Principal Visual Designer

Autotrader; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Share-based bonuses

Private medical insurance

Pension scheme

Job summary

Autotrader is seeking a Principal Visual Designer to shape and deliver high‑quality visual design for an in‑house creative studio evolution. You will lead, coach and deliver across digital, print, brand and campaigns, ensuring accessibility and brand alignment.

You’ll collaborate with stakeholders across Creative Studio, Product Design and Marketing to raise design standards, evolve practices, and champion emerging tools and technology, while supporting a hybrid working model.

Qualifications

• Strong portfolio showing outstanding visual craft with context about the brief, your contribution and decisions.
• Deep understanding of design principles including typography, layout, color and accessibility.
• Experience leading and coaching designers, with a genuine motivation to help people grow.
• Experience developing design standards, design systems and processes to improve consistency and efficiency.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to translate complex briefs into clear, effective visual solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop visual designers to grow their craft and confidence.
• Set expectations for quality, ways of working and delivery while fostering an inclusive environment.
• Collaborate with Creative Studio, Product Design and Marketing to translate briefs into visual solutions.
• Influence and improve design practices and evolve capability through craft and tools.

Skills

Portfolio

Visual craft

Typography

Layout

Color & accessibility

Design systems

Stakeholder management

People leadership

Emerging design trends

Automation

Job description

About us

You’ve probably heard of Autotrader, but do you know what we’re all about?

We’re the most trusted, most visited automotive marketplace in the UK. A heritage brand and a tech innovator.We bring together vehicle buyers and sellers to give them real choices. Cars may be what we’re best known for but we’re also the place for pretty much everything else on wheels, from e-bikes to caravans.

In the automotive world, change is a constant, that’s why we take our job of untangling the complex car-buying journey very seriously.
At our core, we’re all about people. We go our own way while embracing diversity and celebrating our differences. We dedicate ourselves to the idea that we work better together.

Autotrader is a beautiful, surprising and vibrant place to work. We might not be for everyone, but we could be perfect for you.

About the job

Help shape the next chapter of Autotrader’s in-house creative studio. We’re moving from a production-led team to an in-house creative agency, with the ambition to stand alongside the best in-house teams in the industry.

As a Principal Visual Designer, you’ll play a hands-on role in shaping and delivering high-quality visual design to achieve that ambition. You’ll help define the visual direction for complex, multi-channel work, creating exceptional design across digital, print, brand and campaign activity, while ensuring our creative output is consistent, accessible and aligned to Autotrader’s brand standards.

Alongside producing high-quality design work yourself, you’ll lead, coach and develop visual designers, helping them grow their craft, build confidence and understand how their work connects to Autotrader’s goals. You’ll set clear expectations around quality, ways of working, and delivery, while creating an inclusive and supportive environment where people can do their best work.

You’ll work closely with stakeholders across Creative Studio, Product Design and Marketing to translate briefs into effective visual solutions, improve design practices, and ensure our design capability continues to evolve through strong craft, better ways of working, and the thoughtful use of emerging tools and technology.

What we’re looking for

• A strong portfolio showing excellent visual craft and technically well-executed work, with context about the brief, your contribution and the decisions behind it.
• Strong hands-on design capability and a deep understanding of design principles, typography, layout, colour and accessibility
• Experience leading and coaching designers, with a genuine motivation to help people grow and develop
• Experience developing design standards, design systems, creative processes to improve consistency and efficiency
• Strong communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Extensive experience translating complex briefs into clear, effective solutions
• Able to balance hands-on delivery with people leadership, project priorities and longer-term improvements to design capability
• Experience identifying and implementing emerging design trends, creative technology and automation

Benefits

We’re offering a salary of £50,000 - £65,000, plus an additional 10% of your salary awarded to you in shares each year. These awarded shares will become yours in yearly instalments over the next three years, and you can choose to either sell them or keep them as shares.

You’ll have 28 days’ holiday per year, and that’s in addition to bank holidays and half-day closures on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

That’s not all. You’ll be enrolled in our pension scheme, where our standard contributions are 7% and employee contributions are 5%. We also have comprehensive private medical cover, enhanced family leave provisions, a car salary sacrifice scheme, share-save options, and much more.

We always want to give you the support you need and help prioritise your wellbeing, that’s why we provide access to a Digital GP service, as well as specialist support for assisted fertility, gender dysphoria, menopause, period care plans and lots more.

On top of all that, our hybrid model, Connected Working, combines the best of both worlds - office and home working. You’ll spend a minimum of 3 days a week in the office with your team, focused on collaboration and connection.

Additionally, we have our remote-first periods at set times during summer and winter. During these periods, you can work remotely anywhere in the UK and from certain locations abroad.

Alongside a wide range of benefits, we’ll help you settle in with confidence from day one. If you’re successful, one of the first things you’ll experience is our tailored new-starter induction programme, Great Start, designed to help you feel welcome, connected,and set up for success.

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