Senior Design Manager

What is the role

The Graphic Design Manager is responsible for leading the creative direction, execution, and development of design outputs across all brands and channels. This role combines strategic brand leadership with hands-on design expertise, ensuring the delivery of high-quality creative assets that support commercial objectives and enhance customer experience.

The role oversees the design team, manages workflow and resource allocation, and collaborates with key stakeholders across the business to deliver engaging, consistent, and effective creative solutions through digital, print, email, CRM, website, app, and marketing channels.

What you will do 

Creative Design & Asset Development

• Lead the creation and execution of high-quality creative assets across digital and offline channels.
• Design and oversee:
• Brand email campaigns.
• Homepage and website updates across all brands.
• Landing page refreshes and optimisations.
• Desktop notifications supporting email activity.
• CRM and eCRM communications.
• Store graphics and point-of-sale materials.
• Storyboards and campaign concepts.
• Large-scale marketing campaigns, including outdoor advertising and billboards.
• UX/UI concepts, wireframes, and mock-ups.
• Ensure all creative outputs are visually engaging, commercially effective, and aligned with brand guidelines.
• Oversee artwork production, print specifications, supplier management, and quality control.
• Stay ahead of design trends, technologies, and industry best practices to drive innovation.

Brand Leadership

• Own and evolve brand identity across all customer touchpoints.
• Develop, maintain, and enforce brand guidelines to ensure consistency across all communications and creative assets.
• Work closely with internal and external stakeholders to protect and strengthen brand equity.
• Oversee brand asset management, testing, and insight gathering to support ongoing brand growth.
• Provide strategic creative direction that balances innovation with commercial objectives
• Team Leadership & Management
• Lead, mentor, and develop the design team, fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture.
• Manage team workflow, resource planning, and task allocation.
• Conduct regular coaching, feedback, and performance development activities.
• Support team members in building confidence, skills, and professional growth.
• Manage team holiday planning, attendance monitoring, and capacity management.
• Recruit and onboard new team members when required.
• Create an environment that encourages creativity, accountability, and continuous improvement

Digital Experience & UX

• Oversee the design and user experience of websites, apps, and digital platforms.
• Ensure designs are optimised for usability, accessibility, responsiveness, and conversion.
• Apply user-centred design principles across all digital experiences.
• Create adaptable design solutions for desktop, mobile, tablet, and app environments.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve customer journeys and digital performance.
• Monitor and improve digital experiences through customer insights, analytics, and testing

Stakeholder & Business Collaboration

• Collaborate with marketing, trading, product, and senior leadership teams to align creative output with business objectives.
• Attend product, trade, and design meetings, contributing ideas and creative recommendations.
• Build strong working relationships across departments and with external partners.
• Effectively communicate design decisions and creative strategies to stakeholders at all levels.
• Understand wider business priorities and ensure creative projects support commercial goals.

Performance & Optimisation

• Use customer insights, market research, competitor analysis, and industry trends to inform design decisions.
• Monitor the performance of creative campaigns and brand initiatives.
• Utilise analytics, testing, and customer feedback to refine and improve creative effectiveness.
• Support A/B testing and performance-led design improvements.
• Drive continuous optimisation of design outputs to improve engagement, conversion, and customer experience.

What you will bring

Technical Skills

• Advanced proficiency in: Adobe Creative Suite, Figma and other relevant design and prototyping software.
• Strong understanding of UX/UI design principles, accessibility standards and best practices, responsive and mobile-first design, digital design for web, app, email, and CRM channels, print production and artwork preparation
• Experience working with CRM and eCRM platforms, content Management Systems (CMS), Email Service Providers (ESP), app platforms and digital ecosystems.

Professional Experience

• Proven experience managing and developing creative teams.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
• Experience delivering integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels.
• Demonstrated success in brand management and creative leadership.
• Experience using data, analytics, and customer insights to inform creative decisions.

Business Knowledge

• Strong understanding of marketing principles and customer behaviour.
• Knowledge of digital commerce and customer journeys across desktop, mobile, tablet, and app environments.
• Commercial awareness with the ability to balance creative excellence and business objectives.
• Understanding of campaign planning, trade calendars, and briefing processes.

Key Attributes

• Strong leadership and mentoring capability.
• Strategic thinker with a commercial mindset.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Creative, innovative, and solutions-focused.
• Highly organised with exceptional attention to detail.
• Confident decision-maker with strong problem-solving abilities.
• Collaborative and adaptable, with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Proactive and self-motivated, taking ownership of projects and outcomes.
• Passionate about design excellence and continuous improvement.
• Resilient and effective at managing change and competing priorities.