Design Jobs Board

Portland is a fully integrated communications consultancy trusted by some of the highest profile organizations, governments and individuals in the world with global offices in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Washington DC, Singapore, Doha and Nairobi, as well as in London. We advise some of the world’s best-known brands.

We are pioneers in integrated public affairs and communications campaigns, helping clients manage their reputation, improve their visibility and media coverage – and deliver global campaigns across multiple platforms.

Our teams of experienced and multilingual consultants invest time to understand clients from the inside out, work with them to set clear strategic direction, and then bring the whole of Portland’s abilities to bear to deliver their objectives.

At Portland we never rest on our laurels; we constantly strive to improve our work and be at the forefront of the industry.

Position

• Are you passionate about Design for communications campaigns?
• Do you have what it takes to help both major global and UK clients to develop and executive first class creative campaigns?
• Are you a seasoned and confident adviser and comfortable leading major client accounts?
• Are you constantly seeking new and innovative ways to deliver impactful communications strategies to reach the audiences that matter?
• Do you relish the opportunity to develop and lead new business strategies, proposals and pitch teams?
• Are you experienced in managing people and teams, and coaching them to achieve their potential?
• Portland is looking for a talented Design Director (1 year Mat cover) to champion and manage the delivery of high-value strategic design work for clients ranging from the world’s leading tech brands to governments and globally-renowned NGOs.

Building relationships with clients and working with teams across Portland to secure and deliver content-led work. The role requires a passion for design coupled with a deep understanding of client needs. You will work closely with the wider Portland team to identify opportunities, build trust and establish Portland’s expertise in insight-based, creative communications strategies that target a wide variety of stakeholders.

The role entails managing a multidisciplinary team of print and digital designers, supported by a project manager, to ensure that work is delivered to the highest possible standard and exceeds client expectations – often within tight deadlines. You will have an ability to multi-task, meet tight deadlines, go the extra mile and adapt quickly to changing priorities in a fast-paced work environment.

The Design Director is responsible for ensuring exceptional client and team servicing, leading by example and supporting team members to become confident creative consultants as well as skilled designers. Together with the Creative Director, you will oversee a shift in focus towards higher value projects and campaigns, helping to develop and embed new and more efficient processes for servicing lower value and ad hoc requests with support from the wider Omnicom network that Portland is part of.

Key tasks and responsibilities
1. Liaise with teams and clients to deliver industry-leading creative work

• Deliver projects for clients including but not limited to: brand strategy and creative workshops, development of brand guidelines and visual principles, creative concept development, user experience and user interface design.
• Direct design team and partners to create high quality print, digital and social media content, developing and interpreting design strategy for the team and overseeing delivery from initial brief to client presentations, refinement and design implementation.
• Work with project managers and liaise with teams and clients to oversee the build and maintenance of digital assets, ensuring that the work exceeds the standard that Portland’s clients expect

2. Generate new business and support Portland’s business development

• Support teams to generate content-led ideas for new business proposals and existing clients; writing, scoping and costing design projects – including pitching with teams when required
• Educate and upskill the business to generate maximum value from Portland’s design capabilities and to ensure smooth and effective collaboration with account teams

3. Manage and develop the design team

• Provide ongoing performance evaluation and management of direct reports, including annual and interim reviews
• Manage, mentor and coach members of the team
• Oversee the Traffic Coordinator/ Traffic Manager to allocate the appropriate resource to client and new business projects, ensuring maximum utilisation and efficiency

Requirements

• Great relationship-building skills – you know how to set expectations with teammates, ask the right questions, explain what you’re capable of and talk about your design decisions clearly and persuasively to non-designers
• Strong influencing, negotiation and communication skills (written, verbal and presentation)
• Wide-ranging design experience, allowing you to recommend the tactical design options that meet a specific campaign brief, as well as the strategic products and services that contribute to a growing offer
• Expert in two or more design expertise areas – Branding, digital, editorial, motion graphics, UX, etc. as well as strong conceptual and strategic thinking
• Strong knowledge of design processes, design management and project management
• Exceptional knowledge and proficiency with the Adobe Creative Suite
• Excellent knowledge of user experience applications such as, Sketch, Figma, InVision, or related
• Ideally, you have knowledge/understanding of HTML5/CSS3 and experience working with WordPress and other Content Management Systems
• An interest in any of the issues we tackle – communications and the media, politics or public affairs, and / or international relations – would be advantageous although is not essential.
• An exceptional online portfolio showcasing innovative design concepts and highly considered visual executions

What we offer in return

We are committed to employee development and have an open doors culture where you will have the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced people in the business. We regularly reward and promote success, and actively encourage staff to take on new challenges and responsibilities to aid progression.

Our remuneration package also includes our competitive pension contributions, private healthcare life assurance cover, company contribution to gym membership, wellbeing workshops and activities, company parties and much, much more!

At Portland we take a flexible approach to work and encourage our colleagues to do the same. All our roles are open to flexible working requests and we will consider all options during our recruitment process. This includes but is not limited to: flexible hours, home working, compressed hours and job sharing.

In addition, every permanent member of staff that works at Portland is eligible for our industry leading annual profit share. When Portland thrives, all of our people share in that success.