Brand Design Director

Who We Are

For 25 years, Brand New School has helped brands find their visual voice — transforming design, storytelling, and experience into cultural resonance and commercial impact. Our integrated model unites strategy, creativity, and production to help brands like Meta, Pinterest, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and OpenAI transcend their categories and become benchmarks in culture and commerce.

We’re different by design — built to move seamlessly from idea to impact.

As we expand with a presence in London, we are building a small, senior team to shape the next chapter of Brand New School globally.

Opportunity

We are seeking a full time, experienced Design Director for our London studio with a strong understanding of brand design, and the ability to build clear brand systems and visual languages.

As one of the first senior hires in our new London studio, you will help define how we work, how we collaborate, and the standard of craft we are known for locally.

This role is for someone who can raise the bar for design quality through strong taste, clarity and intuition. You will manage multiple projects simultaneously and collaborate closely with a hybrid team of strategists, producers, designers and motion designers. You are confident navigating feedback with both clients and the team, skilled at presenting work clearly, and able to inspire others.

You enjoy being hands on and are comfortable leading projects from ideation through to final delivery. You will mentor younger designers, ask the right questions, and help build strong, thoughtful creative outcomes from the ground up.

Role

Creative Leadership and Craft

• Lead branding projects across brand creation, rebrands, visual languages, and design systems
• Create brand languages and behaviours that extend beyond logos and static guidelines
• Set a high bar for craft through strong visual judgment, clarity, and intuition
• Translate strategy and creative direction into distinct visual territories and brand expression
• Bring rigorous conceptual and strategic thinking, balancing creativity with intelligence
• Articulate a clear creative point of view that inspires teams and clients
• Take full ownership of [end-to-end creative process and] design outcomes , holding yourself accountable for creative quality, clarity, timelines and collaboration across disciplines

Project and Client Leadership

• Own creative quality, coherence, and execution across multiple concurrent projects
• Build trusted client relationships and navigate feedback thoughtfully and decisively
• Work at pace, build strong decks, and pitch ideas with conviction
• Collaborate closely with strategists, producers, motion designers, and hybrid teams

Team, Culture and Collaboration

• Mentor and support junior designers with clear guidance and inspiration
• Foster curiosity, experimentation, and cross-disciplinary thinking
• Partner closely with the ECD and CD to lead projects and structure work
• Contribute actively to a strong, ambitious creative culture in the London studio

Experience

• Worked in design studios or agencies, delivering brand identities and brand expression
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects, prioritising and refining ideas to achieve strong outcomes
• Highly organised, proactive, and able to drive work forward independently
• Clear and compelling presenter, able to articulate both strategic and creative thinking to clients and internal teams
• Comfortable working with hybrid teams and production processes to deliver work effectively
• A track record of contributing to team culture, supporting growth, and raising the quality bar
• Confident operating in ambiguity and making decisive creative judgments

Skills

• Essential: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects)
• Desirable (not essential): Cinema 4D, Blender, Houdini; Coding (HTML, CSS, JS, P5JS, TouchDesigner); Cavalry; Unity or Unreal; AI Tools (Comfy, Krea, MidJourney, etc)
• You do not need to be an expert in all tools, but you should be curious, fluent in collaboration, and confident directing across disciplines.

Details

• Full-time, permanent role at our London studio. UK work authorisation required.
• Hybrid work schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays in studio. Mondays and Fridays remote.
• 24 work from home flex days, used to work remotely on in-studio days.
• 20 days holiday, UK bank holidays, and typically an end of year holiday closure from Christmas to New Year.
• A competitive salary sacrifice pension scheme.
• Continued education plan reimbursements.
• Peer bonus system.
• Scheduled performance reviews.
• Dog friendly work environment. 🐶
• BNS will comply with the employer pension duties in accordance with Part 1 of the Pensions Act 2008.

Compensation

Salary is commensurate with experience.