Design & Creative Manager - Campus Services - 106565 - Grade 7

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 49,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK university is seeking a Design and Creative Manager to lead a team in delivering innovative marketing solutions. This role requires a strong background in graphic design and a degree-level education. The ideal candidate will manage projects from concept to completion, using industry-standard tools and fostering an inclusive work environment. Generous benefits package included.

Benefits

40 days paid holiday

Pension scheme

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level in a relevant area or equivalent qualifications.
• A high level of experience with industry standard packages.
• Strong project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead creative projects from concept to delivery.
• Manage graphic design and creative function of the marketing team.
• Develop marketing campaigns for web and social media.

Skills

Adobe Creative Cloud

Project Management

Graphic Design

Communication

Education

Degree in relevant area or equivalent practical experience

Tools

Photoshop

InDesign

After Effects

Presentation software

Job description

Position Details

Campus Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 9th November 2025

UK travel may be required for this role

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector‑leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide‑range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state‑of‑the‑art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham.

Background

Campus Services (CS) employs over 900 staff with a turnover exceeding £57m in the last financial year. CS plays a key role in the quality of the student, staff, and visitor experience, providing services across diverse areas such as the University’s sporting facilities, food and beverage, cleaning, community safety and security, conferencing, hotel operations, day nurseries, portering, post, branded and own‑brand retail outlets, visitor services and attractions (e.g., Winterbourne House & Gardens), student housing, transport, waste disposal and recycling. CS is a highly commercial organisation operating within the University context and has an ambitious strategic agenda, in terms of growing our service profile across both our Birmingham and Dubai campuses.

Role Summary

The Design and Creative Manager post sits within the Campus Services Marketing team that supports all the different departments that make up Campus Services. It is an exciting role in a busy team, dedicated to delivering innovative solutions in creative, design, digital, media, and print. The role combines strong creative vision with essential management skills, including leadership, problem‑solving, and communication and is instrumental in the marketing team’s achievements.

You will serve as a design specialist, leading our creative endeavours to address current and future client needs. You will create, plan and manage marketing campaigns on the web, social media and digital marketing platforms. Duties include driving innovation and developing strategies to support the delivery of the department’s marketing activities, identifying and researching market trends and planning campaigns. You will guide the creative process from concept to completion while ensuring projects align with brand standards. The successful candidate will possess a demonstrable background in successfully building relationships and communicating with colleagues at all levels, including leading others within the marketing team in the development and delivery of campaigns.

You will need to bring your passion and enthusiasm for current trends and appetite for future opportunities to the role; working to develop innovative marketing services that will meet the needs of customers and clients.

Main Duties

• Will use vision to deliver original, highly innovative, multi‑disciplined creative solutions to meet client brief within budget. This will include:
  • effectively interpreting briefs, researching audiences, and developing solutions
  • strong idea generation from initiation to concept development
  • knowledge, consideration, and application of UI and UX best practice
  • storyboard and develop outline scripts ideas
  • write and edit copy
• Lead on the content creation for strategic projects including developing pitch presentations for new business.
• As a technical expert you will advise on all areas of design, including scoping projects, equipment, software and feeding into the review and enhancement production and working processes.
• Management of graphic design and creative function of the marketing & communications team; responsible for overseeing the team’s creative projects from initiation to delivery.
• Champion learning and development amongst the design team and support direct reports in their career growth; continual development and enhancement of the team’s creative expertise, including knowledge sharing.
• Accountable for and sign off of all design materials and creative campaign output.
• Support the Head of Marketing & Communications, working alongside Marketing & Communications Manager and Digital marketing Manager to input and influence key departmental decision making.
• Confidently communicate to clients and internal teams, active participation in briefing and feedback meetings, leading on advising from a concept and design perspective.
• Work closely with the team and attend client meetings to review active projects and briefs, develop ideas and assess or advise on project resource and requirements.
• Ensure content is accessible to all end users, the regulatory and legal requirements when using media assets such as copyright and intellectual property rights are met, web accessibility is optimised; all content is backed up and archived and adheres to University brand guidelines.
• Identify new innovation opportunities to support growth for our clients in Campus Services – through regular horizon scanning and networking to stay abreast of the latest emerging trends and innovations, turning these into recommendations which can be pitched to clients, working with the Head of Marketing & Communications.
• Identify opportunities for Campus Services marketing to support University objectives by seeking and building relationships with staff across the University as well as external contacts, including developing, maintaining and using professional networks.
• Represent Campus Services Marketing at appropriate committees and other meetings.
• Promotes equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Supports the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to degree level in a relevant area or equivalent qualifications or significant practical relevant equivalent work experience in graphic design, digital and media.
• A high level of experience with industry standard packages, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Aftereffects, InDesign Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier Pro, Acrobat and Presentation software, as well as Microsoft Office/PowerPoint to create, edit and post‑produce content and assets.
• A thorough understanding of graphic design, typography and digital standards.
• Experience of using Content Management Systems and publishing web content using a CMS with a comprehensive understanding of UX and UI best practices.
• Good understanding of web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) accessibility regulations and creating with accessibility in mind so that content meets or exceeds AA legal accessibility guidelines.
• Moderate skills to be able to produce basic animations, films (e.g. talking heads) and social media videos. Basic film and photography experience are desirable.
• Strong project management skills including project and budget management.
• Line management experience with the ability to successfully manage conflicting priorities and deadlines.
• Confident communicator, able to clearly convey complex ideas or technical details and sell them to the client and internally.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self‑motivating approach with exceptional attention to detail, maintaining high standards and brand consistency.
• Ability to perform in a fast‑paced environment on multiple projects and keep calm and focused under pressure. Proactively researching new services/new ways of doing things and proven experience of implementing them.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a ‘can‑do’ problem solving attitude to build and maintain positive relationships.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Dimensions

Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You may be responsible for managing a team of staff, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co‑ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.

Informal enquiries to Daniel Robbins, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviours here

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.