Lead Designer

The Opportunity

Do you live and breathe social? Are you obsessed with understanding and executing on the social‑craft that gets DM‑worthy content ranked on the algorithm? Do you want to create award‑winning social‑first creative for iconic brands? Do you want to turn a love for popular culture into a stream of standout social media content? This is a high‑impact, hands‑on leadership role for someone who excels at bridging the gap between strategic brand guardianship and world‑class social execution.

You will act as the lead creative protector for content across major European markets (UK, DE, FR, SP, IT), ensuring design consistency while navigating the nuances of localisation. You will lead weekly virtual team meetings, provide mentorship and technical oversight, and partner with Editorial Directors to translate QBR data into creative optimisations. You'll set visual standards for global campaigns and play a fundamental role in driving the agency’s innovation, profitability, and industry presence.

What You’ll Have Delivered Elsewhere

• Experience as a Senior or Lead Designer, with a strong background in multidisciplinary design across social, digital and integrated campaigns.
• Deep expertise in social‑first creative craft, with a strong understanding of hooks, pacing, framing, transitions and other thumb‑stopping techniques that drive engagement.
• A proven track record of leading high‑volume, fast‑turnaround global campaigns while maintaining exceptional creative standards.
• Experience acting as a brand and design guardian across multiple markets, ensuring consistency, quality and creative excellence across all outputs.
• Extensive knowledge of social platforms, content formats, emerging trends and platform developments, with the ability to keep work culturally relevant and impactful.
• Ownership of projects from concept to delivery, including creating client‑facing presentations, presenting work to internal and external stakeholders, and maintaining quality throughout the creative process.
• Experience mentoring and developing creative talent, raising the standard of work across teams and contributing to wider departmental growth.
• Strong shoot art direction experience, supported by a portfolio showcasing ideas‑led creative work and advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite.
• Responsibility for overseeing and approving creative output across multiple brands simultaneously, acting as the final point of quality control and creative sign‑off.
• A track record of successfully delivering projects in high‑pressure environments, balancing deadlines, budgets and commercial objectives across complex, multi‑market programmes.
• Confidence in remaining hands‑on when required, leading by example and contributing directly to delivery during peak periods.
• Demonstrable experience leading and inspiring creative teams, nurturing junior talent and encouraging designers to push creative boundaries.
• A collaborative leadership style, with experience establishing new processes and ways of working that have improved both creative quality and operational efficiency.

What Else Are We Looking For?

• A vision‑led design leader who balances strategic oversight with a deep understanding of localisation and market nuances.
• Proven expertise in developing design systems and campaign guidelines that can be effectively scaled across multiple regions while maintaining brand consistency.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to partner closely with Editorial teams to assess performance, identify key insights and shape future content strategies.
• A passion for driving craft innovation across social platforms, staying ahead of emerging technologies, trends and best practices.
• Exceptional at simplifying complex challenges into clear, compelling and highly crafted creative solutions.
• A recognised design expert who can create new opportunities through the strength of their work, influence and collaborative relationships.
• Experience leading regular team forums, mentoring designers and creating an environment that encourages growth, collaboration and continuous learning.
• A self‑starter with the confidence and autonomy to lead change, support the Head of Design and help build a future‑ready, multi‑skilled design function.

Benefits and Culture

Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is central to our work. We welcome talent from all backgrounds and provide a supportive environment that encourages belonging. Benefits include 25 days holiday, pension scheme, life assurance, the WAS Passport and Work From Anywhere programmes. If you require any support, adjustments or accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know via recruitment@wearesocial.net.