Senior Design Director (212911)

Aquent; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary up to 140k

Design ownership

Ground-up build

Hands-on work

Process and standards shaping

Team growth potential

Premium brands collaboration

Close collaboration with Founder

Influence on future direction

Job summary

Aquent in Melbourne seeks a highly hands-on Senior Design Director to build and shape the design function for a boutique studio. You will lead from the front, establishing standards, workflows and potential team growth while staying closely involved in the work for premium, design-led brands.

You’ll define how briefs become powerful creative concepts, direct branding, campaigns and digital work, and mentor designers as the function evolves.

Qualifications

• Experience leading design in a studio or brand-led environment.
• Ability to translate briefs into distinctive creative directions.
• Strong visual judgement across typography, composition and storytelling.
• Proven ability to guide design projects from concept to execution.
• Experience mentoring and developing designers as the function grows.

Responsibilities

• Lead creative thinking and develop strong creative directions in response to client briefs.
• Stay hands-on with concepts and final execution.
• Translate brand and business strategy into distinctive ideas.
• Set creative direction across identity, campaigns, digital, social and content.
• Lead brainstorming, present concepts, and articulate the thinking behind them.
• Develop design processes, standards and workflows as the function grows.
• Manage multiple projects, priorities, timelines and budgets.
• Potentially recruit and mentor designers as the team expands.

Skills

Design leadership

Brand identity

Campaigns

Digital design

Typography

Presentation skills

Client communication

Mentoring designers

Building design function

Job description

Build the design function. Shape the work. Help grow the team.

We’re looking for a highly hands-on Senior Design Director to build and shape the design function of a growing boutique studio working with premium, design-led brands.

The business has ambitious plans for growth and needs someone who can help establish what the design function looks like as it grows. That means being involved in the work yourself, setting creative standards, developing ways of working, managing the design workload and, over time, potentially helping build and lead a design team.

You’ll work closely with the Founder and will have genuine influence over the work, the way design operates and the people who eventually sit within the function.

This is a role for someone who enjoys being close to the work and isn't looking to sit several steps removed from the creative process.

This is a hands-on leadership role

You won’t be coming into an established design department with layers of designers and processes already in place. You’ll be helping build the design function from the ground up.

In the early stages, you may be the person doing the thinking, designing, presenting and managing the work yourself. As the studio grows, you’ll have the opportunity to help determine what additional design capability is needed and potentially build a team around you.

You’ll need to be comfortable moving between:

• Developing the creative idea
• Designing and getting into the detail of the work
• Setting creative and design direction
• Managing multiple projects and priorities
• Working directly with clients
• Establishing design processes and ways of working
• Managing resources, timelines and budgets
• Mentoring and eventually building a design team
• Working with the Founder to shape the future of the studio

If your ideal role is purely strategic or focused on reviewing work created by others, this probably isn't the right role for you.

If you want to build something and still have your hands in the work, it could be a great fit.

What you'll be doing

You’ll work across a varied mix of branding, campaigns, digital, social, content and communications, with the opportunity to influence the creative from the initial brief through to execution.

You’ll:

• Lead creative thinking and develop strong creative directions in response to client briefs.
• Stay hands‑on with concepts, design and key creative work.
• Translate brand and business strategy into distinctive creative ideas.
• Set creative direction across brand identity, campaigns, digital, social and content.
• Take briefs from initial thinking through to final execution.
• Develop concepts and explore ideas yourself rather than simply delegating them.
• Lead brainstorming and creative development sessions.
• Present creative concepts and confidently articulate the thinking behind them.
• Provide art direction across photography, video and content.
• Work directly with clients to understand their needs and challenge briefs where appropriate.
• Help establish the design processes, standards and ways of working as the function grows.
• Manage design projects across competing priorities, deadlines and budgets.
• Identify where additional design capability is needed as the business grows.
• Potentially recruit, mentor and develop designers as the team expands.
• Help create a strong design culture and maintain a consistently high standard of work.
• Contribute to pitches, new business and the ongoing development of the studio.

Creative thinking matters

This role isn't just about producing beautiful design. It's about thinking about the work and finding the idea within the brief.

You’ll be expected to take a brief, find the interesting idea within it and explore how that idea can be brought to life visually and verbally.

You don't need to be a copywriter, but you should be comfortable developing headline ideas, campaign lines or short‑form copy where it forms part of the creative concept.

Particularly when working on promotional campaigns, we’re looking for someone who can help shape both the headline and the design direction.

Building the design function

One of the most important parts of this role is helping establish how design works within the business.

You’ll have the opportunity to shape:

• Design processes and workflows
• Creative standards and quality control
• How briefs are received, interpreted and developed
• How projects are scoped and resourced
• How design time is allocated across projects
• How the design function works with the wider studio
• The capability and skills needed as the business grows
• The structure of the design team as the function develops

You’ll need to be comfortable creating structure where there isn't much yet, while still keeping the process flexible enough for a growing studio.

The commercial side

The work is important, but so is understanding the business behind it.

You’ll need strong commercial acumen and an understanding of what it takes to run a creative function profitably.

That means balancing creative ambition with budgets, resources, timelines and the commercial needs of the studio and its clients.

You’ll be comfortable thinking about:

• How projects are scoped and resourced
• How creative time is allocated
• How workloads are managed
• Where additional capability is needed
• How to maintain quality while working within commercial constraints
• How design can contribute to client relationships and new business
• How the design function can grow sustainably

What we're looking for

You might be a Senior Design Director, Design Director, Associate Creative Director or an experienced Senior Designer who is ready to take ownership of a design function.

Your title matters less than how you think, the quality of your work and your ability to build as well as create.

You’ll bring:

• A background in a design studio, brand studio or similarly design‑led environment.
• Experience working with premium, design‑led brands.
• A portfolio that demonstrates ideas and creative thinking, not just execution.
• Strong experience across brand identity, campaigns and broader design, including digital, social and content.
• Excellent visual judgement across typography, composition, imagery and storytelling.
• The ability to move from strategy and big ideas through to the detail of execution.
• Confidence developing creative concepts and design directions.
• An ability to contribute headline and campaign line ideas as part of the creative process.
• Experience directing photography, video or content.
• Strong presentation and client communication skills.
• Experience mentoring and developing designers.
• An interest in building and shaping a design function, not simply managing an established team.
• Strong commercial judgement and an understanding of creative team profitability.
• The ability to manage competing projects, priorities and deadlines.
• A collaborative, low‑ego approach and the confidence to challenge ideas constructively.
• Curiosity about design, culture, technology and the wider creative industry.

The kind of person who will thrive here

Someone who can sit down with a blank page and work out what needs to happen next.

Someone who enjoys both making the work and figuring out how the work gets made.

Someone who can move between the big creative picture and the smallest design detail.

Someone who can work independently, take ownership and create structure without needing everything mapped out for them.

Someone who wants the opportunity to build something rather than inherit something fully formed.

And importantly, someone who genuinely enjoys being hands‑on.

You’ll have genuine influence over the creative direction of the studio, while still being close to the work and the clients.

As the business grows, there is potential to build out the design capability and team around you.

What's on offer

• Up to $140k + super
• Genuine ownership of the design function
• The opportunity to help build the design function from the ground up
• Hands‑on involvement in the creative work
• The opportunity to shape processes, standards and ways of working
• Potential to build and lead a design team as the studio grows
• Opportunity to work with premium property, construction, lifestyle and design‑led brands
• Close collaboration with the Founder
• Genuine influence over the future creative direction of the studio

Interested?

If you're a senior designer or creative leader who wants to build, create and shape, rather than simply inherit an established design function, we'd love to hear from you.

Please note this client is not open to sponsorship or relocation for this opportunity.

Interested?

If you’re a senior creative who wants to have genuine influence over the work, the team and the direction of a growing design studio, I’d love to hear from you.

Please note this client is not open to sponsorship or relocation for this opportunity.