Design Lead

London & Partners is the business growth and destination agency for London. Our mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive.  

We are a social enterprise, combining purpose with commercial rigour. We are funded by grants, partners and our portfolio of commercial ventures.  

We support high-growth businesses to scale – both international businesses expanding into the UK and London-based businesses growing internationally. We develop London as a destination and attract visitors and events. We grow London’s global reputation to support economic growth. We create partnerships and profit-making ventures that enable us to scale our impact.  

London & Partners operates brands including VisitLondon and the top-level-domain DotLondon. It is the founder of London Tech Week and runs two award-winning programmes for start-up and scale-up companies. In a typical year, we support thousands of scaling businesses, win hundreds of events for London, book over a quarter of a million hotel beds and engage millions of visitors on our digital channels.  

Our key performance indicators are the economic growth (gross value added) and jobs that we create, the satisfaction of our clients and partners, and our commercial performance.  

Purpose of role 

To lead design across channels and audiences (digital and print; business and consumer), showcasing London to the world.

You bring our brand story to life, beautifully and consistently and support the ongoing development and management of the visual brand. With the Head of Creative Services, you ensure design output resonates with target audiences and contributes to the generation of commercial revenue.

You design user experiences that drive positive user/customer behaviour backed by data, insights and behavioural science. You refine and develop user journeys to improve our product experience and are responsible for wireframing, prototyping and overseeing design-related AB testing. 

Key Tasks 

• Deliver and oversee highly creative and innovative work that engages audiences and builds London & Partners’ reputation
• Lead the UX and UI development across our digital channels
• Manage and develop a team of designers and a picture editor
• Ensure all design work created in-house or outsourced meets high standards and supports strategy and brand
• Quality assure in-house and external design work so it meets expected standards and supports our strategy and brand
• Ensure the right elements are in place to define and evolve our visual brand including libraries/toolkits, guidelines, assets and tools
• With the Marketing Resource Manager, work with agencies and manage freelancers including defining briefs, planning work, feeding back and monitoring budgets
• Oversee the production of in-house video and motion assets and work with key stakeholders to manage any agency produced content. 
• Oversee the picture editor and be a key administrator for photos.london 
• Review and oversee commissioning and sourcing of new photography and video 
• Establish/evolve efficient prioritisation and delivery processes 
• Any other reasonable duties as allocated by the line manager

 You’ll have/bring

• Extensive graphic design experience creating both digital and print collateral for B2B and B2C audiences
• Experience in developing and manage brands visual identity 
• Extensive UX knowledge with track record of delivering data-led digital design products (specific qualification desirable) 
• Advanced Sketch/Adobe XD, illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign skills 
• Expert knowledge of video editing/production with track record of managing the delivery of cross platform video assets 
• Track record in delivering inspiring design solutions 
• Strong understanding of modern brand and design trends and technology 
• Ability to work with people, including senior managers, to define a brief as well as pitch and refine concepts 
• Take responsibility and ownership of project tasks, continuously aiming to improve own performance 
• Committed to continuous learning and evolving with industry best practice 
• Experience working in an agile marketing environment and as part of project teams 
• Strong understanding of copyright and GDPR law and experience in asset commissioning and rights management   
• Highly organised with ability to implement efficient processes

 You’ll Get  

• To join a Sunday Times Top 100 not-for-profit company and a fast pace, flexible and upbeat environment
• To become part of the London Family and do great things for our City 
• 30 days’ holiday in addition to UK public holidays 
• Excellent employer pension contribution and private medical health insurance

The salary for this role has been approved as advertised in line with our pay structure.  We will not negotiate or vary this figure upon offer or appointment.   

London's diversity is its biggest asset. At London & Partners, we aim to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the city that we promote. We encourage applications from people of any age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or assignment, faith or disability.  We also appreciate that many people require flexibility in their working patterns and encourage you to talk to us at interview about any flexibility you may need, be it full-time, job-share, or part-time.  

If you need to receive this information and/or apply in an alternative format, please contact London & Partners by emailing hr@londonandpartners.com to discuss how we can help.      

We encourage applications from all sections of the community.   

JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION: DESIGN LEAD

REPORTING TO: HEAD OF CREATIVE SERVICES

DEPARTMENT: MARKETING and DESTINATION

Background
London & Partners is the business growth and destination agency for London. Our mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive.  

We are a social enterprise, combining purpose with commercial rigour. We are funded by grants, partners and our portfolio of commercial ventures.  

We support high-growth businesses to scale – both international businesses expanding into the UK and London-based businesses growing internationally. We develop London as a destination and attract visitors and events. We grow London’s global reputation to support economic growth. We create partnerships and profit-making ventures that enable us to scale our impact.  

Our key performance indicators are the economic growth (gross value added) and jobs that we create, the satisfaction of our clients and partners, and our commercial performance.

Purpose of role

To lead design across channels and audiences (digital and print; business and consumer), showcasing London to the world.

You bring our brand story to life, beautifully and consistently and support the ongoing development and management of the visual brand. With the Head of Creative Services, you ensure design output resonates with target audiences and contributes to the generation of commercial revenue.

You design user experiences that drive positive user/customer behaviour backed by data, insights and behavioural science. You refine and develop user journeys to improve our product experience and are responsible for wireframing, prototyping and overseeing design-related AB testing. 

You lead and develop a team of three designers to deliver a wide range of digital and print products including websites, email newsletters, app, social media channels, marketing campaign collateral, publications. You are responsible for the video production strategy. Your role includes hands-on design work and you ensure your time and skills are deployed well.

You also manage a Picture Editor, ensuring the maintenance of our photography/video library. You oversee the commissioning or sourcing of photography and video assets that support the brand vision and business goals. 

You help to maintain a roster of freelancers and agency support and work closely with a Resource Manager to ensure work is planned and delivered to the required standard and on time.

Key tasks

• Deliver and oversee highly creative and innovative work that engages audiences and builds London & Partners’ reputation
• Lead the UX and UI development across our digital channels
• Manage and develop a team of designers and a picture editor
• Ensure all design work created in-house or outsourced meets high standards and supports strategy and brand
• Quality assure in-house and external design work so it meets expected standards and supports our strategy and brand
• Ensure the right elements are in place to define and evolve our visual brand including libraries/toolkits, guidelines, assets and tools
• With the Marketing Resource Manager, work with agencies and manage freelancers including defining briefs, planning work, feeding back and monitoring budgets
• Oversee the production of in-house video and motion assets and work with key stakeholders to manage any agency produced content. 
• Oversee the picture editor and be a key administrator for photos.london 
• Review and oversee commissioning and sourcing of new photography and video 
• Establish/evolve efficient prioritisation and delivery processes 
• Any other reasonable duties as allocated by the line manager

Person Specification

The successful candidate will demonstrate:-

Skills & Competencies

• Extensive graphic design experience creating both digital and print collateral for B2B and B2C audiences
• Experience in developing and manage brands visual identity

• Extensive UX knowledge with track record of delivering data-led digital design products (specific qualification desirable)
• Advanced Sketch/Adobe XD, illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign skills
• Expert knowledge of video editing/production with track record of managing the delivery of cross platform video assets
• Track record in delivering inspiring design solutions
• Strong understanding of modern brand and design trends and technology
• Ability to work with people, including senior managers, to define a brief as well as pitch and refine concepts 
• Take responsibility and ownership of project tasks, continuously aiming to improve own performance 
• Committed to continuous learning and evolving with industry best practice 
• Experience working in an agile marketing environment and as part of project teams 
• Strong understanding of copyright and GDPR law and experience in asset commissioning and rights management    
• Highly organised with ability to implement efficient processes

Our values

We are passionate about London 

• We are passionate about London - its history, culture and creativity.
• We work to build a vibrant future for London and for the UK.
• We are proud to serve our city.

 We are enterprising

• We are curious, creative and resilient.
• We work with partners and with the market to achieve our mission for London.
• We generate profit to reinvest in London's future.

 We are inclusive

• We champion diversity internally and externally.
• We strive to reflect the city that we represent.
• We create communities where people feel valued and belong.