Manager Creative: Virgin Atlantic

Manor Royal Business District; Crawley; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading airline is seeking a Creative Manager to lead a talented in-house creative team. This role will involve shaping standout brand experiences and guiding innovative campaigns. Ideal candidates will have strong leadership and creative skills, backed by a relevant degree and mastery of design tools like Adobe Creative Cloud. The position is hybrid, requiring three days a week in Crawley.

Qualifications

• Visionary leader with strong creative instincts and strategic insight.
• Considerable design experience including leadership roles.
• Proven experience leading creative teams or functions.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and grow a high-performing creative team.
• Guide agencies to deliver globally resonant campaigns.
• Push creative boundaries across platforms and markets.

Skills

Creative leadership

Strategic insight

Visual storytelling

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Degree in Graphic Design or related

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud

InDesign

Illustrator

Photoshop

Job description

Job Details

Location: Hybrid – 3 days a week at VHQ, Crawley

Hours: 37.5 per week, Monday to Friday

Contract Type: 12-month secondment

Salary: Competitive

Closing Date: 10th August 2025

️ Take Your Career to New Heights

At Virgin Atlantic, we're more than just an airline—we're a brand that reimagines the way people experience travel. With a bold vision to become the most loved travel company, we thrive on challenging the status quo, pushing the boundaries of aviation, and celebrating individuality every step of the way.

In a nutshell

As Creative Manager, you’ll lead and inspire a talented in-house creative team (with 4 direct reports), shaping standout brand experiences across campaigns, digital channels, merchandise, and more. You'll support and deputise for the Head of Brand Identity and Creative, helping set the vision and elevate our creative output across all touchpoints.

This is a high-impact role, influencing not only brand power and customer satisfaction (NPS), but also key revenue streams—including international delivery and global campaign success.

You’ll act as a brand guardian and creative catalyst, blending strategic insight with bold storytelling, while consistently upholding and evolving our iconic visual identity.

Shape

Day to day

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership: Mentor, challenge, and grow a high-performing creative team, unlocking potential and recruiting top talent as needed.
• Creative Direction: Guide agencies and in-house teams to deliver globally resonant campaigns, aligning with brand strategy and commercial goals.
• Innovation: Push creative boundaries across platforms and markets, encouraging bold, original thinking in every project.
• Brand Stewardship: Shape and evolve our brand standards, including photography, video, tone of voice, and design guidelines.
• Visual Storytelling: Craft compelling presentations, storyboards, and mood boards that bring concepts to life and secure stakeholder buy-in.

Shape

Additional Responsibilities

• Champion our creative strategy and vision across the business.
• Lead the development and rollout of new brand assets, short-format film content, and evolving toolkits.
• Oversee agency partnerships and ensure flawless execution aligned with our brand identity.
• Step in for the Head of Creative & Design as needed, managing meetings, budgets, and workflow.
• Take briefs, engage with internal stakeholders, and deliver creative responses that push design standards while staying true to the Virgin Atlantic brand.

About you

What You Bring

We’re looking for a visionary leader with strong creative instincts and strategic insight.

Ideally, you will have:

• A relevant degree (e.g. Graphic Design or related) or equivalent industry experience.
• Considerable design experience, including time spent in leadership roles.
• Proven experience leading creative teams or functions with a hands-on, collaborative approach.
• Mastery of design software, including Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.).
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

Our recipe for leadership

At Virgin Atlantic, our leaders empower teams to thrive through collaboration, innovation, and excellence. Explore our Leadership Recipe and discover the 20 core ingredients that define what it means to lead with us, driving our mission to be the most loved travel company and achieve sustainable profit. Want to learn more?Click here

Be yourself

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our colleagues. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world - no matter your age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We celebrate difference and everything that makes our colleagues unique by upholding an inclusive environment in which we can all thrive. So that everyone at Virgin Atlantic can be themselves and know they belong.

To make your journey with us accessible and individual to you, we encourage you to let us know if you’d like a little extra help with your application, or if you have any individual requirements at any stage along your recruitment journey. We are here to support you, so please reach out to our team,([e-mail])feeling confident that we’ve got your individual considerations covered.