Principal Designer, Brand Studio

Expedia Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Expedia Group is seeking a senior, hands-on Principal Designer to set the standard for design across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. You will shape brand narratives with strong storytelling and lead craft across campaigns and retail work, balancing speed with high-quality output.

You will report to the Creative Director and help push the studio forward with AI-enabled tools, ensuring consistency at scale while mentoring designers and collaborating with senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in design in-house brand studio, agency or design consultancy.
• Portfolio shows exceptional craft across brand identity, campaigns and digital work.
• Strong motion design skills and understanding of identity through motion.
• Hands-on experience with generative and AI creative tools such as Comfy, Weave, Midjourney, Flora, Firefly or Runway.
• Strong understanding of brand systems and consistency at scale.
• Experience presenting creative to senior stakeholders.
• Ability to balance creative ambition with deadlines, budgets and business priorities.

Responsibilities

• Start with the idea and translate strategy into compelling brand narratives.
• Lead through craft across campaign, brand, commercial and retail work.
• Shape the studio's visual direction with a focus on AI-enabled value.
• Own the brand's visual identity and guidelines across brands.
• Build reusable templates and workflows, including AI-driven ones.
• Mentor designers and collaborate with freelancers and agency partners.
• Partner with senior stakeholders and present work to leadership.
• Push craft forward by piloting new tools and technologies.

Skills

Senior design leadership

Brand systems

Motion design

Generative AI tools

Stakeholder presentation

Brand identity

Creative direction

Tools

Comfy

Weave

Midjourney

Flora

Adobe Firefly

Runway

Job description

At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business.

Here, you'll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.

About the role

We're looking for a senior, hands-on Principal Designer to set the standard for design across three of the world's biggest travel brands: Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. A hybrid creative thinker who moves fluidly between design and motion, you will shape how our travellers see and feel our brands and raise the bar for design everywhere they show up.

In this position, you will own the depth and quality of our craft and help shape the studio's creative direction. You will push our brands to be bolder and more distinctive, balancing precision with speed across a fast-moving, high-volume studio. You will also be at the forefront of what's next, exploring how generative AI and emerging tools can unlock new creative possibilities for our brands.

Reporting to the Creative Director, you will bring strong taste and systems thinking to the frameworks that keep the studio ahead of a fast-changing creative landscape. Above all, you will help build a culture where craft and great ideas come first, and creative innovation thrives.

In this role, you will

• Start with the idea. Bring an ideas-first, conceptual approach to every brief, turning strategy and business goals into compelling brand narratives with strong storytelling.

• Lead through craft. Create world-class design and motion across campaign, brand, commercial and retail work, taking ideas from first concept through to final delivery.

• Shape the creative point of view. Help define the studio’s visual direction and the standard of craft across every brand touchpoint, with a clear view on where AI adds value and what should stay human.

• Own the brand’s visual identity. Evolve and safeguard the identity systems, guidelines and playbooks that keep Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo distinctive and consistent wherever they show up.

• Build systems the studio can use. Create reusable templates, toolkits and workflows, including generative and AI-driven ones, that help the team make on-brand work faster and at scale.

• Mentor and inspire. Coach and develop designers and motion designers through hands-on collaboration and give craft direction to freelance and agency partners on specialist work.

• Partner with senior stakeholders. Present and champion creative work with senior leaders, and collaborate closely with integrated marketing, product and teams across the business.

• Push the craft forward. Test and pilot new tools, formats and creative technologies, and bring the best of them into the studio’s roadmap.

Experience and Qualifications

• 7+ years in design, with significant experience at a senior level in an in-house brand studio, agency or design consultancy

• A portfolio that shows exceptional craft and range across brand identity, campaign and digital work

• Strong motion design skills, and an understanding of how motion shapes an identity

• Hands-on experience with generative and AI creative tools such as Comfy, Weave, Midjourney, Flora, Adobe Firefly or Runway

• A strong understanding of brand systems and how to keep work consistent at scale

• Experience presenting creative to senior stakeholders

• The ability to balance creative ambition with deadlines, budget and business priorities

Nice to have experience

• Comfort with code to build or customise generative tools and pipelines

• Experience fine-tuning or training generative AI models for design

• Experience working with product and UX design teams on design systems

• Experience in a large, multi-brand or global organisation

• Award-winning or widely shared design work

If this sounds like you, we'd love to see your work.

Accommodation requests

Expedia Group is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruiting experience. If you need an accommodation or adjustment due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request at https://expedia.service-now.com/askeg?id=job_accommodation.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.

Important notice

Employment opportunities and job offers at Expedia Group will always come from Expedia Group's Talent Acquisition and hiring teams. Never share sensitive personal information unless you are confident of the recipient. Expedia Group does not extend job offers via email or messaging tools to individuals with whom we have not made prior contact. Our email domain is @expediagroup.com. The official place to find and apply for roles is https://careers.expediagroup.com/jobs/.

Equal Opportunity

Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age.