Work at The Kitchen
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Junior Digital Designer
The Kitchen is looking for a junior digital designer to create the thumbnails, graphics, carousels, and visual content behind the biggest brand in pickleball. We are a small team in a very fast paced environment, so this role is hands-on and collaborative. Full-time, part-time, and internship arrangements all work, in Austin or remote.
To be clear: design and making graphics will be the main focus of this job. We are looking for a talented designer above all. Social media experience is a plus, not a requirement, and the entire team helps post content.
If you are early in your career, this is a rare amount of real responsibility, fast. You will contribute in a meaningful way from week one: make something in the morning and post it to an audience of over a million pickleball fans thirty minutes later.
This is a paid role, with compensation based on skills and experience.
Responsibilities
- Design YouTube thumbnails, Instagram graphics, and IG carousels
- Help create Instagram news stories and other static social content
- Assist with social giveaways and affiliate or sponsored content
- Post content directly to our social media channels
- Help organize and manage creative assets
Requirements
- A portfolio with examples of your work. This is a must. A site, Behance, or a folder of your best pieces. School projects and freelance work all count
- Strong design skills with Photoshop and other design tools. This is the core of the job
- Ability to create content efficiently using AI platforms such as Claude, ChatGPT, and similar tools
- Organized, detail oriented, and able to move quickly
- Able to work within our existing templates and brand guidelines, and propose new creative directions when you see something better
- Pickleball knowledge is not mandatory, but willingness to understand the sport and the industry is a must
Huge plus
- Social media experience: running accounts, posting for a brand, or a feel for what performs online
- Interest in sports, media, or pickleball
- Basic video editing experience
Client Lead, Brand Partnerships
The Kitchen does two things for its brand partners: we tell their stories, and we help them sell their products. This role owns both, and the first one is the job.
What we need above everything else is a creative agency mindset. You take what a partner gives you, a launch, a founder story, a new product, and spin it into something genuinely interesting for social media that helps them sell. Graphics, carousels, stories, formats we have not tried yet. This is a hard skill and it is rare. If you have it, we want to talk.
The rest of the role is client management done properly. You are the person our partners know: you check in regularly so nothing slips through the cracks, you know exactly what every contract owes them, you run great calls, and you understand what they actually want.
Compensation is based on skills and experience.
Responsibilities
- Hear the client, craft the story, then execute: make the content yourself or outline it clearly enough that another designer can
- Turn partner stories, launches, and products into creative social content that sells: graphics, carousels, stories, and formats we have not tried yet
- Bring partner campaign ideas to the table before partners ask for them
- Own our brand partner relationships as their single point of contact, with regular check-ins so nothing slips and partners are always happy
- Know every contract cold: what each partner is owed, what has shipped, and what is coming
- Run partner calls, understand what they want, and translate it clearly for our content team
- Build performance recaps that prove value, then renew and grow the account
Requirements
- A creative agency mindset. This is the number one requirement: proven ability to tell a brand story on social media in a way that sells product, and we will ask you to show it, not describe it
- Proficiency in Photoshop and other graphic tools is a must. You do not hand every idea to a designer, you can build it yourself
- A marketing and sales mindset. You think about what moves product, not just what looks good
- Native understanding of social media: what works in a carousel versus a story versus a static post, and why
- Experience managing multiple clients or accounts at once, ideally at an agency or media company
- Excellent on calls: organized, warm, and able to push back without losing the room
- Full-time, and preferably in person with us in Austin
Huge plus
- Sponsorship or media sales experience
- Creator economy or sports media background
- You know pickleball, or you will put in the hours to speak it fluently