Design Director

Here is a cross-disciplinary independent branding agency that has been building desire for global & luxury icons for twenty years. From ideas to impact, Here helps bring brands to life. Redesigning iconic brands such as Bacardi and 7UP, creating award-winning identities for luxury hotels like the Fife Arms, and working with purpose-led brands such as Planet Organic and Two Drifters.

We are looking for a Design Director, with an outstanding portfolio in contemporary branding and the ability to direct motion, websites, digital, and art direction, to join our multi-disciplinary team.

About the Design Team:

Our Design Team work across a range of design disciplines with a multitude of skill sets. From brand identities to books, our designers collaborate closely with all disciplines across the studio to bring creative excellence and disruptive thinking to life.

Who you are:

An inspirational and resilient leader of creative work and teams, and a champion of the Here philosophy and mission through and through. A strategic thinker, constantly aware of the bigger picture and striving to achieve it in all that we do Here.

Experience:

A strong and successful track record of award-winning work. You take a leadership role in delivering standout creative excellence across all disciplines. Your presentations are clear, beautifully designed and awe-inspiring, and set the standard for work across the studio.

Why you are Here:

As Design Director, your role is to manage several projects at once, of varying size and complexity, directing the team to embrace all creative and administrative challenges as opportunities and to focus on finding solutions. You are an exemplary leader of design, but your creative thinking extends beyond this. You enable brilliant ideas to flourish across disciplines, inspiring the work to be the best it can. You have become a creative leader with influence over all departments involved in projects. You foster connected relationships within all disciplines and act as the 'go-to' creative design authority both internally and externally.

Your time is split between overseeing projects and teams, high level administrative work, and a small amount of design, mostly in the form of shaping narratives in presentations and conceptual work. You are empowered to shape projects to your own vision, but always honour the creative needs of all team members and champion the best ideas, giving credit due to wherever they have come from.

You have a solid understanding of Here's mission, philosophy and strategic objectives for the future. You act as an ambassador for Here’s philosophy of Beautility and mission of making good choices desirable and lead with that mindset.

You show initiative in actively collaborating across disciplines to develop new business, identifying and activating opportunities to secure financial growth within existing client relationships and in diversification of new industries and brands. You take a leading role in pitching opportunities to your clients, advocating Here's offers/products available to them.

You support the Creative Director in identifying opportunities for growth within the team, with a focus on meeting Here's philosophy, mission and according to business need. You take the lead at interview stage and are responsible for shortlisting future talent for the Creative Director's final consideration.

You are fully on-top of Here's bigger picture strategy, the clients needs and all detail of project asks and deadlines. You forge long lasting, strategic client/studio partnerships and foster implicit trust between the two, driving forward the relationship. You ensure firm commitment from all stakeholders and empower Here and the client to achieve fantastic creative outcomes with measurable success.

You share your experience, insight and demonstration of Here's values and behaviours whilst actively representing Here at key industry events and supporting the Brand Team in raising the profile of Here's work, studio, philosophy and mission.

You advise the Client Services team on design team members for allocation across projects according to suitability based on their skillset, areas of interest, development opportunities and availability. You partner with them to ensure realistic expectations of proper resources and timings on projects, informing proposals and guiding workflow throughout the full creative process.

You share responsibility for line managing the design team at Here. You regularly check in with your team, nurturing them towards and creating opportunities for greater and greater success, supporting their well-being and taking them competently through the performance management process throughout the year.

You foster collaboration and are instrumental in making sure all voices are heard, supported and championed. You improve team morale by inspiring excitement, enthusiasm, inclusive mindsets and a positive work ethic.

What we offer:

• 4.5 day working week (9:30 - 18:00 Monday – Thursday, 09:30 – 13:30 Friday, every Friday afternoon off)
• Hybrid working – we currently work Tuesday and Thursdays together at our studio, with the option to WFH on Monday/Wednesday/Friday
• Bi-weekly Friday Lunches
• £100 gift on your birthday
• Seasonal socials (our Beautility Days)
• Free weekly Yoga
• National Art Pass – up to 50% off exhibitions
• Vitality healthcare membership – incl. incentives free cinema tickets and 50% off a pair of sports shoes
• Cycle to work scheme and in-studio storage
• 20 days holiday pro-rata
• 25 days holiday pro-rata after 5 years’ service
• 30 days holiday pro-rata after 10 years’ service
• Studio closed between Christmas and New Year’s, often extended beyond this (in addition to your A/L allowance)
• Option to carry over 4.5 days holiday to use by 31 March
• Tailored professional development plan
• Free confidential therapy sessions via our partnership with Self Space