Lead Designer in Leicester

Location: In-Studio (Full-Time), Leicester

Reports to: Creative Director/Managing Director

Can you run projects, people, and pixels without breaking a sweat? Can you spot a weak idea from a mile off and make it better? Happy juggling clients, concepts, and creative direction before your second coffee of the morning?

Role Overview

We’re looking for a highly capable, commercially minded Senior Designer to work as the right hand to our Creative Director. This is a ‘player-coach’ role, you’ll be leading from the front with your own design work while ensuring the wider studio remains a well-oiled machine. You’ll sit at the intersection of strategy and execution. You’ll take ownership of the studio’s output, setting the standard for quality, clarity, and consistency. While you’ll be heavily involved in hands-on design, you’ll also be the ‘anchor’ for our projects liaising with our VA to keep trackers updated and ensuring our creative processes are followed to the letter.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Designer & Creative Authority: You remain a designer at heart. You will lead the execution of high-level brand identity, print, and digital projects, ensuring every file that leaves the studio is ‘On Poynt’.
• Quality Control: You will be empowered to make day-to-day creative decisions and sign off internal work to keep projects moving without constant escalation. As the final line of defence, you’ll maintain an uncompromising eye for detail, ensuring flawless accuracy.
• Studio Leadership & Mentorship: Manage the day-to-day creative workflow for more junior designers. You will act as a coach, auditing their work for accuracy and helping them elevate their conceptual thinking and technical knowledge.
• Creative Workflow Oversight: While you won't be doing the heavy admin (our VA handles the data entry), you are responsible for the health of projects. You’ll oversee the project management tool to ensure timelines are met and the design team is working at the right pace.
• Commercial Strategy: Approach every brief with a business mindset. You should be able to articulate how design decisions ‘move the needle’ for a brand and solve specific commercial challenges.
• Client Presentation: Lead client-facing presentations with confidence. You must be able to articulate complex design concepts in a way that is relatable and strategically grounded.

About You

• Experience: You have a proven track record in a fast-paced agency environment, ideally with several years at a Senior level (or a Middleweight ready for a significant step up).
• The 'Why' Thinker: You don't just execute style, you understand substance. You naturally ask 'Why are we doing this? What difference does this make for the client?' at every stage of the process.
• Operations Savvy: You will be seasoned and familiar with how a process of creative studios work, and adaptable enough to organise the wider design team as well as continuing with your own design work.
• Technical Master: You are likely more technically proficient in the Adobe Creative Suite than anyone else in the room. You understand the nuances of print production, digital assets, and brand systems.
• Natural Leader: You are a sociable, confident communicator who inspires the team to follow your lead. You can provide clear ‘tough love’ feedback when necessary to maintain standards.

Requirements

• Extensive portfolio demonstrating original creativity and commercial results.
• Expert knowledge of Print, Digital, and Brand Identity.
• Strong presentation and articulation skills (verbal and written).
• Ability to work in-studio 5 days a week. This is not a hybrid, or WFH role.
• Experience in project management or leading a small team of designers.

Who We Are

We don’t do ‘pretty’ for the sake of it. At On Poynt, we’re obsessed with work that actually works. We are a high-performance creative agency that sits at the intersection of bold strategy and flawless execution. We help brands stop blending in and start moving the needle, replacing fluff and vanity metrics with considered, precise design that solves real commercial challenges. We’re a lean, fast-moving team that partners with our clients to question, refine, and elevate their vision. If you’re tired of agency ‘ego’ and want to build work that is as strategically sound, mouth-watering and that designers really care about, you’ll fit right in.

What We Offer:

• Circa £40k salary to be defined depending on experience
• 23 days annual leave + bank holidays (Pro-rata)
• A vibrant workplace where creativity is at the heart of everything we do
• Work in an office with Marmalade and Hudson, the company dogs!
• The chance to work with a spectrum of clients and make a significant impact in the branding industry
• Training and Upskilling opportunities
• (A lot) of company social events

Join Our Team:

To apply, please send a copy of your CV, covering letter and a portfolio to hello@onpoyntcreative.com. *Please note: This is a UK based job and requires some level of in-house working. Applications from outside the country or freelance based contracts will not be considered.