Design Director

This is an independent, cross-disciplinary branding studio that has spent twenty years building brands for luxury and global icons: spirits, fine fragrance, hospitality, cultural institutions. Its work spans packaging, identity and the physical craft of making beautiful things desirable.

The senior creative layer is being rebuilt from the ground up alongside the partners who are actively deciding how design leadership is structured, and that’s where you come in. 

The Role
You’ll lead creative direction across complex, multi-disciplinary client work – setting the benchmark for quality and shaping how ideas are developed and realised, not just delivered. You’ll hold rooms, lead client conversations, and act as the trusted creative authority the studio currently leans on its partners to be.

The other half of the role is people. You’ll coach and develop designers through a period of growth, identifying strengths and building an environment where strong work is possible. You’ll contribute to new business, and you’ll help shape the studio’s thinking on how its design team is built. The autonomy here is real, and earned quickly. Strong people are given significant room to drive the work and own accounts. 

The Package
£65,000 – £75,000
Hybrid working
4.5-day working week
Great studio with outdoor space

The Person
You’re operating at Design Director level now, most likely within a branding or packaging-led studio. Your expertise is ideally in packaging – specifically spirits experience, as well as across the wider luxury and fine fragrance space. 

You present with a clear point of view and can talk with authority about the thinking behind the work, not only its execution. You’re comfortable leading client relationships and contributing to new business, and you want your judgement to shape the work, not sit beneath it.