OVERVIEW
Citarella is one of the most iconic premium food retailers in the United States, built on more than a century of culinary heritage and an uncompromising commitment to quality. Established in New York City in 1912 as a neighborhood seafood shop, the company has evolved into a family-run gourmet market destination known for “fresh from the source” standards, deep product expertise, and a hospitality-forward customer experience.
Today, Citarella operates specialty markets across New York City, the Hamptons, and Greenwich, Connecticut. The brand is widely recognized for extraordinary seafood and a best-in-class assortment of prime dry-aged meats, chef-prepared foods, scratch-made pastries, artisanal cheeses, cured meats, smoked fish, and a curated lineup of private-label products. Its reputation rests on craftsmanship, pride, operational discipline, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
Citarella’s next chapter requires scaling this high-standard, founder-driven business into a durable, professionally managed enterprise capable of sustained growth across markets and channels—while preserving the quality, culture, and customer intimacy that define the brand.
Role and Responsibilities
The Art Director/Creative Lead will collaborate closely with the Marketing team, ownership, and participate in the planning and lead the execution of the visual component of marketing efforts, promoting and strengthening the Citarella gourmet brand and sub-brands in adherence to the Citarella brand positioning all while managing deadlines and priorities. They will be working on variety of projects including cross platform, digital and physical touch points and branding initiatives—leading, directing, and executing the design and production of visual and audio/video materials used for digital media, and web communications. As a highly skilled graphic designer, this individual must be able to translate our brand and value into visually stimulating and engaging designs that showcase our delicious food, amazing people and unique processes. This role would span across the organization supporting various departments with a wide range of design collateral and play a pivotal part in the evolution of the Citarella brand in and out of the store. Their responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Leadership & Project Management
- Oversee content specialist, junior and freelance graphic designers, and outline/define projects and deliverables, developing tools and templates for team.
- Manage project deadlines and moving priorities and keep up with content changes for all projects.
- Adhere to timeline processes and come up with solutions when appropriate.
- Be the lead on day to day digital and print projects and initiatives specific to Citarella including menu design, store signage, advertisement, and packaging.
- Assist with managing the printing process of all collateral, whether in-house, or through an approved vendor, this includes the ability to prepare cost effective designs.
- Retail & Brand Design
- Develop design templates and creative assets across all forms of media that effectively and cohesively communicate Citarella’s brand identity, including but not limited to the hands-on design and production of layouts, color palettes, typography, user interface elements and icons.
- Responsible for the Citarella Brand Style book including new or updated guidelines required for the brand or sub brands
- Build and maintain the Citarella brand in adherence to defined brand parameters in-store, on-line and in all communication pieces both internal and customer-facing.
- Design, develop and execute graphic collateral and creative assets for the marketing / promotional team and other departments as requested, in an effort to entice consumers and help raise traffic across all marketing channels.
- Private Label & Packaging Design
- Understand the needs, develop the design and ensure seamless production of private label packaging and labeling projects from conception to completion.
- Digital & Web
- Translate the needs of the website and ecommerce team to provide an optimal customer online experience for the brand.
- Design and develop web ready digital assets, marketing ads and campaigns.
- Support Marketing Manager and Social Specialist to create engaging graphics/content in an effort to increase social engagement.
Qualifications and Education Requirements
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design preferred and a minimum of 5 years of experience as the lead for design and video creation.
- Expert level skills in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Microsoft PowerPoint.
