campaigns at scale and speed. Our specialty is hyper-personalised, digital communications that change perceptions, shape new behaviours, and shift market share for our clients. As an Account Supervisor, you will oversee the delivery of a wide variety of campaigns. You will project-manage the production process end to end and assist in leading a client services team alongside your global counterparts. You will represent DEPT® to our clients, adding value to relationships beyond organizational skills—doing a mix of account management and strategic planning, not your typical suit. As an Account Supervisor you will be responsible for building strong relationships with clients while overseeing the delivery of a wide variety of integrated campaigns. You will be required to manage client briefs, plan, assign, review, and deploy creative as well as manage the overall agency workload in partnership with the rest of the team. You will be working closely with Designers, Copywriters, Developers and other parts of the agency to ensure successful campaign deliveries; while maintaining agency profitability and a high level of creative integrity. WHAT YOU’LL DO: * Manage, draft and review client briefs * Ensure client deadlines are met across multiple campaigns while partnering with the Account Director on team capacity and prioritisation * Liaise with clients, clarifying questions, managing expectations, and proactively communicating updates and recommendations * Clearly and effectively distill and transfer client feedback to designers, copywriters, and cross-functional teams * Navigate ambiguous or unstructured client requests, identifying gaps and providing strategic direction and context for internal teams * Apply a strategic lens to client asks, assessing feasibility and next steps before moving work into production * Prioritise workloads for the team and escalate when needed * Build strong client relationships through regular meetings, planning sessions, and ongoing partnership * Work collaboratively with creative, strategy, and production teams to deliver high-quality CRM and digital communications under tight timelines * Ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget, and to a high creative standard * Maintain a strong understanding of DEPT® products and services and identify opportunities to add value for clients * Escalate internal or external issues that may positively or negatively impact accounts WHAT YOU BRING: * Demonstrable agency experience in Client Services, preferably in a Senior Account Manager or Account Supervisor role * Experience delivering multi-channel marketing communications including digital, CRM, and email marketing * Experience with or working knowledge of CRM platforms such as Iterable, Braze, or Salesforce Marketing Cloud is preferred * Deep understanding of production and interactive processes * Extremely organised, with the ability to manage multiple projects, shifting priorities, and tight timelines effectively * Comfortable dealing with ambiguity and navigating unstructured client requests with a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset * Strategic thinker with the ability to assess client requests critically and determine clear next steps * Strong communication, relationship management, and stakeholder management skills * Highly motivated, collaborative, and eager to learn and grow WE OFFER * A flexible, hybrid/remote working policy * An excellent salary based on experience and equal pay policies * Mental health support, and company sick pay scheme. * 15 days paid holiday annually (plus Public Holidays). * Refreshments are provided in the office all week * Enhanced family friendly policies to support new parents. * Social and Cultural Events, plenty of opportunities to connect with colleagues through organised activities and celebrations. * Inspirational Talks, bringing the outside in with regular guest speakers and events. * Learning and Development, supporting your growth with continuous opportunities to learn and advance. * Buddy Programme: You will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you through your first weeks’ at DEPT®. * A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021 and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards. * Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together! * The opportunity for possibility. We want to enable you to do what you do best and help you develop your skills further with training, development and certifications. * Global annual DEPT® Cares Month in which employees come together and donate their skills to support local charities. The anticipated annual salary range for this position is $70,000 – $80,000 CAD. Salary is based on relevant experience, expertise, and organizational impact. AI Disclosure: At DEPT®, we use AI-assisted technology (Metaview) to capture notes and summarize interview conversations, so our interviewers can stay fully focused. Using the AI is optional, just let us know if you’d prefer it not be used. This posting reflects an existing vacancy at DEPT®. WHY DEPT®? We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA. We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter. At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build. DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us. Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.
Are you ready to revolutionize the advertising industry? At Cognitiv, we are not just another AdTech company—we are industry trailblazers redefining media buying with our Deep Learning Advertising Platform. Since 2015, we have harnessed the power of cutting-edge deep learning technology and data science to transform how brands connect with their customers. Our mission? To bring intelligence to advertising and deliver unparalleled precision, relevance, and impact at scale. With our innovative platform, advertisers enjoy unprecedented flexibility—whether it is activating Dynamic Deals through their preferred DSP, leveraging our managed service DSP, or utilizing our industry-first ContextGPT product. As a part of Cognitiv, you will be at the forefront of AI-driven advertising solutions, driving change and achieving remarkable growth in a rapidly evolving industry. Now, we’re growing! The Role As a Staff Software Engineer, Big Data, you will define and drive the long-term technical direction of the data platform that powers Cognitiv's AI-driven advertising products. You will lead the architecture and evolution of critical data systems spanning ingestion, warehousing, machine learning feature generation, identity resolution, and activation at massive scale. As a senior technical leader, you will identify systemic challenges, align teams around durable solutions, and drive complex initiatives that span engineering, science, machine learning, and product organizations. Your work will shape the scalability, reliability, and strategic capabilities of Cognitiv's data platform for years to come. Location: Our Vancouver office will open on September 1 in Mount Pleasant. The Founding Engineering team will work remotely through the summer. Starting September 1, the role will transition to a hybrid model: in-office Monday-Wednesday, with remote flexibility on Thursday and Friday. Your Impact In this role, success is measured by the durability of your technical solutions, the health of the data platform, and your influence across the engineering organization. You will: * Lead Platform Architecture: Define and evolve the architecture of Cognitiv's large-scale data platform, ensuring ingestion, storage, processing, and serving systems can scale to support future business growth, AI initiatives, and increasing data volumes. * Drive Multi-Team Data Initiatives: Lead complex, cross-functional programs spanning Data Engineering, Machine Learning, Science, and Product teams. Align stakeholders, reduce execution risk, and deliver outcomes that improve platform capabilities across the organization. * Shape Long-Term Technical Direction: Evaluate architectural tradeoffs with a 3–5 year horizon, establish technical standards and paved-road solutions, and drive modernization efforts that improve scalability, reliability, developer productivity, and operational efficiency. * Elevate Reliability and Operational Excellence: Lead architecture reviews, failure-mode analysis, and incident retrospectives. Establish mechanisms to proactively identify, prioritize, and reduce technical risk across critical data systems. * Own Cost and Efficiency at Scale: Treat cost as a first-class architectural dimension for a multi-petabyte data platform. Lead cost vs. performance tradeoff decisions across storage tiering, compute, file layout, and data movement, and build the visibility and guardrails that let teams reason about unit economics when they design systems. * Advance Data and ML Platform Capabilities: Guide the evolution of foundational systems including the identity graph, ML feature platform, feature projection infrastructure, warehouse architecture, and large-scale distributed processing frameworks. * Partner on Strategic Priorities: Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Science, and Machine Learning leadership to align platform investments with business objectives, balancing technical debt, platform health, and product velocity. * Grow Engineering Talent: Mentor senior engineers and emerging technical leaders. Raise engineering standards through design reviews, architectural guidance, technical artifacts, and thoughtful coaching. Tech Stack: Java/Python, Spark, Flink, Kafka, Iceberg, ClickHouse, and AWS services (EMR, EKS, S3) Who You Are * Staff-Level Technical Leader. You bring 10+ years of experience building and evolving large-scale distributed systems, data platforms, or backend infrastructure, with a track record of influencing technical direction beyond a single team. * Expert in Big Data Systems. You have deep experience designing and operating large-scale data processing platforms using technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Flink, Iceberg, ClickHouse, or similar distributed systems. * Architectural Thinker. You have led architectural decisions for complex systems and can balance scalability, performance, reliability, maintainability, and business needs when making technical tradeoffs. * Cross-Team Influencer. You have successfully driven complex initiatives across multiple teams and functions, aligning stakeholders around durable technical solutions without direct authority. * Cloud-Native Systems Builder. You have extensive experience building and operating data-intensive systems in cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP. * Strategic Problem Solver. You identify systemic technical challenges, proactively create solutions, and drive execution with minimal guidance. * Mentor and Multiplier. You elevate the effectiveness of engineers around you through mentorship, technical leadership, and establishing engineering best practices. * Exceptional Communicator. You effectively communicate technical strategy, architectural decisions, and tradeoffs to engineering leaders, product stakeholders, and executive audiences. Bonus Points If You Have * Experience designing, scaling, and maintaining petabyte-scale data platforms * Expertise in distributed systems architecture and large-scale data processing * Experience building ML infrastructure, feature stores, or feature engineering platforms * Experience driving platform modernization or data architecture transformations * Experience operating in high-growth startup or scale-up environments * Deep familiarity with Flink, ClickHouse, Kafka, Iceberg, or similar modern data technologies What We Offer At Cognitiv, we believe great work happens when people feel supported, challenged, and empowered to grow. Our Vancouver team receives a competitive total rewards package that includes extended health benefits, paid parental leave, unlimited PTO, Work-From-Anywhere August, equity, RRSP matching, wellness and cell phone stipends, daily team lunches, and a hybrid work environment. We also invest deeply in career development through clear advancement paths and comprehensive onboarding via Cognitiv University — plus additional perks designed to support both your professional and personal wellbeing. Salary: $170,000 - $240,000 CAD Base Salary + Equity WHAT WE OFFER Compensation is based on experience, skills, and other factors. Base salary is just one part of your total rewards at Cognitiv—you’ll also receive equity and a comprehensive benefits package. Highlights include: * Medical, Dental and Vision plan for US employees & Extended Health Benefits for Canadian employees * 12 weeks paid parental leave + 4 weeks WFH * Unlimited PTO + Work-From-Anywhere August * Career development with clear advancement paths * Equity for all employees * Hybrid work model & daily team lunch * Health & wellness stipend + cell phone reimbursement * 401(k) & RRSP with employer match * Parking (CA, WA, Vancouver offices) & pre-tax commuter benefits * Employee Assistance Program * Comprehensive onboarding (Cognitiv University) * …and more! WHAT YOU’LL FIND AT COGNITIV * Festiv – We make work fun with cross-team games, events, and creative team bonding. * Responsiv – You’ll be close to clients and leadership, influencing real outcomes. * Inclusiv – Diversity and individuality are celebrated across all levels. * Inventiv – We reward curiosity and embrace bold ideas. * Transformativ – We support your growth with training, mentorship, and flexibility. * Collaborativ – We operate across coasts, connected by purpose and teamwork. Cognitiv is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all. Note on AI Use: Cognitiv may use AI technology to assist with certain administrative aspects of the hiring process, such as note-taking, interview documentation, and reporting. However, every resume and application is reviewed directly by our recruiting team. AI tools are used solely for operational support and do not influence candidate evaluation or hiring decisions.