ROLE OUTLINE AND EXPECTATIONS

Digital Leads are focused on creative excellence, knowledge and expertise in all phases of the digital design process, alongside leading their own projects, ensuring creative excellence and inspirational direction. They have strong conceptual, creative and communication skills. With a broad skillset, they can confidently tackle creative, technical, and strategic aspects of a project. This role will have the capability to work both autonomously as the creative digital lead, and work closely with the Creative Directors, working across projects to elevate clients to go beyond the obvious through articulate, passionate, compelling and succinct delivery of creative digital solutions.

Design leads are a management figure and role model for more junior members of the creative team. They lead by example and inspire others via their expertly crafted and fine-tuned creative output, exemplifying great time management, ownership and communication throughout the life cycle of a project.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Creative Excellence

— The role will be pivotal in client conversations, both existing and new, exciting the client with Made Thought’s capabilities and inspiring potential across the digital brand landscape.

— Working closely with the Client Services team, and Partnerships & Growth team, advising clients throughout technical requirements whilst exciting with a vision – proven adaptability in language and communication will be key.

— Bring a respected and trusted black book of Developer and Third party web agencies that Made Thought could partner with, ensuring that quality and consistency is upheld to Made Thought’s standards throughout partnerships and collaboration.— Demonstrate commercial acumen and awareness towards impact of business growth and goals across this vertical, and a commitment to growth across the digital offering at Made Thought.

— Guide the success of projects overall by coordinating and directing a wider team (both internal and external), ensuring digital, design, strategy and execution are seamlessly aligned in all work you are responsible for.

— A hands-on role, focused on creative excellence across a set of projects within the team.

— Ownership of a minimum of two clients/projects and all aspects of those relationships, ensuring the overall success and calibre of creative work produced.

— Structure and direct compelling presentations, coaching more junior team members to develop their own presentation skills.

— Work closely with the Senior Resource Manager to understand how to prioritise resource needs on your client project teams and approve allocation of resources in all project plans and schedules.

— Take ownership and ensure the timely delivery of all creative, upholding the studio’s exceptional creative standards.

Managerial

— Showcase a clear understanding and desire to continue to develop your managerial skills to enable progression towards Design Director. For example, project planning, ensuring clear timings, team resourcing and effective delivery and presentation of digital.

— Shape how you want to lead and deliver your projects, managing upwards effectively to the relevant Design Director, so that they are able to run the whole team effectively and have a birds-eye view of all projects within their team.

— Manage both the day to day and longer-term career growth plans of designers within your team, providing clear and ongoing developmental feedback and support, assisting them in achieving their full potential.

— Be responsible for working alongside the Creative Resource Manager and HR when it comes to finding new design talent for your team, leading interviews and being heavily involved in the immersion programmes for successful applicants.

Commercial Impact

— Build strong, personal client relationships, always in parallel and complimentary to colleagues’ relationships (i.e. within Client Services).

— Take ownership, collaborating with Account Directors and/or Managers to review the time allocation for your allocated projects in the Studio, ensuring design resource is identified, allocated and planned accordingly to satisfy the success of a project and its delivery.

— Involvement in resourcing sessions to plan and bring in the right team to support from freelance and other resource requirements on your projects.

— Showcase commercial acumen when working in partnership with the Finance Team to ensure project budgets and timelines are maintained, securing the financial success of the business.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

— Use strong management experience to guide, nurture and inspire junior members of the team, ensuring excellent creative output is upheld, there is a strong alignment on creative direction and decision making and ultimately, the project is a success.

— An over-riding passion for the brand design world, and keen to inspire through passion— Be confident delegating responsibility, providing autonomy to others to ensure projects run efficiently, and everyone is focussed on the right areas in accordance with their expertise and level.

— Respond quickly and accurately to client feedback, demonstrating professionalism and understanding to exceed client expectations.

— Cultivate partnerships with Project Managers to unite teams and ensure transparency during the design process.

— Demonstrate commercial acumen and work in partnership with the Finance Team to ensure all of your projects are delivered to scope, time and budget in a professional and compliant manner.

— Show experience with confidently and competently leading client presentations, ensuring they are delivered in an engaging and eloquent manner.

— Ability to articulate your point of view clearly, both verbally and through written and creative methods.

— Bring insight, opinions and a broad cultural perspective along with a deep understanding of the design landscape and process, in order to positively affect the creative outcome.

— The ability to multitask across multiple workstreams is key.

EXPERTISE

— Adobe Creative Suite
— Sketch
— Figma
— Keynote
— 3D programmes
— Building presentation documents
— Presentation skills
— Significant ecommerce platform experience
— Development knowledge (coding not essential)