Design Director

The opportunity 

A rare opportunity has opened up and we’re looking for an experienced Designer to wow us with their unique storytelling and visual design skills to take their next step in their career and join our growing team.

You will be working with huge global brands and collaborating with an exceptional team of creative thinkers, illustrators, motion and visual designers who just happen to be awesome people too. This is a rare opportunity and requires a rare talent, so if you think you’re up to it we’d love to hear from you.

As a Design Director you will play a key role in the leadership of the Design team, working with the Head of Design and the Group Creative Director, to push the work beyond the expected and nurture our talented team.

• You will build relationships with the wider agency and clients, seeking out proactive opportunities.
• You will be assigned to various design briefs, designing and design directing the work to a highly sophisticated visual standard.
• Your enthusiasm for creativity is key to helping us create fresh and exciting work for our clients now, and in the future.
• Your fresh ideas and experiences are an essential insight for our team. You should be bursting with ideas and insights, sharing this vital stimulus with those around you.

This is a place for you to be you, be authentic.

Who are you? 

• You have an expert level of design craft with typography, layout and colour implementation, creating design systems with a strong flair for design direction.
• You produce quality, well crafted work, sweating over the details
• You are always improving your skills and honing your craft and sharing this knowledge with the team.
• You lead the design of campaigns, brands, user interfaces, signing off on the work you're responsible for.
• You create beautiful presentations telling the story of the work.
• You present with aplomb.
• You understand current trends, but your work is original. You innovate not replicate.
• You lead the charge on creative projects, getting involved as early as possible adding value to the creative output.
• You nurture and challenge your team directing their work and managing their career progression.
• You inspire the team and agency through your encyclopaedic knowledge of cultural trends in the world of design.
• You build relationships across the agency to work collaboratively and hustle for new initiatives.
• You are interested in more than just design.
• Additional understanding of Motion Design, animation, 3D image creation and digital product design

What we are looking for

• Current Design Director or a Senior ready for their next big challenge
• A solid amount of agency experience, ideally working with innovative tech brands
• Experienced at building brands and campaigns
• Encyclopaedic knowledge of cultural references from the art and design world
• Portfolio of work showcasing design thinking with highly polished executions
• Great at spotting talent, connections with other creatives and influencers
• You’ll bring the buzz to the studio

Who are we?

About Iris

We’re Iris. We’re For the Forward. A creative, strategy and innovation company that uses the power of participation to excite progress for businesses. Whether you’re a designer, copywriter, art director or studio manager, we’re inviting you to participate in progress – moving yourself and the world forward with every piece of work you create.

Our office

London is our HQ. In our riverside office you’ll find 300 talented people working with ambitious client partners. We’re the lead strategic & creative agency for adidas TERREX, Pizza Hut Delivery and Abrdn. And we’re a specialist partner for NIVEA and Samsung, to name a couple.

The Iris Character

We have five core behaviours that we look for to help us to build a culture that fosters true progress: Courage, Storytelling, Collaboration, Empathy and Commitment.

​What's in it for you?

• Flexible working – we offer you a balance of home and office working and the opportunity to choose your days when it suits you best
• Core hours – whether you want to enjoy an early gym session or pick up your children from school, you have the option to manage your own hours
• Vitality private health care 

• BUPA dental care 

• Pension scheme 
• Enhanced Maternity package
  • 4 months full pay after 1 years’ service
  • 6 months full pay after 2 years’ service
• Enhanced Paternity package 
  • 4 weeks full pay after 1 years’ service
• IVF support – giving you flexibility to attend appointments and recover from procedures 
• Additional Parental support – meaning you can be there for your family’s important moments’ 
• Personal access to our independent Financial Advisor
• Group income protection 
• Sabbatical after five years of service

• Bike to Work Scheme 
• Weekly football and yoga sessions
• Perkbox platform – giving you access to a wide range of discounts, curated wellbeing content and the 'Celebration Hub' to recognise and show appreciation to your colleagues
• Client discounts – adidas, Dreams and Feather & Black
  

Holiday

• 25 core days’ holiday 

• Three extra days can be used for religious holidays 
• Plus your birthday day off 
• Plus an extra day after three and five years of service 
• Climate Exchange Day 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

‘FOR THE FREE’ is our global DE&I strategy. Its aim is to create a business where everyone feels free to be themselves and has the same opportunity and access to progress. Our DE&I strategy encourages courageous thinkers who champion outsider perspectives. ‘FOR THE FREE’ has three main pillars of activity:

Diversity - We want to invite difference. To be an organisation that is fully representative of different groups and reflects the city, country and world that we live in. We value our talents’ lived experiences – including gender, race, class, disability, neuro-diversity and sexual orientation.

Equity - We want to be fair to everyone. To remove barriers for individuals and groups and provide the bespoke access, support and opportunities that are needed to fully participate in our organisation. We are levelling the playing field.

Inclusion - We want everyone to feel at home. To provide a place where people can be themselves, express their unique identity and contribute to the life of our community

Privacy Statement

If you decide to apply for a role at Iris we will only keep the data provided by you for 2 years from the date we receive it, following which your data will then be destroyed. We have a legitimate interest to process the data you provide us and we will protect your rights in accordance with all applicable data legislation. If at any point you decide you would like us to delete the data we hold or have any more questions please email us at dpo@iris-worldwide.com.

You can find out more about our Privacy Policy here: http://www.iris-worldwide.com/privacy-policy/

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and recruit on talent alone, regardless of age, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, education, class, sexual orientation or disability. We champion diversity and believe it not only benefits, but enhances our creativity, our company and the wider society at large. We are For The Forward.