Overview
Lead Designer Jobs in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia at Aquent Australia
Lead Designer
Sydney (Hybrid – 2–3 days onsite)
Permanent, Full-Time
Salary: Competitive
Start: End of August 2026
About the job
Our client is a global brand, and they're looking for an experienced and conceptually strong Lead Designer to play a key role in shaping the visual identity of campaigns that represent their brand to the world. This individual will lead the creative development and production of brand assets, taking campaigns from concept through to a polished, production-ready state — setting the creative direction and quality bar before handing off to midweights, seniors and freelance designers for scaled execution.
This is a full-time permanent role based in Sydney with hybrid working arrangements (2–3 days onsite).
You will be responsible for delivering and achieving the following:
- Leveraging your strong conceptual and brand design skills to develop original creative ideas and visual concepts for major campaigns across digital, print, OOH, and partner channels;
- Taking campaigns from initial concept through to production-ready assets, establishing the creative direction, look and feel, and quality benchmark that freelance and contract designers will follow for ongoing production;
- Briefing, reviewing, and managing the output of designers and freelancers, providing clear creative direction and constructive feedback to maintain consistency and quality across all deliverables;
- Collaborating closely with copywriters, art directors and marketing stakeholders to bring campaign ideas to life and ensure creative work aligns with brand strategy; Maintaining and championing brand guidelines across all creative output, adapting assets across formats and markets while preserving brand integrity;
- Managing multiple projects simultaneously, balancing competing deadlines and stakeholder needs;
- Staying current with design trends and bringing fresh creative thinking to the studio;
- Navigating brand guidelines and stakeholder approvals with diplomacy, balancing creative ambition with brand safety.
About You
To succeed in this role, your profile will demonstrate the following:
- Significant experience as a Senior Designer with demonstrated progression into a lead or senior creative role;
- Strong conceptual design skills — able to take a brief and develop original, high-impact creative ideas, not just execute;
- Deep production experience across print, digital, and large-format/OOH specs, with the ability to take concepts to a polished, production-ready state;
- Solid experience developing and maintaining brand guidelines for a major brand;
- Experience briefing and managing the work of designers and/or freelancers, ensuring creative consistency once work is handed over for scaled production;
- Advanced Adobe Creative Suite skills (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop);
- A strong portfolio demonstrating both brand campaign work and conceptual/creative thinking;
- Exceptional attention to detail balanced with the ability to think creatively and implement innovative ideas and solutions;
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to articulate creative direction clearly for internal teams and freelance partners;
- Ability to manage and reprioritise competing deadlines and priorities;
- Experience in hospitality, government, tourism, or destination marketing is a plus but not essential.
If this sounds like you, please apply online. Your application must include a CV and a link to your portfolio.
This is a permanent full-time role with a target start date of end of August 2026.
When building teams for our clients Aquent strives to promote and create an open, inclusive and equal environment in which every employee can flourish. We encourage applications from diverse backgrounds as we value the importance of diversity and inclusivity within the professional networks we support and the communities we serve.
Title: Lead Designer
Company: Aquent Australia
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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