Head of Design Services

Acamar Films; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in children's media, Acamar Films, is seeking a Head of Design Services based in London. The successful candidate will lead the creative direction for multiple projects, ensuring brand consistency and innovative design solutions. This role demands strong leadership, exceptional organizational skills, and expertise in various design software to support extensive project management and collaboration across departments.

Qualifications

• Advanced skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign.
• In-depth understanding of design disciplines.
• Strong leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead creative direction for design outputs across multiple departments.
• Manage design schedules and oversee execution of creative tasks.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure clear communication and expectations.

Skills

Leadership

Organisational Skills

Communication

Problem-Solving

Visual Aesthetic

Tools

Photoshop

Illustrator

InDesign

Premier Pro

After Effects

Job description

About the Role

The Head of Design Services is the lead contact for Design and is responsible for providing creative solutions for all design outputs, as well as being responsible for managing the creative schedules. The role will work across Production, Licensing, Product Development, Marketing, Digital and more, to develop exciting design material that aligns with the editorial and brand guidelines

The role reports to the Director of Production who you will work closely with to develop creative strategies, clear processes and innovative ideas that enable Acamar’s ongoing success.

Exceptional organisational and communication skills are highly important in this role as it will be required to review briefs and update the design schedule on a daily basis and make the necessary adjustments as and when work is initiated or completed. As part of this process, there will be a need to liaise with team members, keeping them up-to-date with progress and estimated delivery times.

What you’ll do

• Support the CEO and Chief Production & Editorial Officer in envisioning and leading change to promote the development of creative across the business.

• Reporting to the Director of Production, you will support strategic direction & forward planning for 2D and 3D design development.

• Lead the direction of the audience and consumer facing design development for Bing and Acamar Films.

• Oversee the execution of approved creative direction

• Act as a brand guardian for Bing and Acamar Films visual identity

• Develop and evolve (where required) brand guidelines, ensuring consistency across all brand touch points.

• Take ownership for managing and leading on style guide development. Collaborate with creative agencies and freelancers as required and process any artwork they generate.

• Continuously work towards Series Asset Development (CGI AND Vector), signing off on all creative. Leading the 3D team on CGI asset development across a variety of outputs.

• Art direct artwork across a variety of disciplines where required

• Lead regular project meetings and sign off on all project work that is being worked on by Design Services.

• Lead and guide external agencies, and freelancers with their work on Bing, providing support, guidance and feedback.

• Navigate creative challenges with a forward-thinking, solutions focused approach, with a positive and adaptable mindset during times of change or uncertainty.

• Oversee and manage the design schedules (Design & 3D) so that workflows are processed, delegated accordingly, editorially aligned and delivered on time. This includes liaising with stakeholders and collaborating on briefs to ensure jobs are clear and expectations are managed.

• Oversee the recruitment of freelancers and manage the process of artwork delivery back to the business.

• Be responsible for Creative Asset Management, ensuring files are accurate, filed correctly and distributed to relevant colleagues and partners as required.

• Continuously review ways of working and how work could be produced more efficiently without compromising the quality of work delivered.

• Work with the Head of Operations to manage Design team infrastructure, ensuring that they have all necessary kit, software and licences – and that efficient tools can be implemented.

• Collaborate with internal teams to define business needs and priorities by attending company wide strategy meetings.

• Be willing and ready to offer creative solutions to ‘quick wins’ as well as long term campaign goals always with Bing’s Core Values front of mind.

• Understand and work with a responsive mobile first approach to digital output

• Work closely with the Head of Product Development and the Executive Director, Global Licensing on product design development, supporting our partners globally.

• Support the Product Development team with sound packaging expertise, be ready to support development as required, either with art direction or hands on creative support.

• Art direct and execute visuals for experiential projects, with a good understanding of technical requirements including working with elevations. Strong ability to scale artwork accurately for large format deliveries.

• Oversee the creative direction of fonts, ensuring alignment with the brand guidelines. Working closely with the Operations & Legal teams to ensure the correct licenses are in place.

• In addition, curate and advise direction for lifestyle imagery where needed, ensuring the correct licences are in place, liaising with the legal as necessary.

What you’ll bring

• Advanced skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign. Proficient in Premier Pro. After Effects would be advantageous.

• In-depth understanding of design disciplines

• Strong leadership skills to drive a high performing environment.

• Exceptional organisational skills to manage the day to day flow of the design schedules with the ability to think proactively and pre-empt any risks to delivery.

• Open and honest communication, enabling management of all stakeholders’ expectations and fostering trust.

• A well-developed visual aesthetic, moving seamlessly from concept through to finalised design.

• Strong experience in leading style guide development and being able to manoeuvre between Core, Trend, Themed and Brand development.

• A natural problem-solving mindset, complimented by both creative intuition and strategic judgement.

• Most importantly, the most qualified candidate will be strongly aligned with Acamar core values, which include collaboration, creativity, curiosity, diversity, and kindness.