Associate Design Director (AI & Tech)

Overview

As Associate Design Director at DEPT in London, you lead design for an AI Platform client, shaping creative direction and maintaining brand standards across global campaigns. You’ll mentor and empower a multidisciplinary design team while contributing hands-on, ensuring creative excellence from concept to delivery. You’ll build processes, collaborate with senior leaders, and steer high-quality work that blends storytelling, visual craft, and emerging AI tools. This role offers impact at scale within a dynamic, cross-functional agency environment.

Pay / Benefits

• flexible, hybrid working policy
• salary based on experience
• pension
• private healthcare
• 26 days holiday
• season ticket loan

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the design team, fostering collaboration and high performance
• Set and improve design processes and quality standards across projects
• Guide narrative-driven creative work and ensure alignment with original intent
• Provide decisive feedback and mentorship to designers and producers
• Collaborate with other disciplines to deliver cohesive campaigns across formats
• Act as the face and voice of design within the agency and with clients
• Maintain brand consistency across marketing projects and global campaigns
• Present work to internal and external stakeholders and stay abreast of industry trends

Key requirements

• Experience leading on client work with a consultative approach
• Proven ability to guide designers in a client team or department
• Strong visual judgment and capability to contribute to concepts and direction
• Art direction experience shaping visual storytelling
• Solid motion design skills with timing, composition, and storytelling sense
• Experience creating styleframes, visual systems, and narrative-driven motion
• Curiosity about AI tools and how they can support creative work
• Strong portfolio/showreel with tech or AI-led campaigns

• collaborative
• leadership
• curiosity
• motion design
• styleframes
• visual systems

…