Brand Design Director in London

Job Title

Brand Design Director

Department

4Creative

Reporting to

Executive Creative Director

Location

London

Status

Permanent

Job Grade

DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION

4Creative is Channel 4's multi-award-winning, highly respected in-house creative agency.

It develops and
delivers distinctive advertising campaigns, activations and channel branding across every platform, playing a
vital role in building a coherent and compelling Channel 4 brand.

Our ambition is to make risky, culturally potent and innovative work that helps audiences discover and engage
with Channel 4's content and purpose.

Our in-house creative, production, design and operational capabilities
bring us closer to the brand, giving us the flexibility, expertise and creative judgement to turn ambitious ideas
into outstanding work.

JOB PURPOSE

The Brand Design Director is the strategic leader of the Brand Design discipline within 4Creative, responsible
for shaping how Channel 4's brand is expressed through design, editorial imagery and visual storytelling.

The role sets the creative standards, capability strategy and future direction of Brand Design, ensuring Channel
4 delivers distinctive, culturally relevant and creatively outstanding work across every platform.

The role leads an integrated Brand Design function spanning campaign design, editorial imagery and related
specialist design disciplines, developing talent, evolving design practice and ensuring 4Creative remains at the
forefront of contemporary design.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design Strategy and Creative Leadership
• Lead the strategic direction of the Brand Design discipline within 4Creative, ensuring design evolves in line with audience needs, brand priorities, new platforms and emerging technologies.
• Shape the future of design capability across campaign design, editorial imagery and related specialist disciplines, ensuring the function remains distinctive, innovative and effective.
• Partner with Creative Directors, Creative Production Directors and senior stakeholders from the earliest stages of creative development to shape the strongest creative response to briefs.
• Provide leadership across the Brand Design function, balancing the needs of high-volume output and major campaign activity while maintaining consistent standards of excellence.
• Develop the long-term capability, skills and effectiveness of the Brand Design team, ensuring it is equipped to meet current and future business needs.
• Lead, inspire and develop designers and design leaders, creating an inclusive, high-performing culture that encourages creativity, learning and progression.
• Contribute to the strategic direction, culture and continuous development of 4Creative as a senior leader.
• Brand Expression, Craft and Standards
• Own design craft standards across 4Creative, ensuring consistently outstanding design, art direction and visual
• communication.
• Lead Brand Design across campaign design, editorial imagery, artworking and associated specialist disciplines, ensuring work delivers a distinctive and effective expression of the Channel 4 brand.
• Act as a senior creative authority on major campaigns, brand initiatives and high-profile projects, providing expert judgement and constructive challenge.
• Champion outstanding creative thinking, contemporary design practice and innovation in the application of design across all platforms.
• Encourage experimentation with new tools, technologies and creative approaches that enhance quality, effectiveness and audience impact.
• Embed a culture of critique, collaboration, continuous learning and best-practice sharing across the design community.
• Build and maintain relationships with designers, photographers, artists, studios and specialist creative partners
• to strengthen the capability and reputation of the discipline.
• Governance and Brand Stewardship
• Act as a senior steward of Channel 4's visual identity, ensuring brand coherence while enabling creative evolution and innovation.
• Exercise senior judgement on complex or sensitive creative work involving editorial, reputational, commercial or brand considerations.
• Maintain appropriate oversight of design governance, brand application, accessibility standards, rights management and external creative partnerships where relevant.
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across Channel 4, influencing decisions and championing the value of design.
• Present and advocate for design strategy, creative direction and investment at senior leadership level.
• Navigate complex stakeholder environments while protecting the quality, integrity and effectiveness of the work.
• Represent 4Creative internally and externally as a senior design leader and ambassador for Channel 4.
• JOB FACTORS
• Autonomy, judgement and decision-making
• Operates with a high degree of autonomy across the Brand Design discipline.
• Makes significant decisions relating to design strategy, creative direction, brand expression, capability development and talent.
• Balances creative ambition with audience, commercial, operational and reputational considerations.
• Exercises sound judgement in complex and fast-moving environments.
• Managing resources
• Leads direct and indirect reports across the Brand Design function.
• Influences investment in design capability, talent and external creative partnerships.
• Shapes future capability, workforce development and succession planning.
• Relationship management
• Builds trusted partnerships with senior leaders across 4Creative, Marketing and Channel 4.
• Maintains strong relationships with external creative partners and specialist suppliers.
• Influences and challenges constructively at senior levels.
• Communicates complex creative and design decisions clearly and effectively.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Significant experience leading design within a creative, media, advertising or brand environment.
• An outstanding track record of delivering exceptional design, brand and creative work across multiple platforms.
• Experience leading and developing multidisciplinary design teams and creative talent.
• Strong understanding of contemporary design practice, visual identity systems and art direction.
• Demonstrable experience shaping capability, ways of working and creative standards.
• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing and communication skills.
• Experience working with photographers, artists, studios and specialist creative partners.
• A commitment to inclusive leadership, diverse talent and Channel 4's values and remit.

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Experience working across campaign design, editorial imagery, branding and content marketing.
• Experience leading integrated design teams across multiple creative disciplines.
• Experience contributing to organisational, capability or operating model change.
• Experience balancing high-volume creative output alongside major campaign activities