Design Director

As Leo Burnett himself once said: “At the end of the day, we’re just people talking to people.”

And that sums up how we think. We never forget that on the other side of every screen, watching every ad or reading every tweet are people. Not just pairs of eyes with credit cards. But human beings, who want to be entertained, engaged and listened to.

At Leo Burnett we like to make the good stuff in life accessible to everyone. It’s our agency’s big shiny North Star, guiding everything from our work and how we build our culture, to the values we uphold and the initiatives we implement to improve Diversity Equity & Inclusion.

We believe in the power of a strong culture that puts people and creativity at the heart of everything we do. Our incredible team is made up of some of the most passionate and creative minds in the industry, and you’ll be hard pushed to find a more genuinely friendly bunch. We’ve created an informal atmosphere where everyone is invited to share their ideas and thrive. And that way of working. Well, it’s working. We’re proud to say that our staff survey shows record happiness scores over the last 12 months.

We are an open, down to earth and friendly bunch who are always on the lookout for passionate and curious people to join our gang.

It’s never been more important to us to reflect the wonderful mix of people who consume our advertising, which is why when it comes to improving Diversity Equity & Inclusion we’re not just talking the talk, we’re walking the walk. Our internal group D&I Allies at Leo’s (DIAL) was formed to help us make and track progress against our commitment to DE&I. DIAL spearheads policies, processes and initiatives to actively advance positive change.

Furthermore, in 2022 we created The Everyone Way, a process designed to embed positive DE&I practices into the creative process with our clients, working alongside DE&I consultancies The Unmistakables and The Diversity Standards Collective.

We also support industry-wide initiatives such as Unstereotype Alliance, Free the Work, Just Runners, WACL and Bloom to name a few.

It’s our distinctive approach, combined with our passion for populist creativity and relentless pursuit of excellence that makes Leo Burnett such a uniquely special and enjoyable place to work.

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

Diversity and inclusion are a core part of our DNA at Leo Burnett. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture that encourages, celebrates, and supports our wonderfully diverse employee group irrelevant of their age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability or ethnicity. Diversity and inclusion fuel our creativity and innovation, it enables us to be closer to our people and audiences. We will continue to strive to create a culture and environment where everyone feels empowered and more importantly comfortable enough to bring their full, authentic selves to work. We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities and for candidates in our application process. If you need assistance or adjustment due to a disability, please contact us.

Overview:

What You’ll Be Doing:

We’re looking for a Design Director to join our team at Leo Burnett.

With your all-around approach and expertise, you’ll work your design magic on every stage of a project, full of original ideas and high-end conceptual thinking. Constantly contributing and directing, you’ll be a positive and pro-active addition to the team, inspiring those around you to drive the Agency forward by pushing the boundaries of populist design.

Collaborating with creatives, strategists and account team, you will utilise your top-notch communication skills to concisely distil information, pitch and present ideas and articulate constructive feedback, forming great working relationships in and outside the agency.

To be truly passionate about great design, a conceptual and strategic thinker with the ability to produce an array of creative solutions. Versatile and skilled designer who is also a collaborative and approachable leader. It’s important that you’re someone who is confident to lead pitches and mentor members of the team. Having a critical eye for detail with the ability to motivate and inspire designers through the highs and lows of a project.

You will have ownership of the Design Direction for specific accounts, serving as the brand guardian and driving the creative vision forward to ensure its success and alignment with the brand’s goals.

Excellent people skills and a pro-active, dedicated attitude to be the driving force behind award-winning design.

Responsibilities:

Creative:

• You need to love ideation, strategy, and have a deep understanding of all touchpoints, including digital, motion, and print, offering an integrated approach.
• Demonstrate a good creative judgement and voice your opinion within creative conversations at internal creative reviews.
• Understand and interpret client feedback, identifying great work and articulating why it works for the brief.
• Demonstrate skills that take ideas from ideation to design across a range of media.
• Have a beautifully crafted portfolio that highlights your thought processes and high-level execution, as well as development stages.
• Have an awareness of social trends and be able to react to relevant events.
• A good understanding of social media – you’re always exploring new platforms, features and trends that will engage audiences.

Culture:

• Bring all of you to work, your passions, your hobbies and creative pursuits.
• Develop relationships internally with people in all departments and within your team. Have an infectious can-do attitude, which makes people want to come to you as they know you approach all tasks with a positive attitude.
• Have outstanding organisational skills, meaning you are always on the front foot with key information to hand.
• Be curious and constantly seeking to learn.
• Demonstrate clear communication and listening skills.

Client:

• Strong ability to present your design development, representing the Agency in a professional manner at all times, with clients and external partners.
• Capable of understanding the landscape a client is operating in and the impact that has on their communication strategy as well as understanding their target audience, tailoring your design development to specific client needs.
• Have excellent attention to detail. Making it your mission to know the clients brand guidelines inside and out, ensuring all creative is delivered to the correct standard.
• Support new business pitch teams with a can-do and pro-active attitude.

Qualifications:

• Advanced knowledge of the Adobe Creative suite and other design programs that complement your talent.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, pro-active and solutions focused.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Passionate about great creative work and good creative judgement.
• Ability to receive and apply constructive feedback.
• A collaborative working style and infectious energy.
• Have an entrepreneurial attitude and work style for self-motivation to see projects from ideas to fruition.
• Highly organised with excellent time management.
• Can confidently present ideas internally and externally.
• Flexible and adaptable; taking ever-changing circumstances and project demands in your stride, always the picture of calm and control.
• Curious, always seeking to learn from those around them.

Additional information:

Leo Burnett has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Plans we also offer;

• Work your world opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year.
• Reflection days- Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well-being and self-care.
• benefits 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching.
• Family friendly policies We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity. Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave.
• Hybrid working, bank holiday swap & birthday day off You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday.
• Agency discounts, onsite gym, and discount in our Publicis-Owned Pub – “The Pregnant Man”

Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us!

Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week.

We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process.

Please make sure you check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).

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