Design Director

Requirements

You're a thinker and maker who leads the creative team on major engagements

You set a strong creative point of view and coach the team to deliver their best work, elevating not just what we deliver but how we work

You're connecting creative excellence with commercial outcomes and contributing to how Interbrand is known in the market

You're a holistic creative who architects comprehensive brand systems that work intelligently and beautifully across all consumer touchpoints—physical, digital, social, and emerging platforms

You're proficient in emerging creative tools and AI applications, and you have the judgment to know when to use them to amplify creative work and when craft must be unmediated

You shape how your team approaches tool selection, emerging technologies, and cross-channel design thinking

Proven track record leading creative work on significant client engagements. Portfolio showing systems excellence and how ideas work across multiple channels and touchpoints

Demonstrated expertise in holistic brand design with evidence of leading projects where a single identity system performs effectively across radically different contexts and platforms. Proficiency with emerging creative tools; understanding of how AI can enhance creative work

You bring clarity about what's distinctive and why it matters. You generate routes that unlock both commercial value and memorable experiences. You know the difference between good and great. You understand how to design systems that are coherent yet flexible and how a brand can feel unified across touchpoints while adapting intelligently to context, audience, and channel requirements

You work seamlessly across disciplines, bringing strategy and delivery into creative conversations. You navigate tensions between vision and feasibility thoughtfully, not by compromising either

You develop people and bring out their best work. You coach individuals, create space for contribution, and help the team understand the thinking behind decisions. You shape how your team thinks about and works with emerging tools, balancing technological curiosity with craft standards

You tell compelling stories about your work that move people to action. You adapt your approach for different audiences and know how to frame choices so people understand what matters

You operate autonomously and own outcomes. You anticipate risks, structure teams and timelines for success, and deliver at scale

What the job involves

Interrogate briefs with strategy and client management, reframing challenges to unlock distinctive creative opportunities

Lead the creative platform on your projects, architecting scalable systems that work coherently across all touchpoints, including web, mobile, social, physical retail, packaging, events and emerging channels

Identify and frame potential iconic moves, testing feasibility with delivery and challenging the team to think bigger. Consider how the ideas can travel across contexts to better resonate with the audience

Build senior relationships with clients and partners, leading co-creation sessions that shape decisions

Develop your team, coaching individuals towards their potential and creating space for originality to emerge. Encourage them to think across channels and think about the whole consumer journey

Structure how creative work flows, setting rituals and reviews that keep momentum and quality high

Own creative delivery, managing scope, budget, and timeline while anticipating and mitigating risks

Provide critique that's clear and decisive, holding the quality bar and ensuring production-ready work

Present your work with conviction, connecting human insight, commercial value, and experience together

Stay ahead of tools, methods, and emerging practices, bringing these into how our team works. Help evaluate new design software, AI tools and other emerging technologies that will help strengthen the creative capability within the company

Contribute to proposals, building cases for investment, and elevating Interbrand's reputation through awards and recognition

Partner with Brand Economics, understanding impact and using that to inform creative priorities

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