Brand Operations & Digital Asset Management Lead

Brand Operations & Digital Asset Management Lead Alternative titles: DAM Manager, Brand Operations Manager, Brand Asset & Guidelines Manager, or Director of Brand Operations & DAM depending on experience level. Company: FUR4 Role Type: Full-time Reports To: Founder / Brand Owner / Executive Leadership Works closely with: CMO, COO/CTO, Product, Catalog, Sales, Retailer Onboarding, Creative, Legal/Compliance, Marketplace, Web, AI, and service-provider teams. Role Summary: FUR4 is looking for a highly organized, detail-driven Brand Operations & Digital Asset Management Lead to own, maintain, and continuously improve the company’s brand guidelines, DAM, public-approved asset system, Brand.FUR4.com, Brandfolder structure, and daily public-facing creative asset audit process. This role is responsible for making sure every public, partner-facing, retailer-facing, marketplace-facing, and AI/search-visible FUR4 asset is accurate, approved, properly named, properly tagged, correctly sized, source-traceable, and used according to written brand guidelines. This is not a social media management role, a PR role, or a campaign-management role. This is a brand operations, DAM governance, asset QA, metadata, approval workflow, and brand consistency role. The person in this role will help convert FUR4’s creative direction into a structured, searchable, scalable operating system that internal teams, external partners, retailers, catalog managers, service providers, search engines, AI tools, and crawlers can understand and follow. Why This Role Exists FUR4 has a strong brand foundation, but the current audit shows that the public asset and brand-guideline system still needs to be fully operationalized. The audit identifies Brand.FUR4.com / Brandfolder as the official production master asset source, FUR4.com as the live consumer-facing product and messaging reference, PAF/catalog data as the SKU and product-data source, and David’s owner-approved Illustrator files as the final design authority. The audit also shows that the current system still needs final Illustrator/source files, packaged fonts, swatches, logo vectors, dielines, Brandfolder export/API access, official font confirmation, claim/trademark review, naming normalization, metadata, and asset approval status before the system can reliably guide the team and partners. This role exists to close that gap. The person in this role will make sure FUR4 does not have broken images, distorted images, wrong product variants, outdated claims, missing metadata, inconsistent file names, unapproved public assets, unclear public/private asset rules, or AI/crawler-visible brand inconsistencies. Core Responsibilities 1. Own the DAM and Brand.FUR4.com System Manage Brand.FUR4.com / Brandfolder as the official brand and asset source of truth. Maintain all approved brand assets, product images, packaging images, lifestyle images, videos, logos, feature icons, claims, creative assets, campaign files, sales assets, and partner materials. Organize assets into clear directories such as logos, product images, product videos, promotional images, lifestyle images, influencer videos, information, marketplaces, social content, press assets, dog content, cat content, packaging, product design, training/AI, and source samples. Ensure every asset has a clear owner, approval status, version number, source file, usage rule, channel rule, country rule, and public/private designation. Maintain a complete asset inventory that includes file name, asset type, SKU, product line, dimensions, ratio, format, usage rights, source URL, CDN URL, tags, description, approval status, modified date, and owner. 2. Maintain Written Brand Guidelines Translate approved brand direction into clear, written rules the team and partners can actually follow. Maintain guidelines for logos, marks, slogans, taglines, claims, product imagery, feature graphics, packaging, videos, icons, badges, CTAs, review graphics, campaign assets, marketplace assets, retailer assets, and partner downloads. Create do/don’t examples so teams understand what is approved, what is wrong, and why. Document rules by asset type, property, channel, product line, SKU, country, territory, language, and use case. Ensure public assets are supported by written usage instructions so AI tools, crawlers, search engines, service providers, and partners know how to treat them. 3. Manage Public vs. Private Asset Governance Define and maintain which assets are public, private, gated, partner-only, source-only, internal-only, legal-review-only, draft, retired, or approved for public use. Ensure only approved, customer-safe, partner-safe, SEO-safe, AI-safe assets are public and crawlable. Keep source Illustrator files, layered files, raw renders, unreleased product assets, legal-review drafts, pending claims, internal pricing, retailer-specific terms, contracts, sensitive CAD/GLB files, and strategy documents private or gated unless approved for release. Make sure the right public assets are discoverable for SEO, search, AI, retailers, partners, and customers, while protecting sensitive or unapproved materials. 4. Daily Public Creative Asset Audit Run a daily audit of FUR4’s public and partner-facing creative footprint. This includes FUR4.com, Brand.FUR4.com, Dealer.FUR4.com, Catalog.FUR4.com, Pro.FUR4.com, Refer.FUR4.com, Brandfolder, online marketplaces, retailer portals, distributor sites, sales channel sites, catalog systems, PDP pages, social channels, paid ads, email assets, press assets, partner downloads, CDN links, and public image URLs. Check for broken images, blocked images, distorted images, wrong file sizes, wrong aspect ratios, outdated assets, incorrect claims, wrong product variants, wrong grip colors, incorrect SKU mapping, missing alt text, missing metadata, unapproved public assets, and inconsistent brand usage. Maintain a correction log and make sure issues are fixed quickly. 5. Product Image and Variant Accuracy Ensure product images show the correct grip color, correct species, correct coat type, four deShedding edges, SafetyNubs, silver body geometry, and no harsh metal blade appearance. Ensure Long Hair Dog, Short Hair Dog, Long Hair Cat, and Short Hair Cat assets are not mixed or mislabeled. Maintain image rules for PDP, marketplace, packaging, retail sell sheets, social, paid ads, training, support, dealer portals, catalog pages, press, and AI reference. Maintain multiple approved image sizes and aspect ratios so assets are not stretched, squeezed, distorted, cropped incorrectly, or compressed poorly. 6. SEO, Search, AI, and Crawler Readiness Make sure public assets are named, tagged, described, and structured so search engines, AI systems, crawlers, catalog systems, marketplace systems, and partners understand what each asset is and how it should be used. Maintain SEO titles, alt text, metadata, descriptions, file names, structured tags, source URLs, and usage rules. Ensure AI tools are pointed only to approved assets and approved brand guidelines. Prevent public-facing inconsistency from becoming the version that search engines, AI, partners, retailers, and customers learn from. 7. Approval Workflow and SLA Management Create and manage a request-and-approval workflow for new assets. For example, if the dealer portal needs a pallet image, the request should include the use case, destination property, product/SKU, country, required size/ratio, deadline, mockup, and approval owner. Route assets to the correct reviewer, collect feedback, track approval, finalize exports, upload approved versions, tag them properly, add usage rules, and retire old versions. Maintain a one-business-day response SLA for launch-critical asset requests. The asset does not always have to be completed in one day, but the request must receive approval, revision notes, or escalation within one business day. 8. Brandfolder Export and Completion Plan Coordinate Brandfolder export/API access so the company has a complete asset inventory. The audit notes that Brand.FUR4.com publicly confirms the 348-asset Brandfolder collection and the Web Store Images collection, but full asset details require export/API/login access. This role is responsible for closing that gap and maintaining the completed inventory. Normalize file names using the approved naming structure. Map old/original file names to FUR4 production names. Track asset status as approved, draft, retired, pending legal review, internal-only, partner-only, or public-approved. 9. Claims, Trademark, and Compliance Coordination Work with brand, legal, product, and compliance teams to verify usage rules for claims and protected terms. Maintain rules for FUR4, FUR4 deShedding Tool, SafetyNubs™, PolyCarboMax™, Long Hair Dog, Short Hair Dog, Long Hair Cat, Short Hair Cat, “No harsh metal blades,” “300% more deShedding area,” and “Reduces shedding up to 95%.” Ensure claims are only used where approved, sourced, channel-appropriate, and country-appropriate. Flag legal, country, packaging, advertising, marketplace, and international usage risks before publication. 10. Cross-Functional Coordination Work daily with leadership, CMO, COO/CTO, creative, product, catalog, sales, marketplace, web, legal, compliance, retailer onboarding, and outside service providers. Attend daily operating meetings so asset needs are known before teams are blocked. Track what is launching, what is being revised, what is going to retailers, what is being uploaded to marketplaces, what needs approval, and what needs to be created next. Serve as the operating layer between creative direction and execution. Required Skills Strong experience managing a DAM, Brandfolder, Bynder, Canto, Adobe Experience Manager Assets, Widen, Frontify, Brandpad, or similar asset-management platform. Strong understanding of brand guidelines, brand governance, creative operations, file naming, metadata, tagging, taxonomy, rights management, version control, and approval workflows. Ability to build and maintain clear brand usage rules for humans, partners, service providers, search engines, AI systems, and automation workflows. Strong knowledge of digital asset formats including AI, EPS, SVG, PNG, JPG, WebP, PDF, MP4, MOV, GLB, PSD, layered source files, and production exports. Ability to manage public vs. private assets, permissions, gated access, partner downloads, and crawler-visible content. Strong QA eye for visual consistency, distortion, image ratio issues, broken image links, incorrect versions, wrong product variants, wrong colors, and incorrect brand usage. Understanding of SEO basics, image metadata, alt text, structured naming, crawlability, search visibility, and AI-readiness. Ability to create asset cards, usage rules, file naming systems, image-size standards, country rules, and approval checklists. Strong project-management discipline with ability to manage daily audits, correction logs, deadlines, approvals, and cross-functional blockers. Excellent written communication skills. High attention to detail and comfort working in fast-moving environments. Required Experience 5+ years of experience in brand operations, creative operations, DAM management, digital asset management, marketing operations, catalog operations, ecommerce content operations, or a closely related role. Direct experience managing a large DAM or brand asset library with hundreds or thousands of assets. Experience supporting ecommerce, marketplaces, retail channels, distributor portals, catalog teams, product data teams, or multi-channel brand execution. Experience working with creative directors, brand owners, marketing teams, product teams, legal/compliance teams, and outside agencies. Experience creating and enforcing naming conventions, metadata standards, approval workflows, asset lifecycle rules, and usage guidelines. Experience with product-image governance, SKU/variant mapping, product-content standards, and channel-specific asset requirements. Experience operating under tight timelines with daily QA, launch deadlines, and fast approval cycles. Preferred Experience Experience with Brandfolder specifically. Experience with pet, CPG, retail, ecommerce, marketplace, consumer product, or omnichannel brands. Experience supporting Amazon, Chewy, Walmart, Shopify, retailer portals, distributor portals, PIM systems, PAF files, GS1/GTIN data, or catalog onboarding workflows. Experience with AI content workflows, prompt libraries, AI guardrails, AI asset-reference systems, or machine-readable brand guidelines. Experience with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Figma, Canva, Shopify, WordPress, DAM APIs, CDN URLs, and image transformation tools. Experience coordinating claims, trademarks, localization, country-specific rules, and international asset usage. Experience building public brand portals, partner portals, retailer asset hubs, or searchable brand-guideline systems. Key Deliverables Completed Brand.FUR4.com / Brandfolder asset inventory. Final public/private asset governance model. Clean asset directory and naming convention. Complete metadata, alt text, tags, descriptions, and usage notes for approved assets. Daily public creative asset audit process. One-business-day asset request and approval workflow. Written brand guidelines by asset type, property, channel, country, and product line. Approved image-size and aspect-ratio standards. Product-image rules for every SKU and variant. Claims and trademark usage matrix. Public-approved SEO/search/AI-ready asset directory. Service-provider QA scorecard. Correction log for broken, distorted, outdated, or incorrect public assets. Monthly brand consistency report. Daily Responsibilities Review public-facing FUR4 assets across owned sites, Brand.FUR4.com, Brandfolder, marketplaces, retailer portals, distributor sites, partner downloads, public URLs, and sales channel pages. Check for broken images, distorted images, missing metadata, outdated assets, incorrect product variants, wrong grip colors, unapproved claims, and incorrect public/private exposure. Route approval requests and make sure launch-critical assets receive approval, revision notes, or escalation within one business day. Update the DAM with new assets, retired assets, tags, descriptions, source URLs, usage rules, channel rules, country rules, and approval status. Attend daily operating meetings to identify upcoming asset needs before teams are blocked. Weekly Responsibilities Review new and changed assets with brand, marketing, product, catalog, legal/compliance, and sales teams. Update brand guidelines based on new approvals, new products, new claims, new campaigns, or new retailer requirements. Audit marketplace and retailer pages for consistency. Review service-provider outputs against the QA scorecard. Report unresolved asset issues, approval delays, missing files, and launch blockers. Success Metrics Percent of assets with complete metadata, tags, descriptions, owner, source URL, approval status, and usage rules. Percent of public assets correctly classified as public, private, gated, partner-only, draft, retired, or approved. Reduction in broken, distorted, outdated, or incorrect public assets. Reduction in rework, rendering revisions, and asset-related delays. One-business-day response rate for launch-critical asset requests. Marketplace, retailer, catalog, dealer portal, and PDP asset accuracy. Improvement in brand consistency across decks, catalogs, web pages, marketplaces, packaging, social, sales materials, and AI outputs. Number of assets properly mapped to SKU, product line, channel, country, and usage status. Number of outdated or incorrect assets retired. Partner and internal team adoption of Brand.FUR4.com as the source of truth. Ideal Candidate Profile The ideal candidate is a highly organized brand-operations professional who has managed a real DAM before and understands that brand consistency is not just design taste. It is file structure, metadata, naming, permissions, approvals, source control, image sizing, public/private governance, channel rules, country rules, daily QA, and constant maintenance. This person should be comfortable working with executives, designers, marketers, catalog teams, ecommerce teams, legal, service providers, and AI workflows. They should be able to move quickly without being sloppy and enforce structure without slowing the company down. They should understand that every public asset is part of the brand system. If it is public, search engines, AI, crawlers, retailers, partners, and customers can see it. Therefore, it needs to be accurate, approved, documented, searchable, properly sized, and governed. Recommended First 90 Days First 30 Days Complete Brandfolder export/API inventory. Map all current assets into approved directories. Identify broken, distorted, outdated, duplicate, missing, or unapproved assets. Confirm public/private status for existing assets. Build the first version of the daily public asset audit checklist. Create the launch-critical asset request workflow. Days 31–60 Complete naming normalization and metadata standards. Add asset cards for priority logos, product images, packaging images, claims, feature graphics, videos, and marketplace assets. Create approved image-size and aspect-ratio standards by channel. Build claims and trademark usage matrix. Publish first version of Brand.FUR4.com usage rules. Implement correction log and weekly reporting. Days 61–90 Complete public-approved asset directory. Roll out partner/service-provider usage instructions. Implement one-business-day approval SLA. Connect AI workflows to approved assets and guidelines only. Publish do/don’t examples. Create monthly brand consistency report. Identify remaining staffing, vendor, or system gaps. Suggested Role Level Given the urgency, visibility, and complexity, this should not be treated as an entry-level or first-time DAM role. The company needs someone who has either already managed a large DAM before or is directly supported by an experienced DAM/brand-operations consultant. A good title would be: Director of Brand Operations & Digital Asset Management if the person has senior experience and can build the system from scratch. Brand Operations & DAM Manager if the person has hands-on DAM experience and will work under executive/creative direction. Brand Asset Coordinator would be too junior unless paired with a senior DAM consultant or experienced brand-ops lead.