Senior Design Lead

About Lyka:

Lyka was founded in 2018 by Anna Podolsky, inspired by her dog, Lyka, who was suffering from chronic health issues despite being on "premium" kibble. Together with Gabriel Guedes (COO) and Dr. Matthew Muir (Integrative Veterinarian), they built Lyka from the ground up with one core belief: better food can radically improve a pet's healthspan and quality of life.

Lyka's meals are vet-formulated and gently cooked from real food ingredients. Delivered via a flexible subscription model, Lyka meals have driven remarkable improvements for tens of thousands of customers, supporting gut health, reducing intolerances, improving energy and mobility, and even promoting hair growth.

What began as home-cooked meals has since scaled into one of Australia's fastest-growing consumer companies, a vertically integrated, tech-enabled brand that is transforming pet health nationwide.

Lyka now operates from two offices, Sydney (HQ) and Melbourne, with three state-of-the-art food production facilities (two in Sydney, one in Melbourne) and a growing national footprint.

At Lyka, we're not just selling pet food—we're pioneering a new standard of wellness for pets. With strong product-market fit, deep customer love, and a track record of rapid growth, we're now entering our most ambitious chapter yet: building a generational brand and category-defining business with global impact.

The role:

• Lead and mentor a team of 3 designers, fostering a culture of creative excellence and continuous improvement.
• Develop and maintain Lyka's cohesive brand design strategy aligned with business goals and brand objectives.
• Collaborate closely with marketing, product management, partnerships and brand teams to ensure design excellence and alignment with overall brand vision.
• Contribute and lead team on high-impact design projects and campaigns.
• Act as Lyka's brand guardian by upholding brand design standards and guidelines, ensuring consistency and integrity across all design outputs.
• Conduct regular meetings and workshops with cross functional teams to foster a culture of improvement and best practice in adherence to brand guidelines.
• Manage external print and packaging partners and stakeholders ensuring high quality control.
• Manage design team workflows and multiple projects simultaneously, prioritising tasks and resources effectively to meet project milestones and deliverables.
• Stay updated on industry trends, emerging technologies, and design innovations to drive creativity and innovation within the team.

• Bachelor's degree in Design, Fine Arts, or related field
• Proven experience (3+ years) in a senior design role, with a strong portfolio demonstrating creative leadership across marketing, advertising, product design, and branding initiatives.
• Exceptional skills in design software and tools (Adobe Creative Suite, Figma)
• Strong leadership, interpersonal and management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate a team.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design concepts and strategies effectively.
• Strategic thinker with a deep understanding of brand development and design principles.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, managing multiple priorities and deadlines effectively.

• Work in a fast-growing start-up, experiencing what goes on behind the scenes to sustain hyper-growth for a start-up with a physical product
• Growth and Development – Lyka is growing extremely quickly, which means you will have the opportunity to experience different challenges every day and progressively acquire more responsibilities as our facility and team expand. We provide an annual L&D budget for you to continue your personal development.
• Work for a sustainability-focused company – we care about the health of our dogs and our planet. We're proud to be Australia's only carbon-negative and plastic-negative pet wellness company and we're always looking at ways for us to improve sustainability practices.
• Be part of a diverse top-talent team, coming from widely different backgrounds and geographies.
• Up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave top-up
• Wellbeing assistance and tools to take care of your mental and physical wellbeing so you can do your best work
• Pupper parent support to care for your furry friends – flexible arrangements for new pets, pet-friendly offices, discounts, and financial allowance for dog training and care to help them live their best life

We are committed to building inclusive and diverse teams

Lyka is an equal-opportunity employer devoted to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion. We celebrate diversity, are devoted to creating an inclusive environment for all staff and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application.