Associate Design Director (12 Months Maternity Cover)

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

JOB PURPOSE

This position sits in our Marketing & Technology service based in London. We combine data, technology, creative and paid media to crack brands’ business problems and drive revenue through a variety of digital marketing solutions like social, influencer, TTL ad campaigns, augmented reality, AI and innovation. Our clients include eBay, easyJet, Just Eat Takeaway and Pepsico. 

The Associate Design Director is a key creative lead and escalation point within the design team, providing strong design direction, oversight, and mentorship across projects. You’ll manage, inspire, and develop designers at varying levels, ensuring design quality and creative excellence across every output.

With a solid background in art direction, graphic design, motion design and video production, you’ll drive high standards of craft and consistency while supporting the team with hands-on guidance and decisive creative leadership. You’ll be responsible for reviewing and signing off work, upholding brand and business standards, and ensuring that all design deliverables meet strategic and aesthetic goals. Each ADD has ownership of a number of clients, acting as brand guardian, leading a team of designers, whilst upholding client relationships and standards. As ADD you’ll have line management responsibilities, be expected to lead and help evolve the team with their personal and business objectives. Our designers often work on projects that require art direction, graphic design, 2D/3D motion, and editing.

This role combines design management and creative leadership, balancing people development, asset production, resource management and creative innovation. You’ll act as a trusted partner to wider team leads, bringing both vision and practical executional expertise to every project.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead, develop, motivate and inspire the design team on a daily basis
• Suggest best ways of working, hustle for the best outcome and opportunities 
• Work with the Design Director to develop processes, structures and raise the quality of design
• Build a productive and collaborative working relationship with other disciplines across the agency to deliver projects
• Maintain brand consistency throughout all our projects, acting as brand guardian
• Review scopes and collaborate with resource team, to ensure timings reflect best quality outcomes 
• Generate creative ideas and campaign look and feels
• Deliver and inspire innovative and high quality work across all deliverables from the team
• Be a reliable escalation point for design team and wider stakeholders, signing off work and communicating in a timely manner
• Be aware of and respond to current design trends and culture
• Use your experience and ideas to contribute to the development of our creative process 
• Present work internally and externally
• Stay up-to-date with industry development and tools

WHAT YOU BRING

Essential:

• Experience in a Design Manager or Associate Design Director role
• A career in design, showcasing a portfolio/showreel of campaign work 
• Expert technical skills, Adobe suite & Figma, Google Suite
• Experience in video production and post production techniques
• Experience in resource and time management
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 
• A high attention to detail, especially in large scale asset production and sign off 
• Experience in creating and reviewing scopes/timing plans
• Strong aesthetic skills with art direction and graphic design principles 
• Ability to remain focused under pressure within a fast-paced environment
• A love for learning new things and exploring new formats

Nice to have:

• AI design generation and production
• Print production skills
• Experience with 3D & sound

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy
• The choice of medical healthcare providers (Bupa or Medicash) 
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and your birthday off each year
• Company pension scheme 
• EAP scheme
• Ride to work scheme 
• Enhanced family friendly policies
• Buddy Program: You will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you through your first weeks’ at DEPT®.
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021 and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• The opportunity for possibility. We want to enable you to do what you do best and help you develop your skills further with training, development and certifications.
• Global annual DEPT® Cares Month in which employees come together and donate their skills to support local charities.

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION 

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives.

Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine.

We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.