Associate Design Director

DEPT®; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

24 vacation days

Unlimited vacation days

Learning Menu

Wellness benefits

NS Business Card

Job summary

DEPT® is seeking an Associate Design Director in the Netherlands (Amsterdam/Rotterdam) to shape craft direction, elevate design excellence, and steer the strategic visual design practice across complex projects.

You will mentor teams, influence senior stakeholders, and contribute to sales and thought leadership while enjoying a flexible hybrid policy and the option to work abroad for up to 13 weeks a year.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in visual/UI/UX design, including 3+ years at senior or leadership level.
• Serious craft expertise: a portfolio demonstrating strategic impact, systems thinking, and high-quality execution across complex digital ecosystems.
• A strategic thinker who influences product, design, and business decisions with clear vision and rationale.
• A recognised design voice: inspires teams, elevates craft standards, and contributes to the wider design community.
• Mentorship mindset: actively builds others up through coaching, structured feedback, and knowledge sharing.
• Continuously curious: eager to master emerging tools, AI workflows, motion, and design trends.
• Deep understanding of visual principles, accessibility, and modern interaction patterns.
• Mastery of Figma and design systems; motion skills (Jitter, AE, etc.) are a plus.
• Confident communicator able to articulate design direction with clarity and conviction.
• Working proficiency in English.

Responsibilities

• Own craft direction across complex projects and accounts, ensuring work is aligned, elevated and unmistakably DEPT®.
• Raise the bar by defining standards, sharpening processes, and enabling teams to deliver consistently exceptional work.
• Guide clients and internal teams with clear, high-level creative and product direction that goes beyond the brief.
• Drive innovation through experimentation and curiosity, creating work that sets benchmarks and wins awards.
• Shape the future of the design practice by evolving craft vision, building team capabilities, and fostering a culture of mentorship and continuous learning.
• Support pitches and growth opportunities with strong creative POVs that connect craft to business impact.
• Represent DEPT® externally through talks, posts and publications that amplify our creative reputation.

Skills

Visual/UI/UX design

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Mentorship

Communication

English proficiency

Tools

Figma

Design systems

After Effects

Jitter

Job description

Associate Design Director
Amsterdam/Rotterdam, hybrid

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

JOB PURPOSE

This role is part of our Experience & Engineering team based in the Netherlands. We combine our skills in developing future-ready technical solutions with our expertise in creating beautiful designs to deliver exceptional and engaging digital experiences that build lasting relationships with our clients like Gant, Inter Milan, bol.com and Just Eat Takeaway.

As an Associate Design Director, you operate at a studio-wide level: shaping the craft vision, elevating design excellence, and steering the strategic direction of our visual design practice. You ensure quality across accounts, drive operational standards, and keep our craft innovative, consistent and competitive. You influence senior stakeholders, guide multidisciplinary teams, mentor talent, and represent DEPT® externally, strengthening our creative reputation and contributing directly to sales, growth and thought leadership.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Own craft direction across complex projects and accounts, ensuring work is aligned, elevated and unmistakably DEPT®.
• Raise the bar by defining standards, sharpening processes, and enabling teams to deliver consistently exceptional work.
• Guide clients and internal teams with clear, high-level creative and product direction that goes beyond the brief.
• Drive innovation through experimentation and curiosity, creating work that sets benchmarks and wins awards.
• Shape the future of the design practice by evolving craft vision, building team capabilities, and fostering a culture of mentorship and continuous learning.
• Support pitches and growth opportunities with strong creative POVs that connect craft to business impact.
• Represent DEPT® externally through talks, posts and publications that amplify our creative reputation.

WHAT YOU BRING:

• 10+ years of experience in visual/UI/UX design, including 3+ years at senior or leadership level.
• Serious craft expertise: a portfolio demonstrating strategic impact, systems thinking, and high-quality execution across complex digital ecosystems.
• A strategic thinker who influences product, design, and business decisions with clear vision and rationale.
• A recognised design voice: inspires teams, elevates craft standards, and contributes to the wider design community.
• Mentorship mindset: actively builds others up through coaching, structured feedback, and knowledge sharing.
• Continuously curious: eager to master emerging tools, AI workflows, motion, and design trends.
• Deep understanding of visual principles, accessibility, and modern interaction patterns.
• Mastery of Figma and design systems; motion skills (Jitter, AE, etc.) are a plus.
• Confident communicator able to articulate design direction with clarity and conviction.
• Working proficiency in English.

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy (2-3 days from the office, depending on location) and the opportunity to work from abroad for 13 weeks a year.
• 24 vacation days per year and the possibility to buy an unlimited number of extra vacation days.
• DEPT®/YOU Learning Menu and DEPT®/YOU Special Programs. Develop your skills with courses and programs tailored to your needs.
• Stay happy and healthy with a contribution to your health through the OpenUp platform, gym and wellness discounts, and healthy lunches at the office.
• Get a discount on your lease bike and ride in style. You can also enjoy hassle free-commutes with an NS Business Card.
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021, has been named ‘Great Place To Work since 2022’ in the Netherlands and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big, small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with all of them. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• You can discover even more employee benefits here.

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.