Associate Design Director

StudioXAG creates bold spaces that tell big stories

We are a B Corp-certified creative studio in London and Amsterdam that believe in business as a force for good.

We create exciting experiences for some of the world's best known brands, telling stories that touch every corner of the globe. Luckily for us, we have a diverse team of conceptual thinkers, creative dreamers and inquisitive makers that help make this happen.

They’re our core. They make us tick, inspire us, push us to be better.

Now we want to hear from you.

The Role:

Studio XAG is looking for an Associate Design Director to motivate, guide and nurture designers to deliver world class creative projects that Studio XAG are known for.

Reporting into our Head of Design, you’ll be joining a design team of 18 in a vibrant, exciting, and creative environment in our London office. You will have the opportunity to work with great brands on interesting projects; you will be responsible for delivering brilliant creative on a broad range of design projects for the business.

The Associate Design Director will head up their own full time, mini team of designers to support and nurture their development, training them to the highest standards.

Parental leave has been the catalyst for StudioXAG looking for a new ADD to join the team, and so we are open to a fixed term contract or a Permanent employee to join us

Who exactly are we looking for?

We’re looking for a bold, fast and fearless design leader who has a hunger for managing talented, happy teams and creating inspiring and beautiful work.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be highly creative
• Have the ability to tell stories and pull together narrative
• Be a great communicator
• Be a true team player
• Be a fantastic organiser
• Be a brilliant people manager
• Have a strong eye for detail
• Be a talented creative problem solver

Ideal Experience:

• 10+ ​years​ hands on design or creative experience in creative retail
• Seasoned industry player with varied client-facing experience
• Excellent understanding of the world of retail and brand experience and the design and production process
• Design or Creative leadership in brand or in agency
• People management - nurturing and developing a growing team
• Ability to train designers on design programs and design skills
• Concept creation and brand storytelling across diverse retail and experiential touchpoints
• Creating and delivering presentations to senior brand stakeholders
• Client liaison, account management or in-house client experience
• Great creative problem solving skills
• Leadership qualities and a hunger to deliver the best results

Skills & Responsibilities:

• Creative / Design Direction
• Defining the creative strategy on your projects and accounts
• Crafting inspiring concepts that respond to a client brief with a WOW
• Working closely alongside designers to guide them to create show stopping work
• Creating and delivering storytelling presentations and pitches
• Ensuring clarity of concept as the design develops and evolves with client feedback
• Strong understanding of materials and fabrication processes
• Awareness of how to design work that can be built within a client's budget
• Working closely with the Creative Director to push the boundaries of creative and elevate the projects creatively

Project & Account Leadership:

• Dissecting briefs and diagnosing client needs
• Liasing with the Design Studio Project Managers to provide clarity on scope and resources required to deliver the project successfully
• Strategising project delivery to ensure the project is delivered on time and to a high quality
• From briefing through to final delivery, be the lead and trusted advisor for clients throughout the process for all areas of design & creative strategy.
• Client communication, expectation management and feedback
• Identify, strategise and deliver on opportunities for growth and development of key accounts. Eg. expansion of services offered with key client
• Accountable for Comprehensive and Complete handovers of your projects through to inhouse teams or external production (when required)

Team Leadership / Training:

• Responsible for the nurturing and personal development of a team of up to 5 direct reports. This will include their 121’s, personal development plans, career progression and growth plans.
• Working with freelance designers and external agencies to deliver creative to the same level of quality as expected when working with in-house teams.
• Ensuring the team are happy, motivated and inspired, bringing the best out of each individual.
• Training teams on design programs, design skills, soft skills and creative skills
• Recruitment of brilliant talent

Industry Knowledge:

A deep understanding of brands, with thorough knowledge of luxury, beauty, lifestyle sectors and the wider industry, consumer and cultural context. Using this insight to understand and frame our clients objectives and business challenges to build relevant, purposeful and inspiring strategic approaches for clients, and sell in at a high level, as a trusted advisor.

Tool Knowledge:

• Strong knowledge of Sketchup & Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator & rendering software (ideally V Ray)
• Additional knowledge/experience working with other 3D Modelling and rendering software is ideal eg. C4D/Rhino/Unreal/Enscape etc
• Understanding of tools and processes that blend digital and physical is beneficial - eg Motion capture technology / Spark AR
• Excellent understanding of spatial design
• Gmail / Google Drive
• Slack (or other similar communication tools)

Location:

We currently work a hybrid model; 3 days a week from our East London studio in E10 and 2 flexible days. Our normal working hours are 9am - 6pm but flexible working hours and days are available.

Some of our benefits:

• Gross profit-related annual bonus scheme
• Workplace pension
• 25 days holiday (inc 3 days taken during Christmas closure) + Bank Holidays
• 0.5 paid days off per month to get inspired
• International research budgets and trips
• All-you-can-eat YCN creative professional learning membership
• Spill mental health support
• Flexible and remote working available

Salary: £60-70k DOE. Please state expectations on application.

Parental leave has been the catalyst for StudioXAG looking for a new ADD to join the team, and so we are open to a fixed term contract or a Permanent employee to join us

Belonging and Inclusivity at StudioXAG:

StudioXAG is a business that strives for equality for all its people. Known for our storytelling, our different perspectives make us more creative than ever.

No matter who you are, you are welcome at StudioXAG.