Senior Designer in London

LOCATION: Stamford Bridge, London

CONTRACT: Permanent, Full Time

JOB FUNCTION: As Senior Designer, your mission is to raise the craft and quality of design across a wide variety of Chelsea Football Club work. Reporting to the Design Lead, you will be a hands-on designer who takes projects from concept through to final delivery. You will turn the studio’s creative and brand direction into distinctive, coherent and beautifully crafted work across campaigns, digital platforms, physical spaces, retail, merchandise and other club touchpoints. You will bring a sharp eye for fashion, style and luxury lifestyle to the role, helping establish Chelsea as a luxury football brand with a visual presence that sets trends rather than follows them. You will also manage designers day to day, giving them clear direction, constructive feedback and support in developing their craft.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design and Craft: Lead the design and execution of assigned projects, remaining closely involved from first concepts to finished assets. Bring excellent typography, composition, image use and attention to detail to every stage of a project. Create work with the confidence and refinement expected of a luxury brand, while retaining the energy and character of Chelsea. Draw on fashion, culture and contemporary design to bring fresh visual thinking to club work. Review work throughout development, resolving design problems and ensuring a high standard of finish across physical and digital touchpoints.
• Brand Application: Apply Chelsea’s visual identity and design systems consistently and creatively across projects. Help translate the club’s luxury ambition into the details of its campaigns, products and experiences. Guide designers, stakeholders and production partners in using brand guidelines effectively. Identify practical improvements to templates, toolkits and guidelines through day-to-day use, working with the Design Lead to develop them.
• Creative Excellence and Effectiveness: Apply Chelsea Creative Studio’s Creative Scorecard to the development and review of design work. Aim for a consistent “Win the Game” standard and contribute to projects with the potential to “Change the Game”. Challenge familiar football design conventions where a more distinctive approach would better serve Chelsea. Balance originality and craft with the audience, purpose and commercial objectives of each brief. Use feedback and performance insights to improve the effectiveness of future work.
• Team Management and Collaboration: Manage and develop designers, setting clear expectations and providing regular feedback on their work. Allocate and oversee design work in partnership with the Design Lead and studio operations team. Create a constructive environment for design critique and help team members strengthen their ideas, judgment and craft. Collaborate with colleagues across Creative, Video, Brand, Social, Merchandise and Production so design is considered early and carried through consistently. Present work and explain design decisions clearly to stakeholders.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• Design craft - An outstanding portfolio demonstrating strong ideas and meticulous execution across a broad range of physical and digital work.
• Fashion and luxury sensibility - Experience in fashion or luxury lifestyle, or a demonstrably strong appreciation of both. Able to recognise emerging visual trends and use them with taste and originality.
• Hands-on experience - Significant experience in design, with the ability to take complex projects from concept to delivery.
• Brand application - Strong understanding of visual identity systems and how to apply them consistently without making the work feel formulaic.
• People management - Experience directing designers, giving useful feedback and supporting their development.
• Creative judgment - Able to assess what a brief needs, recognise when work can be pushed further and make sound design decisions under practical constraints.
• Communication and collaboration - Confident presenting ideas and working with stakeholders, other creative disciplines and production partners.
• Production awareness - Strong understanding of how design is finished and delivered across print, digital, environmental and motion formats.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE:

• Assigned projects are consistently distinctive, effective and exceptionally well crafted.
• Chelsea’s work feels increasingly confident, stylish and desirable, helping build its position as a luxury football brand.
• The majority of design work achieves a “Win the Game” standard or above.
• Chelsea’s visual identity is applied consistently across a wide range of club touchpoints.
• Designers receive clear direction, improve their craft and produce stronger work.
• The Design Lead can rely on the Senior Designer to manage the day-to-day quality and delivery of their team’s work while remaining a strong creative contributor themselves.

OUR EXPECTATIONS:

• To embody the club’s BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others.
• To adhere to the club’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
• To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels.
• To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either in your care or attending club premises, and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead.
• To report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the HR Department.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.

Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.

This Job Description is not intended to be exhaustive; the duties and responsibilities may therefore vary over time according to the changing needs of the Club.