Senior Creative Lead

Audley Villages; Egham; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free employee discount portal

Healthcare Cash Plan

Restaurant discounts

Pension

25 days holiday + 8 bank holidays

Life assurance

Audley Academy training

Job summary

Audley Villages in the UK seeks a Senior Creative Lead to shape the creative direction across its luxury brands. Hybrid role involving time at the villages and our London/Egham offices, with mentoring of the in-house team.

You'll drive high-impact campaigns across digital, print and environmental channels, modernising workflows with AI tools while maintaining premium brand standards and accessibility. Collaborate with Marketing, Sales and Operations to deliver compelling campaigns and brand

Qualifications

• Significant experience in a Senior Creative Lead, Senior Designer or Art Director role.
• Strong portfolio across digital, print and integrated marketing campaigns.
• Experience developing premium brand identities across multiple channels.
• Advanced knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, including InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Experience managing creative projects from concept through to final delivery.
• Mentoring or managing junior creative team members.
• Experience briefing and managing external agencies, suppliers or freelancers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to present creative ideas to senior leaders.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience using AI-powered creative tools to enhance design workflows and creative production.
• Ideally, experience within hospitality, luxury brands, property, lifestyle or another premium customer-focused sector.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creative direction across Audley Villages, Elysian Residences and Mayfield Villages, ensuring each brand maintains a distinctive identity and premium presentation.
• Create and oversee the delivery of high-quality creative assets across digital, print, advertising, brochures, presentations, signage and environmental graphics.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales and Operations teams to turn strategic briefs into engaging and commercially effective creative campaigns.
• Explore and integrate AI-powered creative tools to improve ideation, productivity and the quality of creative output.
• Manage and mentor the Creative Executive, providing coaching, direction and ongoing development.
• Develop and maintain brand guidelines, creative toolkits and asset libraries to ensure consistency across all channels.
• Manage the in-house creative workflow, prioritising projects, allocating resources and ensuring work is delivered on time and to the highest standard.
• Brief and manage external creative agencies and freelance designers where additional expertise or capacity is required.
• Contribute to the creative strategy for major campaigns, village launches and sales initiatives.
• Ensure all creative work reflects the premium positioning of our brands while meeting accessibility and brand standards.
• Keep up to date with design trends, emerging technologies and industry best practice, bringing fresh ideas into the business.
• Produce regular reports on creative output, workload and team capacity for the Marketing Director.

Skills

Creative leadership

Brand development

Portfolio

Adobe Creative Suite

InDesign

Illustrator

Photoshop

Stakeholder management

Mentoring

AI tools

Hospitality luxury

Education

Graphic Design degree

Creative Direction training

Motion graphics/Video

Tools

Motion graphics software

Video editing software

Animation software

Job description

This is a Hybrid role with time spent at the villages or our London and Egham Office. Audley Group has recently expanded through the merger with Elysian Residences, bringing together three distinctive retirement living brands: Audley Villages, Mayfield Villages and Elysian Residences. United by a shared commitment to quality, exceptional service and luxury living, we create vibrant communities where our owners enjoy independent living with outstanding facilities and personalised support. Our villages are located in some of the UK's most desirable locations and offer beautifully designed homes, restaurants, health clubs, wellness facilities and a welcoming community lifestyle. We also welcome visitors from the local community to enjoy our restaurants, leisure facilities and events, making every village a lively and engaging place to be.

The Opportunity

Are you a creative leader who combines outstanding design skills with strategic thinking? We're looking for an experienced Senior Creative Lead to shape and elevate the creative direction across our three luxury retirement living brands. This is an exciting opportunity to lead our in-house creative function, delivering exceptional design that strengthens our brands, supports commercial growth and creates meaningful connections with our customers. Working closely with our Marketing, Sales and Operations teams, you'll develop compelling creative campaigns and high-quality design across digital, print and environmental channels. You'll also play a key role in modernising the way we work by embracing AI-powered creative tools and reducing reliance on external agencies. If you're passionate about great design, enjoy mentoring others and thrive in a fast-paced creative environment, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the creative direction across Audley Villages, Elysian Residences and Mayfield Villages, ensuring each brand maintains a distinctive identity and premium presentation.
• Create and oversee the delivery of high-quality creative assets across digital, print, advertising, brochures, presentations, signage and environmental graphics.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales and Operations teams to turn strategic briefs into engaging and commercially effective creative campaigns.
• Explore and integrate AI-powered creative tools to improve ideation, productivity and the quality of creative output.
• Manage and mentor the Creative Executive, providing coaching, direction and ongoing development.
• Develop and maintain brand guidelines, creative toolkits and asset libraries to ensure consistency across all channels.
• Manage the in-house creative workflow, prioritising projects, allocating resources and ensuring work is delivered on time and to the highest standard.
• Brief and manage external creative agencies and freelance designers where additional expertise or capacity is required.
• Contribute to the creative strategy for major campaigns, village launches and sales initiatives.
• Ensure all creative work reflects the premium positioning of our brands while meeting accessibility and brand standards.
• Keep up to date with design trends, emerging technologies and industry best practice, bringing fresh ideas into the business.
• Produce regular reports on creative output, workload and team capacity for the Marketing Director.

About You

We're looking for someone with exceptional creative talent who enjoys turning ideas into beautifully executed design that delivers real commercial impact. You'll be an inspiring creative leader with excellent attention to detail, strong project management skills and the confidence to manage multiple projects across several premium brands.

You’ll Ideally Have

• Significant experience in a Senior Creative Lead, Senior Designer or Art Director role.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional work across digital, print and integrated marketing campaigns.
• Experience developing and maintaining premium brand identities across multiple channels.
• Advanced knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, including InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Experience managing creative projects from concept through to final delivery.
• Previous experience mentoring or managing junior creative team members.
• Experience briefing and managing external agencies, suppliers or freelancers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to present creative ideas to senior leaders.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience using AI-powered creative tools to enhance design workflows and creative production.
• Ideally, experience within hospitality, luxury brands, property, lifestyle or another premium customer-focused sector.

Qualifications

While not essential, the following would be advantageous:

• Degree or equivalent qualification in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Fine Art or a related creative discipline.
• Additional qualifications or training in Creative Direction, Motion Graphics, Digital Design or related creative fields.
• Experience with motion graphics, video editing or animation software.

What We Offer

• Salary: Competitive
• Free membership to our employee discount portal, with access to discounts at all major retailers.
• Free membership to our Healthcare Cash Plan, covering you and up to four children.
• 50% discount on food and drinks at all our restaurants nationwide.
• Guest suite accommodation at staff rates across our luxury villages nationwide.
• Pension scheme.
• 25 days' holiday plus 8 Bank Holidays.
• Life assurance at 3 x salary.
• Access to our Audley Academy suite of training and development programmes.

Audley Group is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. See also ‘DE&I policy/statement’