Design Director/Associate Creative Director

We're searching for a Design Director/Associate Creative Director – Design. This role involves co-leading our creative team alongside our existing Associate Creative Director, who specialises in copy and concepting. Together, you'll form a formidable leadership team, driving our creative direction and ensuring our work is both innovative and impactful.

Working With:

• Creative team, including Copywriters, Designers and other Art Directors; Agency Management and Leadership Teams; Account Management Teams; Strategy Directors; and Production Staff; HR/Talent Team as well direct comms with client.

Key Responsibilities:

• Creative Leadership: Lead the creative department alongside the existing ACD, fostering a collaborative and inspiring environment.
• Collaboration and Mentorship: Build a strong, cohesive partnership with the existing ACD, ensuring an integrated approach to leading the team. Mentor and manage the performance and professional development of your design team.
• Brand Guardianship: Act as a co-brand guardian across all agency accounts, ensuring that work is creatively outstanding, effective, and adheres to brand guidelines and budgets.
• Production Oversight: Direct the production of creative outputs like print ads, website projects, social media content, rebranding etc.
• Client Interaction: Pitch ideas and campaigns to existing and potential clients, acting as a strong communicator and confident presenter.
• Agency Representation: Represent the agency at industry events, panels, and groups, showcasing our creative thought leadership.
• Feedback Management: Receive, manage, and respond appropriately to feedback from clients, research, and agency colleagues.
• Hands-on approach: From time to time, we expect this role to be very hands on, getting involved in design projects themselves.

Who Succeeds in This Role:

• Creative Craftsmanship: A proven track record in creative excellence and bringing impactful work to market.
• Leadership and Mentorship: Ability to lead, motivate, and manage a team, fostering a culture of creativity and professional growth.
• Strategic Thinker: Deep understanding of brand values and the role of advertising in achieving business success.
• Resilient and Tenacious: Capable of thriving under pressure and meeting tight deadlines.
• Diversity Champion: Committed to fostering diversity within the team to enhance creativity and innovation.
• Personal Development Guru: Dedicated to the personal and professional development of team members, ensuring they have the necessary skills and inspiration.
• Commercial mindset: Know their numbers, ensuring the department is making profit and can communicate this to the board.

Your rewards

As well as a competitive salary, you will receive:

• 24 days holiday plus 3 days over Christmas.
• 0.5 life balance days (a half day each month to do whatever you want except Dec).
• An additional holiday for each year of service, up to a total of 5 extra days.
• Early finish on a Friday.
• The option to buy an extra week’s holiday.
• Private health insurance which covers pre-existing conditions, cancer care and gives cashback for routine optical and dental treatments.
• Life assurance.
• Pension scheme.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay.
• Half yearly profit share bonus (non-CS roles), Quarterly bonus (CS roles).
• £1000 for a referring a new hire.

And we offer:

• Hybrid working and flexibility across our Manchester and Leeds offices.
• Access to a personal trainer/nutritionist, free fruit, and breakfast.
• Mental health support and access to professional therapists through ‘Spill.’
• Twice yearly peer feedback and performance reviews, tailored personal development plans and objectives.
• Access to industry-accredited professional qualifications through our IPA membership.
• Employee voice, we consult our people on matters affecting them and encourage participation in surveys, our suggestions box and employee awards.
• A social buddy, monthly agency socials and events put on by our culture committee.
• Monthly Lunch & Learn events to gain more understanding of different facets of agency life.
• All supported by a culture driven by great work, team collaboration, passion, honesty, and mutual respect for everyone.

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We had always thought our business was open and inclusive. Afterall, one of our values is “Everyone matters.” We hammer home the behaviour of treating everyone with respect, seeing things from the other person’s perspective, understanding that everyone has different values, responsibilities, concerns and families.

But when you delve a little deeper into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, this value is a great place to start but it involves so much more.

Here at TrunkBBI, we naturally welcome difference. It’s what gives us strength as a business, the wide breadth of experience, capabilities, and perspectives. And any creative business knows that the best ideas don’t come from just one place. Diversity is important, but we feel what makes the real difference is inclusivity, or the act of helping people feel valued and enabled regardless of their differences.

We have really then only just begun our diversity and inclusivity journey. We started by ensuring everyone has mandatory training to help people understand what it means to be inclusive. We’ve set up a panel of people within the business to champion difference and we have ambassadors who are gaining their IPA D, E & I certifications. We continue to learn and evolve, and realise that this is not a quick win, or a ‘one and done.’

We are adapting our practices, offering home working, flexibility around start times, offer monthly life-balance days, access to mental health professionals, and assessing our working spaces to accommodate brilliant neurodivergent minds. And will continue to evolve to enable the differences around us.

About TrunkBBI

TrunkBBI is an integrated marketing agency focused on creating engaging, immersive and highly creative experiences for brands. We are a collaboration of some of the top names from network and bespoke agencies, brought together to deliver a boutique experience and service to clients.

Unique in our approach and our desire to do things differently, we build client teams that combine the best of abilities in design, dev, tech, content, engagement and performance. Our belief in our approach ensures we produce brilliant results for clients.