30 Design Director jobs in the United Kingdom

Design Director
Light Gauge Steel
Circa 90,000 plus Benefits
England
Full Time, Permanent

Light Gauge Steel / LGSF / Structural Design / Leadership / Innovation

Passionate about technical excellence, leadership, and innovation? This is a rare opportunity for a design director to take the lead of a new division within a fast-growing and highly innovative light gauge steel business.

We're exclusively partnering with a rapidly scaling manufacturer of Light Gauge Steel Frame systems, renowned for delivering cutting-edge, sustainable, and highly efficient structural solutions for major residential and commercial developers.

As the Design Director, you will:

• Lead and grow a multi-disciplinary engineering and design team.
• Provide strategic and technical direction, driving innovation and efficiency across all projects.
• Manage divisional P&L, ensuring operational performance aligns with growth objectives.
• Oversee the integration of design and detailing systems with manufacturing and site delivery.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to support business development and expansion across England.
• Drive R&D initiatives, keeping the business at the forefront of LGSF innovation.

Who we're looking for:

• Chartered Engineer with 10+ years' senior technical experience in LGSF manufacturing or consultancy.
• In-depth knowledge of structural design, detailing, and the LGSF supply chain.
• Proven leader, able to inspire, mentor and develop high-performing technical teams.
• Passionate about innovation with a collaborative approach to working across design, manufacturing, and site delivery.
• Established relationships in the UK construction and LGSF sectors are highly advantageous.

What's on offer?

• Car allowance or company car
• Private healthcare (with family cover depending on seniority)
• Bonus scheme (potentially formula-linked)
• Pension contribution
• 33 days holiday (including bank holidays)
• Equity participation opportunities in developer schemes

This is a pivotal leadership role for someone who wants to build and shape a design function from the ground up, if you are interested then get in touch with Annie Parker or Craig Nicholls for a confidential discussion or apply below.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age.

We want you to #JOINTHEREBELLION!   

For 30 years we’ve been independently developing and publishing incredible video games at our multiple studios founded by Jason & Chris Kingsley, but Rebellion is more than just games. We have our own film studio, we create board games, publish books, and through 2000AD, publish comics and graphic novels such as the amazing Judge Dredd. 

We are seeking an experienced Design Director with exceptional leadership and people management skills to guide our talented team on an unannounced project. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to help shape the development right from the very start. 

As Design Director you will be the vision holder for your project, responsible for ensuring consistency and timely delivery of high-quality design across all aspects of the game. Your role is to empower and support the Design Team in all facets of the design and development process to help drive and define a consistent creative vision for the game universe and gameplay experience. Your focus will be on identifying and communicating ongoing design strategy, risks, priorities, and regular updates to key stakeholders.    

This role is based at our riverside headquarters in Oxford, offering a creative and relaxed atmosphere where teamwork drives our success. We can provide a relocation package, including moving assistance, temporary accommodation, and full support to ensure a smooth transition to your new environment. 

We believe in the power of face-to-face collaboration and encourage working from our Oxford headquarters. However, we understand that flexibility matters, so we’re open to discussing hybrid options based on individual needs. 

Responsibilities : 

• Act as a spokesperson for the Design Team by concisely and clearly, communicating updates and gameplay demos to Head of Design, and internal and external senior management stakeholders as required.    

• Obtain and maintain buy in from key stakeholders and the executive group throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring they are on board with the vision and scope of the game and understand the game they are getting.    
• Contribute to the delivery of the design departments and Rebellion’s short-term goals, long-term strategy, and initiatives by giving feedback, creating new ways of working, supporting recruitment, learning and development and resource planning and ensure the department can adapt to a changing market.    

• Collaborate with other discipline directors and production leadership to design, maintain, and deliver on the agreed scope and schedules for the project ensuring schedules and deadlines are clearly communicated.    

• Influence project priorities and roadmap and facilitate execution of the project on schedule, and in line with design direction.    

• Support Lead Designers in developing fun, innovative, and memorable game play experiences; ensuring all aspects of design development consistently service the overall design brief, goals, game pillars, and brand requirements.    

• Act as a project champion for Design taking a pragmatic approach to drive and support all aspects of the game Design. Including pre-production, planning, scheduling, reviews, problem solving and delivery of the final game.    

• Verify the quality of design in the game, design documents and prototype specifications, give feedback and suggest improvements where necessary to fine tune the game, whilst cooperating with constraints and direction.    

Requirements

• Expert knowledge of creating game design documents and prototype specifications.    

• Excellent knowledge of the video game development process, including working in a timely / time-bound manner, and prototyping/iterating appropriately within that restriction.    

• Expert knowledge of production pipelines.    

• Understand the audience for the game, ensuring the game design serves the target audience.  

• Exceptional Communication and relationship skills to lead the project leads by example in all aspects of the strategy & execution in line with the overall business strategy.   

• Excellent knowledge of all aspects of the games industry, competitors and market environment uses this to inform the design direction of the projects, staying current with trends within the industry and fostering this culture within the project team.   

• Able to collaborate with other discipline directors and production leadership to design, maintain, and deliver on the agreed scope and schedules for the project ensuring schedules and deadlines are clearly communicated.  

Benefits

We offer an extensive benefits package to our team including:   

• 22 days holidays + Christmas closure (typically 4 days) & Bank holidays (increasing with service at 5 years – one day each year until you reach 31 days) 

• Private Medical Insurance, healthcare cash plan, including dental and Vision 

• Life Assurance, Income Protection & Critical Illness Cover 

• Enhanced Family Leave  

• Interest Free, Tax-Free loans 

• Enhanced Pension Scheme 

• EAP a range of Mental Health and Wellbeing Support  

• Plus loads more… including a wide range of discounts, freebies, and social events!  

Life at Our Oxford HQ

Our riverside headquarters in Oxford places you a short walk away from the city centre. Renowned for its rich historical backdrop and esteemed educational institutions, Oxford offers a unique blend of tradition and modernity, with its beautiful architecture and green spaces.

Oxford also boasts excellent transport links, making it easy to navigate both the city and the wider country. The city’s train station, just a short walk from our studio, offers frequent services to London, as well as direct routes to major cities like Birmingham, Manchester, and Reading and we also offer free parking at the studio.

Our open-plan office promotes teamwork and innovation, with regular interaction with senior management and other departments, alongside access to free hot drinks, a handy tuck shop onsite and a range of local pubs, cafes and dining options nearby helping make every workday enjoyable!

Inside Rebellion

Whichever team you join at Rebellion we are proud of our open, friendly, and creative atmosphere. We love what we do, and we have fun doing it! As a big indie developer, we have complete creative freedom over our titles which allows us to work on a massive variety of projects across all the major platforms. 

Find out more about us here  

Our size, stability, and the variety of in-house expertise across multiple industries, makes Rebellion completely unique! We work in our own way, and we celebrate that as the key to our success. We foster an inclusive culture where you are encouraged to be yourself, to express your creativity and your talent. We are people focused and will support you in every way to can be the best at what you do. We recognise the importance of enjoying what you do and having a healthy work-life balance. We offer a friendly, creative, and relaxed working atmosphere, with sensibly managed projects and a wide variety of benefits and development opportunities for all our teams to ensure you are fully supported with your physical and Mental Well-being. 

We are actively recruiting for a diverse team and continue to add to our culture of growth and inclusion. Rebellion encourages innovation in all areas, and we look forward to hearing how you can help us to be better. We encourage all demographics of culture, gender, ethnicity, neurodiversity and beyond, because a representative team makes better products. 

If you are interested in working at Rebellion, but this role doesn’t sound quite like you, we’re recruiting for a range of positions across the studio and we’re always happy to receive speculative applications via our website. Visit our Careers website to view all our live vacancies: Rebellion: Careers  

#LI-Hybrid

ABOUT US

Brandpie is an exciting and dynamic consultancy with a diverse and highly experienced team located across the UK and North America. We are world leaders in purpose-led transformation. Working with some of the world's largest B2B organisations to help them better understand and define their purpose. Our work with companies impacts the way they appear, communicate, operate and engage with their employees and the wider world. We do this through a unique blend of services across brand, culture and experience.

We pride ourselves in being a company that works in a smart, friendly, and co-operative way that respects everyone’s time and is understanding of that fact that work, however important, is just one part of your life. Our culture aspires to be creative and nurturing, with open, transparent communication. We’re a diverse and strategic bunch, with a mix of doers and thinkers, and we are looking for someone who’s like-minded and pragmatic to help us deliver great work.

THE ROLE

As a Design Director, you will:

• Promote and develop creative thinking and motivate others to come up with new and unique ideas.
• Ensure complex information is delivered and displayed in the most compelling way.
• Lead the team to deliver amazing work, from conceptual ideas, through development, design, and completion.
• Be a partner with the senior team to ensure that the creative solution solves the client / brand need on the project.
• Listen to, mentor, and guide the design team members to learn and grow their skills and knowledge.
• Take ownership of full project delivery, ensuring everyone involved is clear on the objectives, and can subsequently help to create a case study for each project.
• Play an active role in new business, being involved in pitches and meeting with potential new clients.
• Work with the Creative Director to build, manage, and sustain a digital first design team.

Requirements

As a Design Director, you are:

• Experienced: with several years of experience under your belt, you’ve created great work for big international brands, small charities and everything in between. Ideally you will currently be working as a Design Director and have a strong background or leading a design team, however a hungry and driven Senior Designer ready for their first Design Director role will also be considered.
• Keen eye for design: current in the latest trends and standards for graphic design and know the difference between decoration and creative problem-solving.
• Technical: you are a master of the Adobe Creative Suite, with skills/experience in one or more of the following a major plus: Sketch, After Effects, Premiere Pro and Cinema 4D. You have delivered strong concepts and unique ideas across various mediums, with experience in motion and digital design.
• Collaborative: you love to brainstorm and work with others, whether you are 1-1 with the creative director or rolling your sleeves up with the team, you do your part to contribute to the creation of a killer execution.
• Detail oriented: you are able to manage multiple projects at once while maintaining attention to detail with each project.
• A self-starter: always curious and excited to learn with one finger to the pulse of the latest trends in brand and design.
• Full of personality: enthusiastic, passionate and positive, always bringing good vibes to the team.
• Clear communicator:  Strong communication skills and an ability to work remotely and independently with the ability to collaborate successfully during this new normal.

YOUR MINDSET

• Clear communicator:  You have strong communication skills and are comfortable communicating and challenging ideas with clients and colleagues.
• Team player:  You love to generate fresh thinking and work with others, whether you are 1-1 or rolling your sleeves up with the broader team, you do your part to contribute to the creation of brilliant ideas and experiences.
• Passionate : You are excited and passionate about developing world-class design experiences and the benefits innovative technologies can offer our clients. Keeping up with the latest trends, new approaches and techniques to enhance our capabilities as a business.
• Detail-oriented:  You are able to manage multiple projects at once while maintaining attention to detail with each project.
• A self-starter:  You’re comfortable working in a small team and taking the initiative to help drive projects forward. Even if this sometimes means you need to do something that’s not always expected from your role.

Benefits

PERKS AND BENEFITS

At Brandpie we believe supporting and helping everyone to grow as a team and an individual. We help do this through our comprehensive and competitive benefits package we offer:

• Generous reward package:  We provide industry competitive salaries that reflect experience and ability. We also offer additional benefits including medical and life insurance, gym membership contributions and a company pension scheme.
• A competitive holiday package:  You will start with 23 days annual leave, which increases by 1 day per year to a maximum of 28 days. Our business usually closes between Christmas and New Year, providing an additional 3 days leave.
• Wellbeing support:  We believe it’s vital people have time to focus on their wellbeing (both physical and mental). From day one you will be provided with a comprehensive core and mental health cover (currently with Vitality Health), subsidized gym membership, partner rewards and discounts, including 12 months free subscription to Headspace and Employee Assistance Programme though WeCare.
• Flexi-time and place: We now operate a fully flexible model. We do not insist that our people are office based and respect everyone’s individual preference. We encourage flexible work patterns and want our people to find a fair work/life balance they are comfortable with.
• Solid technology kit:  On joining you will receive new IT equipment including a laptop (Mac only), peripherals, and an external monitor for your home set-up.
• Personal development: We want you to learn and grow with us. To make sure our people are up to date with our latest work, we do regular Knowledge Share sessions, and we will work with you to create a personal career development plan. We make a commitment that every member of staff has at least 1 day a month dedicated to PD.

Our dedication to embracing diversity

Brandpie is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, train, reward and promote regardless of race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

Our client is a British company specializing in the design and manufacturing of high-quality wallpapers and fabrics and known for its unique and artistic designs that often draw inspiration from historical patterns and natural elements.

Working from its base in Gloucestershire, where it has a showroom and a manufacturing facility, the company emphasizes the use of traditional printing techniques along with AVA CAD/CAM to produce their wallpapers and fabrics. They operate vertically ensuring control from initial contact through to final print.

Looking ahead and their plans for growth, they have identified the need to bring in a Deputy Design Director. As the right hand to the Creative Director, you will play a key role in managing projects and collections, keeping up the momentum and introducing a more organised and seamless design process. You will be ensuring that design output meets the highest standards of creativity, innovation, and usability. As this is a newly created role it will evolve around the successful candidate’s skillset.

Other responsibilities include to:

• Working with the Creative Director on the development of fabric and wallpaper designs
li>Keeping the flow of design development running throughout the year
• Working with their experienced technician in AVA print software
• Devising colourways in the company palette
• Organising and overseeing eventual production

Skills and Experience expected from the Deputy Design Director:

• Experience on design and digital print production
• Excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities
• Detail-oriented with a commitment to creative excellence and innovation

In return they are offering a salary of c£60k and are open to discussing a benefits package on top.

Our client is a British company specializing in the design and manufacturing of high-quality wallpapers and fabrics and known for its unique and artistic designs that often draw inspiration from historical patterns and natural elements.

Working from its base in Gloucestershire, where it has a showroom and a manufacturing facility, the company emphasizes the use of traditional printing techniques along with AVA CAD/CAM to produce their wallpapers and fabrics. They operate vertically ensuring control from initial contact through to final print.

Looking ahead and their plans for growth, they have identified the need to bring in a Deputy Design Director. As the right hand to the Creative Director, you will play a key role in managing projects and collections, keeping up the momentum and introducing a more organised and seamless design process. You will be ensuring that design output meets the highest standards of creativity, innovation, and usability. As this is a newly created role it will evolve around the successful candidate’s skillset.

Other responsibilities include to:

• Working with the Creative Director on the development of fabric and wallpaper designs
li>Keeping the flow of design development running throughout the year
• Working with their experienced technician in AVA print software
• Devising colourways in the company palette
• Organising and overseeing eventual production

Skills and Experience expected from the Deputy Design Director:

• Experience on design and digital print production
• Excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities
• Detail-oriented with a commitment to creative excellence and innovation

In return they are offering a salary of c£60k and are open to discussing a benefits package on top.

Our client is a British company specializing in the design and manufacturing of high-quality wallpapers and fabrics and known for its unique and artistic designs that often draw inspiration from historical patterns and natural elements.

Working from its base in Gloucestershire, where it has a showroom and a manufacturing facility, the company emphasizes the use of traditional printing techniques al.