Cowshed is well known for our creative bravery – winning awards for our creativity and the impact our work has on businesses and society. And this hasn’t come by chance – we’ve got here through hard work, taking chances and striving for better work.
We believe every piece of content should move people, whether that’s an OOH poster, a placemaking brand, or a suite of social assets and now we’re looking for a Design Lead who shares our obsession. If you’re a designer with a passion for work that speaks to our audience, someone who wants to grow and develop a team, and who is restless to make better, braver work every time, you’ll fit right in.
The ideal candidate will be highly experienced, capable of bringing exceptional craft to creative ideas and someone who won’t let go of a piece of work until it’s perfect.
We’ve got big ambitions, and our Design Lead needs to share in our ambition to raise the bar of creative design from Wales to the world. You won’t only be creating your own work, you’ll need to be a coach to our design team – so if you’re a solo designer who only likes to develop your own work, then this isn’t the role for you.
We are looking for someone who is going to move Cowshed creative to the next level, coaching our brilliant team of designers and proactively finding opportunities for the team and our work to innovate and cut through.
Cowshed is a Real Living Wage employer, a Disability Confident Employer, and an Autism Aware Business. We strive to be culturally competent in all aspects of our work and work environment and are proud to be participating in Diverse Cymru’s cultural competency scheme.
We actively encourage candidates from under-represented and diverse backgrounds to apply.
If you need any assistance with your application, please contact us and we can make suitable adjustments. Our office is fully accessible.
Please apply by 5pm on Wednesday 22 nd October to fiona@wearecowshed.co.uk.
Send your CV and portfolio of work and answer these two questions in whichever format you choose;
Q1. Tell us why you are applying for this role.
Q2. Outline your experience against the core skills, including relevant examples.
Please keep written responses to 500 words per question and video or audio applications to under 2 minutes.
What we need from you
The Day to Day
Lead the design team proactively finding opportunities for the team and our work to innovate and cut through.
Creation of a range of digital and print artwork and assets including social media assets, print collateral, digital and traditional OOH.
Lead client conversations and build solid client relationships.
Presenting concepts and work and to clients to a high level with ability to defend it.
Brief initial concept designs to junior members of the team and review and develop their work.
QA of own work and QA of junior studio team members with meticulous attention to detail.
Taking part and being key part of creative ideation sessions, workshopping with team to come to brave creative solutions. Working in partnership with Creative Director to develop these from a design perspective.
Key Responsibilities
Creative direction over design work, oversight of a full suite of assets for a project, ensuring they have a golden thread for both messaging and polished design applied across all.
Creative thought leadership, fostering a creative culture with technical skills-sharing and inspiration.
Ownership of projects from concept to delivery, involving client contact and presentation, overseeing more junior members of the team in their projects and reviewing work.
Line management of the design team, developing the skills within your specialism as well as working with them on their personal development and professional objectives. Looking at how we develop the team and the skills within the team and bolster them.
Responsible for workflow of design team. Can collaborate effectively with campaign team to work through a project timeline – ensuring time is managed on projects.
Have a business focus with knowledge of creative budgets. Responsible for keeping track of project hours and maximising working capacity. Responsible for reviewing and working on budgets for design projects, giving quotes to campaign and new business teams.
Working alongside Creative Account Manager and New Business team to develop the new business strategy for the Creative Studio, identifying new opportunities to grow and working on tenders for design projects. Feeding back skills gaps identified from new business into team’s development.
Core Skills
BA Hons, or vocational equivalent experience in graphic design or similar degree.
Outstanding experience and specialised technical understanding of core Adobe Creative Cloud software –Photoshop/ Illustrator/ Indesign.
Able to coach, mentor and develop the work of our team of designers.
Specialised and accomplished in either branding or campaign design work, highly competent in skills specific to that, bringing craft to design work.
Strong technical design skills with the ability to produce layouts and presentations efficiently and at an appropriate pace.
Skilled in accessibility requirements and looking at ways to innovate and implement across all work.
Strategic creative thinking developed, able to be the point person in the room for strategic conversations when looking at creative work and input into creative concepting with our Creative Director.
Exceptional presentation and communication skills communication skills – written, spoken, and visual – selling work into colleagues, clients and prospective clients to encourage bold creative solutions.
Able to lead team’s collaborative working with the whole agency, bringing the team along with solution focussed leadership.
Personal Attitude
Who you are:
We are looking for people who share in our purpose to work with meaning.
Curiosity, energy, and a hunger to make better work: you don’t settle for “good enough.”
You will care about creating a positive impact on society
You will be self-motivated, dedicated, and curious
You’ll take responsibility for getting the job done for your clients
You’ll contribute to our inclusive work culture
You’ll enjoy creative problem solving to generate ideas for your clients and cowshed
You’ll be honest and expected to be treated professionally and with respect, treating others in the same way
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