Lead Designer (Brand & Creative) - Engine by Starling in London

At Engine by Starling, we are on a mission to find and work with leading banks all around the world who have the ambition to build rapid growth businesses on our technology. Engine is Starling’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business - the technology that was built to power Starling Bank is now available to financial institutions globally. Our designers are at the very heart of Engine. We operate a flat structure to empower you to make decisions, ensuring innovation and collaboration are at the core of everything you do. To thrive at Engine, you must be a self-driven individual who takes full ownership—from shaping brand strategy to delivering the high-fidelity assets that empower our sales teams and delight our clients.

Hybrid Working

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Engine - our preference is that you’re located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we’re able to interact and collaborate in person.

About the role

We are looking for a hands‑on Lead Designer who sits at the intersection of design, creative and brand. You will be the architect of Engine’s visual identity and the strategist who ensures our value is communicated clearly to the global market. You will be expected to deliver consistent, high‑quality assets across slidewear, social, digital and printed materials. You will lead multiple related workstreams, establishing design processes that scale and seeking new opportunities for design to widen its remit. You are a mature problem solver who can align multiple teams around common goals and advocate for the power of design at the highest levels of the business.

What you’ll get to do

• Deliver: This is a hands‑on role where you will be expected to deliver consistent, high‑quality assets including slidewear, social, digital and printed materials.
• Shape Engine’s Brand: Lead the delivery of our brand proposal by identifying and refining our ‘purpose, position, personality, perception and promotion.’
• Drive Marketing Excellence: Define and deliver a suite of assets across all marketing touchpoints to drive quality leads and global brand awareness.
• Empower Business Development: Deliver high‑impact sales materials, including brochures, slide decks, demos, prototypes and visualizations that enable our teams to win world‑class clients.
• Influence Strategy: Collaborate with owners and technical leads to plan discovery across multiple areas, considering the second and third‑order effects of every design decision.
• Scale Design Operations: Own and evolve the design system, establishing standards and governance that bridge the gap between design and the company’s needs.
• Mentor and Advocate: Look forward to developing the next generation of design skills within the team while advocating for design expertise both internally and to external stakeholders.

We are looking for a strategic designer who is as comfortable defining a brand’s “personality” as they are diving into the governance of a complex design system.

Qualifications & Profile

You’ll be a great fit if you have:

• Strategic Depth: Experience shaping design and strategy across multiple areas in a fast‑paced or SaaS environment.
• Brand Ownership: A proven track record of developing brand identities from the ground up and translating them into tangible marketing toolkits.
• Sales & Growth Mindset: Experience supporting business development through the creation of high‑fidelity demos, workshops and sales collateral.
• Collaborative Leadership: The ability to build relationships at the highest levels of a business and align cross‑functional teams around a unified vision.
• Design Ops Expertise: Deep knowledge of design systems and the ability to maintain and develop systems.
• Self‑Drive: A natural inclination to “Own It”—taking early initiatives from a blank page to an established area.

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including public holidays, which you can take when it works best for you).
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday.
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off.
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year.
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme.
• Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection.
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care.
• Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton.
• Generous family‑friendly policies.
• Incentives refer a friend scheme.
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks.
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing.

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway. We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems. Starling is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace.