Head of Design Studio

twentysix; Hilversum; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Monks is seeking a Head of Design Studio to lead creative craft, design systems, and executional excellence across AI-enabled content production. This role sits at the intersection of design leadership, creative operations, and emerging technology, responsible for translating creative ambition into scalable, high-quality outputs across global brands and high-volume content ecosystems.

Leading multidisciplinary creative teams, this position establishes the visual standards, operating frameworks,

Qualifications

• 7+ years in design or creative leadership within agencies, studios, or in-house teams.
• 4+ years leading multidisciplinary creative teams and scaling operations.
• Proven track record building design systems and high-volume content workflows.
• Exceptional visual craft across typography, composition, motion, and digital experiences.
• Deep expertise in Figma and modern design system methodologies.
• Strong understanding of AI-enabled creative workflows and agentic production.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management with senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor multidisciplinary creative teams across regions with a culture of excellence.
• Own craft quality and visual integrity of outputs across campaigns and AI-enabled production.
• Translate strategy into scalable design systems, execution frameworks, and playbooks.
• Establish governance and approval processes ensuring consistency across brands and channels.
• Collaborate with Strategy, Governance, Operations, AI Solutions, Production, and Localization.
• Drive adoption of AI-enabled workflows while maintaining brand integrity and accessibility.
• Oversee resourcing, performance feedback, and capability development in the creative org.

Skills

Design leadership

Team leadership

Figma

Design systems

AI workflows

Stakeholder management

Creative mentoring

Tools

Figma

Job description

Please note that we will never request payment or bank account information at any stage of the recruitment process. As we continue to grow our teams, we urge you to be cautious of fraudulent job postings or recruitment activities that misuse our company name and information. Please protect your personal information during any recruitment process. While Monks may contact potential candidates via LinkedIn, all applications must be submitted through our official website (monks.com/careers).

Monks is seeking a Head of Design Studio to lead creative craft, design systems, and executional excellence across AI-enabled content production.

This role sits at the intersection of design leadership, creative operations, and emerging technology, responsible for translating creative ambition into scalable, high-quality outputs across global brands and high-volume content ecosystems.

Leading multidisciplinary creative teams, this position establishes the visual standards, operating frameworks, and creative systems that enable exceptional work at scale. Partnering cross-functionally with Strategy, Governance, Operations, AI Solutions, Production, and Localization teams, you will drive best-in-class creative outcomes across human and agentic production models.

The Lowdown

• Lead and mentor multidisciplinary creative teams across different regions, fostering a culture of creative excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Own the craft quality and visual integrity of all outputs across campaigns, adaptive content, and AI-enabled asset production.
• Translate strategic objectives into scalable design systems, executional frameworks, and production methodologies.
• Establish and evolve creative standards, governance models, and approval processes that ensure consistency across brands, markets, and channels.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize workflows across agentic and hybrid production environments.
• Oversee the development and implementation of templates, component libraries, style guides, toolkits, and creative playbooks that support scalable content creation.
• Drive the adoption of AI-enabled creative workflows while maintaining rigorous standards for craft, brand integrity, accessibility, and quality.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and identify opportunities to improve creative effectiveness, production efficiency, and organizational capabilities.
• Champion best practices in design, motion, storytelling, accessibility, and visual communication.
• Manage creative resourcing, team development, performance feedback, and capability building across the creative organization.
• Serve as the escalation point for creative quality, executional challenges, and workflow optimization.
• Lead local Art Directors to enforce craft quality supervision and foster improvement in asset output quiality.

Scope

• Reports to senior creative leadership.
• Leads multidisciplinary regional creative production teams within an AI-first, agentic production environment.
• Owns creative craft, executional quality, design systems, and production readiness across multiple brands and channels.
• Influences organization-wide standards, tooling decisions, workflows, and capability development.
• Collaborates cross-functionally with Strategy, Governance, Operations, AI Solutions, Production, Account, and Localization teams.
• Balances creative ambition with scalability, speed, efficiency, and operational excellence.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in design, art direction, or creative leadership roles within agencies, studios, or in-house creative organizations.
• 4+ years of experience leading and developing multidisciplinary creative teams.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling creative organizations, design systems, and high-volume content operations.
• Exceptional visual craft across typography, composition, motion, design systems, and digital experiences.
• Deep expertise in Figma and modern design system methodologies.
• Strong understanding of AI-enabled creative workflows, automation, and agentic production models.
• Proven experience translating creative ideas into scalable production frameworks.
• Strong operational mindset with experience balancing creative quality, timelines, budgets, and resource allocation.
• Experience creating assets for eCommerce channels is a plus.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners.
• Experience implementing governance frameworks, quality assurance processes, and creative standards at scale.
• Passion for coaching and developing creative talent.

Success in This Role

• Teams consistently deliver high-quality creative work at scale across brands, markets, and channels.
• Design systems and AI-enabled workflows increase efficiency while elevating creative outcomes.
• Creative standards, governance frameworks, and workflows enable consistent execution across human and agentic production models.
• Teams operate with clear expectations, strong accountability, and a shared commitment to excellence.
• The organization continuously evolves its creative capabilities through new technologies, processes, and ways of working.

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.