Head of Creative in Leeds

THE BRAND

Cleens is a footwear and lifestyle brand built on a clear point of view.

Selling direct to our customers first and through our tier 1 wholesale partners.

The product range has expanded from footwear into apparel, with the brand sitting at the intersection of design and lifestyle - a world with its own tone and feel rather than a logo on a product.

We are now appointing a

Head of Creative to own that world: to set the visual language, raise the bar on everything we put out and make

Cleens instantly recognisable wherever it appears.

THE ROLE

The Head of Creative is the guardian of how

Cleens looks, sounds and feels.

You will define and protect a single, coherent creative vision and apply it without compromise across product presentation, photography, film, social, web, packaging, retail and wholesale touchpoints.

We are looking for someone with an unmistakable aesthetic - the kind of clean, considered, elevated sensibility that makes a brand recognisable at a glance, before the name is even read.

Consistency and craft matter more here than volume or trend-chasing.

You will turn a growing product range into a cohesive brand world and lead a team to deliver it at pace as we continue to scale globally.

• WHAT YOU'LL OWN
• Brand & visual direction
• Own the creative vision.

Define, document and evolve a single visual language - art direction, palette, typography, photographic style, tone and composition holding the brand to it across every channel.

• Making

Cleens unmistakable.

Build a recognisable, ownable aesthetic with a strong editorial sensibility: elevated, minimal, premium yet attainable, with a consistency that competitors can’t easily copy.

• Protect coherence.

Ensure product, content, campaign, web, packaging, retail and wholesale all feel like one brand, with no drift between channels or partners. creative output & campaigns

• Lead campaign concepts end to end. From idea and art direction through to shoot, edit and delivery - for product launches, drops, seasonal stories and always-on content.
• Raise the bar on content. Direct photography and film that is aspirational but attainable, lifestyle-led and tonally consistent, with the craft to carry a launch on its own.
• Move fast without losing quality.

Build systems, templates and creative tools (including thoughtful use of AI imagery where it serves the brand) that keep output high and on-brand under commercial pace.

Team & leadership.

• Build and lead the creative function. Line-manage and grow an in-house team of designers and content creators, direct external photographers, studios, agencies and freelancers.
• Set the standard.

Establish clear briefs, review processes and brand guidelines, and mentor the team to deliver consistently excellent, on-aesthetic work.

Commercial & cross-functional.

• Partner with the business.

Work closely with commercial, social marketing, product design and CRM to ensure creative drives performance - conversion, cross-sell, average order value and brand equity, not just aesthetics for their own sake.

• Support wholesale & retail. Provide premium creative assets and guidelines that hold the brand’s standard within partner environments.
• Own the production pipeline. Plan the creative calendar, manage budgets and timelines, keeping the studio content delivering reliably against the trading calendar.
• THE STANDARD

This role is defined as much by taste as by experience. The right person will instinctively understand the kind of brand world we want to build:

• A clear, ownable visual language - instantly recognisable, consistent across every touchpoint.
• A considered, premium feel - refined but accessible, aspirational but never cold or exclusionary.
• Editorial discipline - a cohesive palette, deliberate typography and a strong sense of art direction running through everything.
• A brand world, not just product shots - lifestyle, culture and music woven in, so the brand feels like somewhere people want to belong.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essentials

• Proven creative leadership in a footwear, apparel, fashion or premium lifestyle brand, with a portfolio that demonstrates a distinctive, consistent aesthetic.
• An unmistakable visual sensibility - evident taste, and a track record of building or owning a recognisable brand look across multiple channels.
• End-to-end campaign craft - conception, art direction and directing photography and film through to finished, on-brand output.
• Strong art direction and design judgement - typography, layout, colour, composition and styling.
• Team leadership - experience building, managing and mentoring in-house creatives and directing external partners.
• Commercial awareness - comfortable connecting creative to performance and working alongside social marketing, product design and CRM.
• Pace and pragmatism - able to maintain quality and consistency while delivering at speed against a busy trading calendar.
• An affinity for lifestyle, culture and music - the worlds the brand lives in

Desirables

• D2C/E-commerce fluency - understanding of how creative performs on web, paid social and email.
• Wholesale experience - producing assets and guidelines for premium retail partners.
• Fluency with modern creative tools - including thoughtful, brand-safe use of AI imagery to extend output.
• Attributes
• Taste-led and detail-obsessed - holds a high standard and rarely lets things slip through.
• Decisive and confident - can make and defend creative calls and bring the business with them.
• Collaborative - a team builder who raises the level of everyone around them.
• Hands-on - a leader who can still get into the work when it counts.