At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a dynamic design team to create impactful health solutions through innovative design.
- Company: Join Havas SO, where creativity meets culture and science.
- Benefits: Collaborative environment, career growth, and the chance to shape meaningful health solutions.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in health by shaping culture through design.
- Qualifications: Senior experience in diverse design disciplines and a passion for cultural relevance.
- Other info: Be part of a kind, curious, and optimistic team dedicated to excellence.
The predicted salary is between 43200 - 72000 £ per year.
Havas SO exists to create meaningful solutions in health that earn real-world impact. We believe design is one of the most powerful tools we have to make that happen — turning complexity into clarity, science into stories, and ideas into experiences that move through culture.
As advertising and design undergo the biggest structural reset in decades, we are building a next-generation creative team: one driven by cultural intelligence, world-class craft, multidisciplinary experimentation and the belief that design can shape human behaviour for the better. We are also a deeply kind, curious, optimistic team. Great humans make great work.
The Role
We’re looking for a Head of Design who is a true hybrid: a craft-obsessed design thinker, a cultural maker, an innovation explorer, and an inspiring leader capable of shaping one of the most exciting design teams in health.
You’ll work across and elevate multiple design disciplines:
- Graphic design and campaign identity
- Experiential and spatial design
- Social-first design and motion
- Editorial and information design
- Animation and moving image
- AI-enabled visual exploration and prototyping
Your remit is both creative and cultural: to set a new bar for design excellence in health, and to help build a team capable of producing work that shapes culture, not just communication.
What You’ll Do:
- Set the design vision for the agency
- Define and champion a design POV rooted in cultural intelligence, meaningful health impact and world-class craft.
- Build a design culture that is brave, exploratory, caring and collaborative.
- Lead multidisciplinary design across brands, campaigns and experiences
- Shape campaign identities, visual worlds and design systems.
- Lead experiential concepts, social design, information design and motion.
- Bring scientific, behavioural and cultural insights to life with emotional clarity.
- Push creative innovation
- Use AI tools and workflows to accelerate exploration, refine craft and unlock new forms of expression.
- Stay ahead of emerging design trends, technologies and aesthetics — translating them into opportunities for the agency and clients.
- Build and nurture a world-class design team
- Mentor, inspire and elevate designers across all levels.
- Hire with care: curious minds, kind collaborators, culturally aware thinkers, optimists by nature.
- Foster a safe, ambitious environment where designers can do the best work of their careers.
- Partner across disciplines
- Collaborate seamlessly with creatives, strategists, scientists, copywriters and experience designers.
- Contribute to ideas upstream — shaping behaviours, not just visuals.
- Ensure design excellence in every output
- Oversee final craft quality across Figma, Adobe Suite, motion, social, experiential and beyond.
- Insist on clarity, beauty and originality in every detail.
What You'll Bring:
- Senior experience across multiple design disciplines (graphic, experiential, social/motion, editorial, identity, digital).
- A portfolio that demonstrates range, depth, emotion and cultural relevance.
- Technical mastery of Figma and the Adobe Creative Suite, with comfort directing motion, animation and 3D workflows.
- Demonstrated experience using AI tools for ideation, visual development, prototyping or production.
- A love of culture — design trends, emerging aesthetics, movements, signals and behaviours.
- Ability to turn scientific or behavioural complexity into visual worlds that feel human, modern and meaningful.
- A leadership style rooted in kindness, curiosity, clarity and optimism.
- A belief that design doesn’t just reflect culture — it builds it.
- Deep motivation to create meaningful solutions in health that earn real-world impact.
Why Join Us
At Havas SO, you will help shape one of the most exciting creative teams in health today… a place where design, culture, science and innovation collide. You’ll lead with craft and kindness. You’ll build a team you’re proud of. And you’ll create work that genuinely makes people’s lives better.
Head of Design in London employer: Havas SO
Contact Detail:
Havas SO Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Design in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with people in the design industry. Attend events, join online forums, and don’t be shy about reaching out to folks on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on your dream job!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your portfolio! Make sure it’s not just a collection of your work but tells a story about your design journey. Tailor it to highlight projects that align with the role you’re after, especially those that showcase your cultural intelligence and innovative thinking.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by researching the company culture and values. Be ready to discuss how your design philosophy aligns with their mission. Bring examples of how you've turned complexity into clarity in your past work – they’ll love to see that!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take the initiative to engage directly with us. Let’s make some meaningful solutions together!
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Design in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for Design: When you're writing your application, let your love for design shine through! Share what excites you about the role and how you see design making a real impact in health. We want to feel your enthusiasm!
Tailor Your Portfolio: Make sure your portfolio reflects the range of skills mentioned in the job description. Highlight projects that showcase your experience in graphic, experiential, and social design. We’re keen to see how you’ve turned complexity into clarity!
Be Authentic: Don’t be afraid to show your personality in your written application. We value kindness, curiosity, and optimism, so let us see the real you! Share stories that illustrate your leadership style and collaborative spirit.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you don’t miss any important updates. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Havas SO
✨Know Your Design Vision
Before the interview, take some time to define your own design philosophy. Think about how you can articulate a design point of view that aligns with the agency's mission of creating meaningful health solutions. Be ready to discuss how your vision can shape the team and elevate their work.
✨Showcase Your Portfolio
Your portfolio is your best friend in this interview. Make sure it highlights a range of projects across different design disciplines, especially those that demonstrate emotional clarity and cultural relevance. Be prepared to explain the thought process behind each piece and how it connects to the role.
✨Emphasise Collaboration
This role requires seamless collaboration across various disciplines. Prepare examples from your past experiences where you successfully partnered with other creatives, strategists, or even scientists. Highlight how these collaborations led to innovative outcomes and how you fostered a positive team environment.
✨Stay Ahead of Trends
Familiarise yourself with the latest design trends and emerging technologies, especially in health and wellness. Be ready to discuss how you’ve used AI tools in your work and how you envision integrating new trends into the agency’s projects. This shows your commitment to pushing creative innovation.