Lead Creative Gift Designer

Lush; Merley; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

50% discount on Lush products and spa

Cycle to work scheme

Enhanced parental leave

Discounted rail and bus season tickets

Employee assistance programme

10% Employee Owned

Job summary

The Lead Designer in Gifts at Lush will drive the creative development of the Gifts category, partnering with the Category Lead to shape vision and translate trends into commercially successful collections. This role leads creative projects, develops artist partnerships, and champions innovation across gifting, packaging and collaboration.

You will manage international collaboration with teams in North America, Japan and beyond, present concepts to founders, and oversee briefs from concept to

Qualifications

• Strong track record in collection development, storytelling, concept generation, and translating macroeconomic/cultural trends into tangible product ranges.
• Deep knowledge of packaging structures, print processes, and material exploration within a retail or product-led environment.
• Practical experience partnering with external artists, managing agency relationships, and handling copyright/licensing contracts.
• Proven ability to influence and collaborate across diverse international teams and present confidently to senior founders.
• Adept at writing comprehensive creative briefs, managing minor creative budgets, and directing design execution from concept through to final sample.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Creative Lead to shape category vision, translating market insights and cultural trends into commercially viable collection concepts.
• Create mood boards, narrative direction packs, and lead inspiration trips to drive early-stage range development.
• Step in to provide creative direction for the category alongside the Lead Gift Design Manager in the Creative Lead's absence.
• Conduct trend research on gifting, design, and sustainable materials to push creative boundaries.
• Collaborate directly with the Packaging Team to develop innovative formats, materials, and early-stage concepts.
• Craft and deliver compelling creative presentations for key stakeholders, including founders.
• Build and nurture relationships with external artist groups, agencies, and creative communities, integrating their insights into future ranges.
• Align with the Design Manager to leverage local Poole artist outreach and scale these into broader collection opportunities.
• Manage the administrative elements of creative partnerships, including copyright assignments, sample coordination, and licensing agreements for briefs created.
• Act as the creative bridge for international teams (e.g., North America, Japan), driving cross-regional alignment and idea-sharing.
• Provide regional teams with creative guidance, inspiration packs, and shared design direction.
• Write clear briefs and direct internal and external designers to ensure projects meet creative standards and deadlines.
• Approve small creative project budgets (proofs, samples, and materials) alongside the Creative Operations Manager.
• Serve as a brand ambassador for the Gifts category at events, showcases, and filming opportunities.

Skills

Creative Direction & Trend Forecasting

Packaging & Design Innovation

Artist Management & Licensing

Global Stakeholder Management

Commercial & Project Leadership

Job description

Contract: Permanent, Full-Time (40 hours per week, Monday to Friday)
Travel: Regular travel within the UK, plus quarterly international trips.
Location: Poole or London

Diversity matters

We are building a brand that represents the people of the world. It’s what you do that counts, and we are always looking to expand perspectives and voices to shape our future.

We see you, we celebrate you, we want you!

Who we are
You might know us as the inventors of the bath bomb, but there’s more to this great-smelling, partly employee-owned, family-run company than pioneering cosmetics. We believe our business should put more back into the world than it takes and demonstrate that capitalism can be a force for good.
The Living Wage Foundation’s statement 'a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay' is one that we are proud to commit to in the UK. As an accredited Living Wage employer, we put our people first and fight cruel practices like animal testing, promote regeneration, and show that it is what’s inside that counts - whether that’s an ingredient in a product, or the minerals in a smartphone.
The role
The Lead Designer is responsible for driving the creative development of the Gifts category, working in close partnership with the Category Lead to shape the creative vision, develop inspiring and commercially successful collections, and translate strategic direction into compelling design. The role leads creative projects, develops artist and global partnerships, identifies future opportunities and champions innovation across gifting, packaging and creative collaboration.
Want to see where a career at Lush could take you? Head over here to explore real stories of growth and development across the business.
Please note: We may close this vacancy early if we receive an overwhelming response or our business requirements change.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with the Creative Lead to shape category vision, translating market insights and cultural trends into commercially viable collection concepts.
• Create mood boards, narrative direction packs, and lead inspiration trips to drive early-stage range development.
• Step in to provide creative direction for the category alongside the Lead Gift Design Manager in the Creative Lead's absence.
• Conduct trend research on gifting, design, and sustainable materials to push creative boundaries.
• Collaborate directly with the Packaging Team to develop innovative formats, materials, and early-stage concepts.
• Craft and deliver compelling creative presentations for key stakeholders, including founders.

Artist Partnerships & Licensing

• Build and nurture relationships with external artist groups, agencies, and creative communities, integrating their insights into future ranges.
• Align with the Design Manager to leverage local Poole artist outreach and scale these into broader collection opportunities.
• Manage the administrative elements of creative partnerships, including copyright assignments, sample coordination, and licensing agreements for briefs created.
• Act as the creative bridge for international teams (e.g., North America, Japan), driving cross-regional alignment and idea-sharing.
• Provide regional teams with creative guidance, inspiration packs, and shared design direction.

Project Execution & Brand Advocacy

• Write clear briefs and direct internal and external designers to ensure projects meet creative standards and deadlines.
• Approve small creative project budgets (proofs, samples, and materials) alongside the Creative Operations Manager.
• Serve as a brand ambassador for the Gifts category at events, showcases, and filming opportunities.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Creative Direction & Trend Forecasting: Strong track record in collection development, storytelling, concept generation, and translating macroeconomic/cultural trends into tangible product ranges.
• Packaging & Design Innovation: Deep knowledge of packaging structures, print processes, and material exploration within a retail or product-led environment.
• Artist Management & Licensing: Practical experience partnering with external artists, managing agency relationships, and handling copyright/licensing contracts.
• Global Stakeholder Management: Proven ability to influence and collaborate across diverse international teams and present confidently to senior founders.
• Commercial & Project Leadership: Adept at writing comprehensive creative briefs, managing minor creative budgets, and directing design execution from concept through to final sample.

We'd love to see your work! Please include any portfolio or website links in your personal summary.

• 6 months of full pay for parental leave (primary caregiver must qualify for SMP)*
• Enhanced paternity leave*
• Day off for weekday birthdays
• 50% discount on Lush products and spa treatments
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted rail and bus season tickets
• Employee assistance programme
• There’s a big difference between "Flexible Working " (the legal minimum) and working flexibly. What that looks like varies from role to role and location to location. We actively welcome conversations about what working flexibly could mean and look like for you.
• We’re 10% Employee Owned - all colleagues play a role in protecting our ethics, our independence, contributing ideas for the future and share in the rewards of success when the company is doing well.
• Wellbeing & mindfulness sessions
• Access to employee-led Community Networks, including Disability and Chronic Illness, Family Support, Global Majority (Race and Ethnicity), LGBTQIA+, Menopause and Neurodiversity communities.
• Tailored gender affirming care*

Qualifying period/hours required*

We believe that your information is yours and that it is Lush's responsibility to process your personal information in a secure, fair and accurate manner. Every individual processed by LUSH has certain rights over their data, which are detailed in our Privacy Notice here .

Since establishing in 1995 in Poole, Dorset, Lush has been driven by innovation and its ethics.
Creators of pioneering beauty products such as the fizzing bath bomb, shower jellies and solid shampoo bars, we place emphasis on fresh ingredients like organic fruits and vegetables, fight against animal testing and combat over-packaging by developing products that can be sold ‘naked’ to the customer without any packaging.
We currently operate in 52 countries with 928 global shops. Through our separate business divisions we invent, manufacture and sell our handmade products direct to our customers through our own shops and online. The fact that we make all our products by hand is something we are really rather proud of!
Lush is 10% Employee Owned since 2017 and our people are the heart and soul of our business.