Design Director

Established in 2004, OLIVER is the world's first and only specialist in designing, building, and running bespoke in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands. We partner with over 300 clients in 40+ countries and counting. Our unique model drives creativity and efficiency, allowing us to deliver tailored solutions that resonate deeply with audiences.

As a part of The Brandtech Group , we're at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to revolutionise how we create and deliver work. Our AI solutions enhance efficiency, spark creativity, and drive insightful decision-making, empowering our teams to produce innovative and impactful results.

Role: Design Director (50%)

Location: London/Hybrid with occasional travel to Birmingham

About the role:

As Design Director, you'll serve as both brand guardian and strategic creative partner for Client - leading the studio's creative output while building close relationships with senior stakeholders across marketing, communications, and the partnership. This is a director-level role with genuine scope: you'll set the creative vision, maintain brand consistency across all channels, and develop the talent around you. You'll work closely with OLIVER's creative leadership, bringing your expertise to everything from campaign concepting and typographic craft to team coaching and executive presentations.

What you will be doing:

• Lead all visual communications for Client, acting as brand guardian across print, digital, social, and events - ensuring consistency, quality, and strategic alignment at every touchpoint
• Set the creative vision and direction for the studio, translating complex briefs from senior stakeholders into compelling, sophisticated design solutions
• Build, mentor, and develop the in‑house creative team - providing clear creative direction, constructive feedback, and ongoing coaching that elevates individual craft and collective output
• Serve as the primary creative partner to senior Client stakeholders, including marketing leadership and firm partners, presenting creative strategy and executions with confidence and clarity at executive level
• Oversee the production of high-quality communications tailored for professional services audiences - from thought leadership campaigns and pitches to events and digital content
• Champion and evolve Client's brand system, keeping it contemporary, distinctive, and appropriate for a regulated sector environment
• Manage multiple concurrent projects across the portfolio, balancing hands‑on creative contribution with leadership responsibilities and proactive problem‑solving
• Collaborate with OLIVER's wider creative and account leadership to identify opportunities to grow the studio's offering and deepen the Client relationship
• Oversee studio‑level production budgets - including cost estimation, supplier relationships, and spend reporting - ensuring financial performance aligns with Client and OLIVER expectations
• Drive responsible integration of AI tools across studio workflows, setting quality standards and governance that preserve craft excellence while improving efficiency

What you need to be great in this role:

• A strong portfolio of sophisticated brand and campaign work, with particular depth in B2B, corporate, or professional services environments
• Expert‑level understanding of brand systems - how to build, maintain, and evolve them within complex, regulated contexts
• A track record of leading and developing creative teams, with a coaching approach that brings out the best in people at all levels
• Experience presenting creative work to executive and partner‑level audiences, with the presence and communication skills to hold a room and advocate for ideas with conviction
• Deep craft knowledge across print and digital - typography, layout, art direction, and visual storytelling - with the ability to contribute hands‑on when the work demands it
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and familiarity with Figma and contemporary design tooling
• Experience managing studio‑level or project‑level production budgets, including supplier relationships and cost oversight
• Experience integrating AI tools strategically across studio projects and operations, with the ability to set quality standards and governance at studio level
• Clear understanding of where AI enhances creative output - and where human craft and judgement remain essential
• Drives thoughtful AI adoption within the team, maintaining rigorous human oversight and mentoring others in responsible, effective use
• Agentic approach to complex creative and business challenges: systematic, adaptive, and focused on outcomes

#LI-JS1 #LI-Director #LI-hybrid

Our values shape everything we do:

Be Imaginative to push the boundaries of what's possible

Be always learningand listening to understand

Be actively pro-inclusive and anti-racist across our community, clients and creations

UK Demographic Question Set

As part of our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, we are asking individuals seeking employment with OLIVER, The Inside Ideas Group to complete this voluntary self‑identification survey. We know that by creating a culture of inclusion we will attract and retain a diverse workforce that creates a more rewarding work environment, stimulates creativity and delivers better overall performance.

Completion is entirely voluntary, and you may identify in more than one designation group. Completion will not affect your opportunity for employment, or the terms or conditions of your employment. This information will not be taken into consideration when assessing your application and can only be viewed on an anonymised aggregated basis. For the protection of our legitimate interests, we may need to retain this information for a defined period to keep the records of our hiring process.

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