Associate Design Director

Monks; Hilversum; On-site; EUR 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Monks is a global, digital-first brand partner seeking an Associate Design Director to lead UI craft and design systems for large-scale digital platforms and campaigns.

You will stay hands-on with Figma, shaping screens, components, and motion while mentoring junior creatives and directing teams through delivery. A strong portfolio in platform UI and campaign work is essential.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in digital design or creative leadership.
• Portfolio showing platform UI and campaign work.
• Expertise in typography, grids, motion, and design systems.

Responsibilities

• Shape the design vision for large-scale digital solutions across platforms and campaigns.
• Stay hands-on in Figma to build screens, design systems, UI components, and motion.
• Translate brand strategy into user journeys, design rationale, and prototypes.
• Lead teams through execution, ensuring visual excellence from kickoff to launch.
• Present concepts to senior stakeholders with compelling storytelling and proof.

Skills

UI design systems

Creative leadership

Figma mastery

AI fluency

Client-facing

Mentoring

Sports culture affinity

Tools

Figma

HTML/CSS familiarity

Job description

About The Role

As an Associate Design Director, you’ll serve as a lead design voice for an iconic global sports brand, acting as a master of UI craftsmanship and digital design systems with the strategic confidence to present and champion creative vision directly to clients. You will move seamlessly from hands-on platform and ecosystem design to shaping campaign-led creative ideas where practical design thinking carries the weight. We are looking for someone who is passionate about seeking new opportunities to create impactful work.

Responsibilities

• Shape the overall design vision for large-scale digital solutions, spanning brand platforms, content ecosystems, products, tools, and campaign sites.
• Design at the highest level by remaining hands-on in Figma to build screens, complex design systems, UI components, and motion guidelines.
• Translate brand strategy and business objectives into functional user journeys, clear design rationale, and interactive prototypes.
• Leverage AI fluently across the design process for rapid ideation, visual generation, motion, prototyping, and workflow efficiency.
• Direct design and creative teams through the execution phase, ensuring visual excellence and cohesive craftsmanship from kickoff to launch.
• Present design work and strategic creative concepts to senior client stakeholders, substantiating decisions with compelling storytelling and functional proof.
• Mentor UI/UX designers and junior creatives by providing constructive direction, actionable feedback, and room for professional growth.
• Build lasting client relationships by listening to business challenges and advocating for design-led solutions that resonate with sports and youth culture.

About You

The essentials:

• 7+ years of experience in digital design, UI design systems, or creative leadership within an agency, studio, or in-house team.
• A strong portfolio showcasing a blend of platform-led web/product UI design and campaign-led creative concept work.
• Mastery of UI craft and digital design fundamentals (typography, grid systems, layout, motion, hierarchy) with expert-level fluency in Figma.
• Proven track record designing performance-led marketing sites, brand platforms, configurators, or digital products that have launched in-market.
• Strong client-facing presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design logic, defend creative vision, and win the room.
• Hands-on AI fluency across image generation, prototyping, and design workflow tools.
• A strong passion for sports and youth culture.

Not a Must, But a Plus

• Code literacy (HTML/CSS familiarity or deep comfort with engineering handoff).
• Motion direction, 3D, or WebGL experience.
• Experience leading design projects that integrate AI as a user-facing product feature.

At Monks, we believe in fostering an environment where a diversity of perspectives can thrive. We proactively work to design hiring processes that promote equity and inclusion while mitigating bias. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome and encourage qualified applicants, from all backgrounds, who are excited to contribute to our mission.

About Monks

Monks is the global, digital-first, data-driven, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global Marketing and Technology Services to redefine how brands interact with the world. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks transforms marketing into a growth engine, collapsing timelines and connecting brands to culture in real time. By deploying bespoke intelligent agents across disciplines and delivering culturally relevant, high-impact creative and digital solutions, Monks solves key critical business challenges across the entire brand enterprise to help brands sustain long-term impact.

Monks was named a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Global Marketing Services, ranks among Cannes Lions' Top 10 Creative Companies (2022-25) and remains the only partner featured in AdExchangers' Programmatic Power Players list every year (2020-24). Named Adweek's first AI Agency of the Year (2023) and The One Show's inaugural AI Pioneer Organization, Monks was also awarded Business Intelligence Group's 2025 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Award in both the Organizational and AI Product categories. As a trusted partner to cutting-edge innovators in tech, Monks earned titles such as Optimizely Experimentation Partner of the Year (2025), runner-up for the Adobe Firefly Partner Award (2024), and Workato's AI Visionary Customer Impact Award (2024). Additionally, Monks achieved a record-breaking number of FWAs and continues to hold the most of any partner.

We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to building a respectful and empowering work environment for all people to freely express themselves amongst colleagues who embrace diversity in all respects. Including fresh voices and unique points of view in all aspects of our business not only creates an environment where we can all grow and thrive but also increases our potential to produce work that better represents—and resonates with—the world around us.