Design Director

M+C Saatchi UK; Dubai; On-site; AED 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

M+C Saatchi UK is recruiting a standout Design Director to shape strategically driven brand identities and visual campaigns in Dubai. You will craft brand worlds that align with business goals and campaign strategies, pushing work toward award-winning levels of craft.

Seeking a leader who combines strategic insight, design excellence, and advanced AI tooling to define brands that resonate, influence culture, and set new creative benchmarks. Office-based with long-term freelance options.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading branding projects for diverse clients.
• Ability to create high-level brand systems aligned with business goals.
• Strong conceptual thinker who elevates creative quality across campaigns.

Responsibilities

• Lead creation of brand identities and visual campaigns.
• Develop distinctive brand worlds grounded in strategy and beauty.
• Direct large-scale campaigns across multiple touchpoints with exceptional craft.
• Mentor designers and set direction to maintain high execution standards.

Skills

Brand strategy

Brand systems design

Visual storytelling

Typography

AI imagery

Art direction

Campaign development

Mentoring designers

Presentation design

Education

Bachelor's degree in Design/Visual Communication

Tools

Midjourney

Krea

Photoshop

Illustrator

InDesign

Keynote

Job description

We’re looking for an exceptional Design Director to lead the creation of strategically driven, world-class brand identities and visual campaigns.

This is a role for someone who thinks beyond execution, someone who can see the bigger picture, challenge convention, and consistently push creative work into award-winning territory. You'll be responsible for developing distinctive brand worlds that are strategically grounded, visually exceptional, and commercially effective.

What we’re looking for

• A highly strategic designer with outstanding branding and visual identity experience.
• The ability to create thoughtful, high-level brand systems that align with business objectives and campaign strategies.
• A conceptual thinker who brings ambitious ideas to every project and proactively elevates creative quality.
• A deep understanding of design, advertising, fashion, architecture, culture and emerging visual trends, ensuring work feels relevant, contemporary and future-focused.
• Strong art direction skills, with an exceptional eye for photography, composition, colour, typography and visual storytelling.
• The ability to develop compelling visual mood directions that define the creative vision for brands and campaigns.
• Advanced AI capabilities, with expert knowledge of Midjourney and Krea to create distinctive, ownable, cinematic imagery for brands and campaigns.
• A strategic approach to typography, colour and visual systems that builds memorable and ownable brand worlds.
• Outstanding presentation design skills, with the ability to craft beautifully considered decks, mock-ups and visual narratives that bring ideas to life.
• Expert proficiency across Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) and Keynote.
• Highly efficient with the ability to lead the rollout of large-scale campaigns across multiple touchpoints while maintaining exceptional craft and consistency.
• Proven experience leading and mentoring designers, setting direction and ensuring the highest standards of execution throughout every stage of a project.

We’re looking for someone who combines strategic thinking, exceptional design and visual craft, and the power of AI to create work that not only looks beautiful, but defines brands, influences culture and sets new creative benchmarks.

We are looking for permanent as well as long term freelance candidates who are willing to work from office.