Hybrid working - 3 days in the office, 2 days remote
About the role
As Design Lead you'll lead the design team's delivery of exceptional visual work across all touchpoints for your assigned brand. Reporting to the Principal Creative, you'll manage a team of graphic designers and digital designers, ensuring high-quality design output that brings creative concepts to life and maintains brand consistency.
What you’ll be doing
Creative direction
Work in genuine creative partnership with a Copywriter to develop integrated campaign ideas where the concept drives both the visual and verbal thinking equally.
Generate bold, culturally relevant ideas that scale seamlessly across all channels while bringing fresh creative thinking and unexpected connections to every brief.
Design direction & leadership
Lead the design execution of campaigns and brand work, translating creative concepts into outstanding visual design
Set design standards and quality benchmarks for all visual work, defining what excellent design looks and feels like
Partner with the Principal Creative at the ideation stage, contributing original creative concepts and ideas
Design excellence & problem solving
Oversee design production across all channels – digital, print, social, outdoor, retail – maintaining consistency as concepts adapt across formats and applications
Find creative solutions when briefs have complex constraints or technical challenges – balancing creative ambition with practical realities of budget and timeline
Outstanding design skills with a strong portfolio demonstrating craft and versatility across all media – digital, print, motion and animation, and environmental
Brand governance & quality
Champion and evolve the brand’s visual identity, ensuring every piece of creative work meets the highest standards of design quality, consistency, accessibility, and brand integrity
Team management & development
Manage and inspire your team of graphic and digital designers day-to-day, building a collaborative, supportive culture where designers thrive
Assist the Studio Managers to help allocate the work out strategically across the team based on skills, capacity, and development needs – balancing workload sustainably and preventing burnout
Organisation & planning
Manage multiple projects simultaneously with excellent organisational skills and a systematic approach to file management and version control
Collaboration & workflow
Work closely with the Principal Creative to execute their vision; partner with copywriters, digital designers, and strategists to create integrated work
Engage with Account Managers on realistic timelines and delivery; coordinate with production partners, printers, and suppliers on technical requirements
Design systems & process
Develop and maintain design templates, toolkits, and systems that enable efficiency without sacrificing creativity
Establish design processes and workflows that balance quality with speed; implement quality control checkpoints throughout
Ensure design files are properly organised, named, and archived; maintain asset management standards across the team
Communication
Communicate and present creative work effectively, confidently articulating design decisions, embracing feedback, and constructively challenging briefs to achieve the best outcomes.
Essential Skills / Experience
Essential experience
Strong previous experience in graphic design or visual design roles
Experience in managing or leading design teams
Strong portfolio demonstrating design excellence across multiple channels and formats
Experience working on integrated campaigns from concept through to execution
Background working on major consumer brands, ideally in telecommunications or technology
Proven track record of maintaining brand consistency across diverse applications
Experience managing design production and working with suppliers
Demonstrable experience mentoring or developing junior designers
Technical proficiency
Expert-level Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
Strong skills in digital design tools (Figma, Sketch, or similar)
Knowledge of file preparation, technical specifications, and production processes across web, social, print, and outdoor
Understanding of photography, illustration, and image-making direction
Working knowledge of motion design/animation tools (e.g after effects) to support concepting and short-form animation content
Desirable Skills / Experience
Previous in-house agency or brand-side design experience
Background in both digital and traditional design disciplines
Award-winning design work or industry recognition
Experience developing design systems or brand guidelines
Understanding of UX/UI design principles
Familiarity with motion design or basic animation
Experience with agile working methodologies
Our Package
Tailored benefits make a real difference. That’s why we offer a comprehensive range to support your growth, wellbeing, and everyday life. You can design the package to suit you and your lifestyle. Your core benefits include:
10% on target annual bonus
Access to an online private GP 24/7 for you and your immediate family
Market-leading paid carers leave with up to 2 weeks off
Equalized maternity, paternity, and adoption leave – 18 weeks’ full pay and 8 weeks’ half pay
Discounted EE and BT products, including mobile and broadband
Market leading Pension scheme – 5% from you and 10% from us
Holiday purchase scheme
You can select additional benefits, including healthcare, dental, gym memberships and more when you’re ready.
BT Group is the UK’s leading communications group and the holding company behind some of the country’s most recognised brands – including BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet. Our purpose is as simple as it is ambitious: we connect for good. Our customers include consumers, small, medium and large businesses, public sector organisations and other communications providers.
BT Group’s role is about setting direction, unlocking value and creating the conditions for our brands and businesses to thrive.
Having come through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, our focus now is on what comes next – simplifying how we operate, using technology and AI to work smarter, and organising ourselves to serve customers better and grow sustainably. Group teams shape strategy, policy, brand, capital allocation and transformation, helping the whole organisation perform at its best.
We have a singular culture that unites all our people: we are customer-first challengers, who are committed, clear and connected. These behaviours unite us as one team to deliver for our colleagues, our customers, our stakeholders and the country. Joining BT Group means working at the heart of a business that matters to the UK, with the opportunity to shape decisions, influence outcomes and help set the future course of one of the country’s most important companies.
#1 MOST MISSION DRIVEN COMPANY
