Design Director

Makemarks; Salford; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading design agency in the United Kingdom is seeking an experienced Design Director to lead projects and ensure quality output in a hybrid working environment. The ideal candidate will possess strong skills in packaging design and brand strategy, with experience in FMCG. Responsibilities include project leadership, client management, and maintaining design excellence across branding touchpoints. Excellent communication and organizational skills are essential for managing multiple priorities and championing creative vision.

Qualifications

• Solid experience in packaging design with an ability to understand brand personalities and target markets.
• A portfolio representing a diverse range of industry expertise, showing systems thinking in FMCG.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for the day-to-day quality of output.
• Lead multiple projects from brief through adaptation and rollout.
• Work efficiently, balancing tight deadlines and frequently shifting priorities.

Skills

Packaging design

Brand strategy

Communication

Project management

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

Marks, part of the Propelis Group, Marks is a consumer experience agency creating engaging moments across the entire brand spectrum—from brand design and packaging, to content and consumer connections. We are a collaborative global network of 1,900+ team members across 25+ studios and 20+ countries, partnering with some of the world’s most recognized brands to solve complex business challenges through design, strategy, and craft.

Our Culture

Marks is a genuinely friendly, fun and engaging place to work. Whilst we are serious about the work we do, we are emphatic that our employees should have the most rewarding experience at work we can possibly give them in a business environment, as well as a great place for all to nurture their talents. We’re bringing together a diverse team of creative people with perspectives from all over the world to create a vibrant environment full of ideas, opinions and experience.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced Design Director who is comfortable with a high degree of ownership and accountability. This is a great opportunity for an inspiring team leader with a can-do attitude who excels working in a fast-paced and reactive environment. This is a hybrid working role that will be based out of our York based studio.

Our ideal candidate is a natural brand builder and systems thinker who understands brand strategy and creative branding principles. You have a background working on FMCG brands and have a deep understanding of how they operate and are developed across printed packaging, POS and other shopper facing comms.

You are grounded in brand pack design, both creatively and in its expansion and translation across wide reaching portfolios. You’ll be able to work with and understand brand positioning documents and guidelines to help create exciting new concepts for new ranges and brand expansions.

Critical to this role is the ability to flex beyond pack, seamlessly adapting a visual brand language across other touchpoints including POS, Digital and e-comm, maintaining the brand personality throughout.

What you’ll do

• Be responsible for the day-to-day quality of output
• Lead multiple projects from brief through adaptation and rollout
• Provide inspirational direction and be prepared to share knowledge with less technical members of the team
• Work efficiently, balancing tight deadlines and frequently shifting priorities
• Work alongside the Creative Director on conceptual projects where a more creative skillset is required

What you’ll need

• Solid experience in packaging design with an ability to understand brands individual personalities, tiering and target markets
• A portfolio that represents a diverse range of industry expertise, showing systems thinking in the world of FMCG
• The ability to be the brand guardian, ensuring its development and executional consistency
• The ability to change perspectives: a keen eye for detail but being able to shift to ‘helicopter view’ when needed
• You’ll need to be an excellent written and verbal communicator
• Ability to manage clients and projects independently
• Good understanding of print and production processes and ability to explain print limitations to those without technical knowledge
• Excellent presentation skills, articulating ideas with conviction in client facing situations
• Organisational skills. You can effectively manage your time, prioritise your work and handle multiple projects simultaneously
• Drive creative quality and technical execution excellence
• A passion for visual culture, creativity, innovation and tech, beyond the world of graphic design
• An expert working knowledge of the Adobe Creative suite and keynote