Design Director

A global design agency with strong FMCG packaging credentials has built a distinctive operational model: creative teams distributed internationally but coordinated through focused portfolios. Their York studio needs a Design Director who can provide essential local leadership while staying hands-on with the work.

The Role
You’ll lead the York team – four designers and two artworkers – while remaining actively involved in the creative work yourself. This is local leadership within a global structure, reporting to a Creative Director based internationally but owning the day-to-day creative direction and team development on the ground.

Your portfolio spans FMCG and food packaging for major accounts, with scope expanding into point-of-sale, digital, e-commerce, and shopper marketing. You’ll guide both creative output and operational delivery, working across the agency’s global portfolio structure where creative, client, programme, and strategy teams collaborate internationally.

The role requires strong foundational knowledge in adaptive design and the technical depth to lead both creatively and operationally. You’ll shape how concepts evolve from start to finish while developing the capabilities of your team.

The Package
£55,000 – £60,000
Hybrid working
Great work/life balance
Brilliant client list

The Person
You’re a Design Director currently working at an FMCG-focused agency or brand consultancy with solid packaging design foundations and proven team leadership experience. 

You’re comfortable with adaptive design systems and have the technical depth to guide teams both creatively and operationally. 

You want a role where your judgement and taste shape the work rather than simply executing senior decisions, and you’re looking to establish yourself as a creative leader whose thinking defines quality and ambition.