Brand & Communications Designer in London

Brand & Communications Designer in London

London Full-Time 30000 - 40000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Apolitical

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Create stunning visuals for campaigns, reports, and social media to elevate our brand.
  • Company: Join Apolitical, a global network transforming government for people and the planet.
  • Benefits: Flexible work environment, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Collaborative culture with a focus on innovation and creativity.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact by designing for a mission-driven organisation that supports global governments.
  • Qualifications: Strong graphic design skills and experience in communications or marketing roles.

The predicted salary is between 30000 - 40000 £ per year.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants should have the right to work in the UK at the time of application.

Due to the non-partisan nature of the work we do with global governments and partners, all employees need to pass background checks, verifying your identity, education (if relevant), work history, sanctions, criminal record, adverse financial history, right to work, media and social media.

You can expect to hear from us, no matter the outcome, by: 3rd August 2026.

We aim for transparency on salary bands. If our range is misaligned with your expectations, we’d welcome an open conversation as early as possible.

Apolitical's mission is to make governments smarter for people and the planet and we reach over 40 million public servants through our partnerships with governments globally. We are the largest global network for governments, used by 500,000+ public servants in 170 countries to find and share best practices and gain skills on critical topics from AI to climate change to emerging technologies.

As Brand & Communications Designer, you will be responsible for bringing Apolitical’s brand, insights, products, and campaigns to life through high-quality visual communications. You will work closely with stakeholders across Communications, Partnerships, Product, Research, Learning and leadership teams to create compelling visual assets that help communicate complex ideas, showcase data and insights, and strengthen Apolitical’s presence across digital channels, events, reports, and customer-facing materials.

This is a highly cross-functional role requiring you to work independently within established brand systems while helping improve design processes, asset management, and ways of working across the organisation. You will play a key role in ensuring consistency and quality across Apolitical’s external communications while adapting creative assets for a wide variety of audiences and formats. You will also have the opportunity to help shape our brand evolution. You will also collaborate with external creative partners where required, helping develop briefs, provide design feedback, and ensure work aligns with Apolitical’s brand and communications objectives.

Key Responsibilities

  • Adapt existing templates and create bespoke visual assets for social media, email campaigns, events, product launches, and insights reports.
  • Adapt and design event collateral and promotional materials for convenings including our flagship event Apolitical Day.
  • Help shape creative approaches that support Apolitical’s strategic communications priorities.
  • Design email campaign templates and create engaging and visually consistent communications across email channels.
  • Create lightweight motion graphics and simple animations for social media, events, campaigns and product launches.
  • Work closely with our Research and Communications teams to transform reports, analysis and thought leadership into visually engaging digital publications, with infographics and data visualisations.
  • Design and maintain presentation decks, proposals and supporting materials for Sales, Partnerships and leadership teams.
  • Apply, maintain and help evolve Apolitical’s visual brand identity.
  • Collaborate with Product Design and Communications stakeholders to ensure alignment between product and communications experiences.
  • Act as a day-to-day steward of Apolitical’s visual identity, ensuring all communications touchpoints adhere to our brand system.
  • Maintain and organise asset libraries, templates and design resources that enable teams to self-serve and produce on-brand materials.
  • Brief, manage, and review work from external agencies and freelance partners in collaboration with Apolitical colleagues, ensuring all assets meet brand standards and quality benchmarks.

Onboarding Milestones

  • Within One Month: Build a strong understanding of Apolitical’s mission, audiences, products and brand. Become familiar with existing templates, design systems, asset libraries and workflows. Deliver your first communications and campaign assets. Build relationships with key stakeholders across Communications, Partnerships, Product and Research.
  • Within Three Months: Take ownership of recurring design workstreams including social media assets, reports, presentations and email communications. Establish efficient workflows for managing requests and design priorities. Identify opportunities to improve asset management, templates and brand consistency. Become a trusted design partner for Communications and Marketing stakeholders.
  • Within Six Months: Be recognised as the go-to designer for external communications across the organisation. Deliver high-quality visual communications that contribute to stronger audience engagement and brand consistency. Implement improvements to design operations, asset libraries and team processes. Contribute to the successful rollout and adoption of Apolitical’s evolving brand systems and communications standards. Support effective collaboration with external creative partners where required.

About You

This is a great fit if you…

  • Have experience working in communications, marketing, brand or graphic design roles in a fast-moving organisation.
  • Can work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously without requiring extensive creative direction.
  • Have strong visual design skills across digital, social, presentation and publication formats.
  • Enjoy translating complex ideas, data and research into engaging visual communications.
  • Have experience working within established brand systems while adapting assets for new use cases.
  • Understand how design supports communications objectives and audience engagement.
  • Can confidently collaborate with stakeholders across different teams and levels of the organisation.
  • Enjoy creating structure, systems and processes that improve efficiency and consistency.
  • Are proactive, adaptable and comfortable working in a dynamic environment.
  • Are motivated by Apolitical’s mission and excited about helping governments solve complex challenges.
  • Know how to use AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency and creativity while maintaining strong human judgement and quality standards.

This won't be the right role if you…

  • Prefer to focus exclusively on one type of design work rather than balancing multiple projects and formats.
  • Need highly defined briefs and extensive creative direction to do your best work.
  • Are looking for a people-management position.
  • Prefer a slower-paced environment where priorities rarely change.

Essential skills and experience

  • Strong graphic design experience across digital and print formats.
  • A portfolio demonstrating excellence in communications, marketing, editorial or brand design.
  • Experience creating social media assets, presentations, reports, campaigns and customer-facing communications.
  • Strong layout, typography and visual storytelling skills.
  • Experience designing infographics and data visualisations.
  • Ability to translate complex information into clear, engaging visual content.
  • Excellent attention to detail and commitment to brand consistency.
  • Experience collaborating with multiple stakeholders and managing competing priorities.
  • Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
  • Strong Figma skills, basic Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop skills.
  • Familiarity with AI-assisted design tools and workflows or a willingness to learn quickly.

Nice-to-have skills and experience

  • Experience creating lightweight motion graphics or simple animations.
  • Experience developing templates, design systems or asset libraries.
  • Experience briefing and providing feedback to external agencies or freelance designers.
  • Experience working in mission-driven organisations, technology companies, media organisations or public sector-adjacent environments.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will be measured through:

  • Consistent delivery of high-quality, on-brand communications assets across multiple channels.
  • Increased efficiency and consistency through improved templates, asset libraries and design processes.
  • Positive stakeholder feedback on responsiveness, collaboration and quality of output.
  • Effective visual communication of Apolitical’s research, insights, products and campaigns.
  • Strong adoption and utilisation of design resources and brand guidance across teams.
  • Continuous improvement of design workflows, creative effectiveness and organisational design capability.

Don’t meet every single expectation? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. Apolitical is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Apolitical

Contact Details:

Apolitical Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Brand & Communications Designer in London

Show Off Your Skills with a Killer Portfolio

As a graphic designer, your portfolio is your secret weapon! Make sure it's not just a collection of your work but showcases your creative process too. Use platforms like Behance or Dribbble to share your designs and gain visibility within the design community.

Get Involved in Design Meetups

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Tailor Your Applications

When you’re applying for a full-time role at a creative company like Apolitical, don’t go for a one-size-fits-all approach. Ensure your application highlights specific projects or styles that align with their brand image, showing that you’re a perfect fit for their team.

Leverage Social Media

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We think you need these skills to ace Brand & Communications Designer in London

Graphic Design
Visual Communication
Brand Identity
Social Media Asset Creation
Presentation Design
Infographic Design
Data Visualisation

Some tips for your application 🫡

Showcase Your Portfolio:Your portfolio is your visual CV! Make sure to include a link to your best design projects that showcase your creativity and versatility. Tailor it to include works that relate to the kind of design work Apolitical does, so they can see you in action.

Tailor Your CV for Design:When crafting your CV, highlight your design skills and software proficiencies, like Adobe Creative Suite or Sketch. Mention any relevant experience you have with branding, UI/UX design, or typography, as we want to see how you fit in with the creative team at Apolitical.

Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:In your cover letter, share your design philosophy and what excites you about working at Apolitical. Let us know how you approach your design projects and any specific campaigns or themes that resonate with you, showing we’re not just a good fit but a perfect match!

Highlight Collaboration Skills:As a graphic designer, you often work with various teams and stakeholders. In your application, mention experiences where you've collaborated with others to bring a project to life, whether it's with clients, writers, or developers. This shows you can thrive in a team environment, which is key at Apolitical.

How to prepare for a job interview at Apolitical

Get Your Portfolio Ready

Your portfolio is your secret weapon in graphic design interviews! Make sure it's showing off your best work, with a variety of styles and projects that highlight different skills — from branding to digital illustration. Be prepared to talk through each piece, focusing on your creative process and the tools you used.

Know Your Design Tools Inside Out

Familiarity with software like Adobe Creative Suite is a must! Brush up on your skills with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, as interviewers might dive into specific technical questions or ask for your workflow. If you’ve worked with any innovative tools or techniques, don't hesitate to showcase that expertise!

Prepare for Design Challenges

Some companies may throw a design challenge your way during the interview! This might involve sketching out ideas or solving a branding issue on the spot. Practising these quick thinking exercises beforehand can help us show off our creativity and adaptability.

Passion Counts

For a full-time position, showing genuine enthusiasm for design is key! Talk about your inspirations, the projects you're excited about, and why you're drawn to Apolitical. They want to see not just a skilled designer, but someone who'll bring passion and fresh ideas to the team.