Job Description

We're looking for a versatile creative designer - confident across print and digital, with a strong eye for craft and detail. You'll bring good taste, curiosity and an eagerness to push ideas further. What matters most is your appetite to learn, stretch yourself and help broaden the creative muscle of the team. This is a role for someone who's a couple of years off senior level - ambitious, well-rounded and ready to make great work happen.



This is a 6 month contract, with the possibility of extension or permanent employment.

Role Overview:

The Creative Designer will play a pivotal role in the creative team, reporting to the Head of Brand Strategy and Design and contributing to the agency's mission of delivering exceptional digital marketing services. This position will involve designing innovative and impactful creative solutions for both client projects and the agency's in-house marketing efforts. The role demands a blend of strategic thinking, technical expertise, and mentorship to elevate the agency's creative output.

Purpose:

To produce exceptional brand and creative work that supports the agency's mission and exceeds client expectations. To collaborate with internal teams and clients, driving innovation and alignment with strategic objectives. To embody and promote the agency's values, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and excellence. To support the development of the agency's in-house marketing materials, strengthening its brand presence.

Responsibilities:

Creative Design

Support the development of brand and creative concepts and designs for client campaigns, from initial ideation to final delivery. Produce high-quality design work across a range of formats, including digital, print, branding, motion graphics, and social media. Ensure all designs align with client brand guidelines, marketing objectives, and target audiences. Create compelling in-house marketing assets, including visuals for campaigns, presentations, and digital platforms.

Collaboration & Communication

Work closely with the Head of Brand Strategy and Design, designers, copywriters, and other team members to deliver cohesive and inspiring creative solutions. Confident as a liaison between the creative team and clients, presenting ideas, gathering feedback, and refining designs. Foster open communication and collaboration across teams, ensuring alignment on project goals and timelines.

Mentorship & Leadership

Provide guidance, mentorship, and feedback to less experienced designers and interns, fostering their professional growth. Review and approve creative work from freelancers and peers to maintain high-quality standards and encourage collective creative thinking and collaboration. Contribute to team training and development initiatives, sharing expertise and staying updated on industry trends.

Project Management

Manage multiple design projects simultaneously, ensuring timely delivery within scope and budget. Develop and implement workflows to streamline creative processes and optimise productivity. Proactively identify challenges and propose solutions to keep projects on track.

Innovation & Brand Development

Contribute to the evolution of client brands and the agency's brand through fresh, innovative creative ideas. Stay up-to-date with design trends, tools, and best practices, incorporating them into projects where appropriate. Support the creation and implementation of new creative products and services.

Requirements:

Qualifications & Experience

At least 2- 4 years' experience in a mid-level design role, ideally within a digital marketing or creative agency environment. Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects) and Figma. Strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in branding, digital design, motion graphics, and social media assets. Experience working on both client-facing and in-house creative projects. Familiarity with project management tools such as Forecast is a plus.

Skills

Exceptional creativity and design skills with a great eye for detail. Strong taste, deep curiosity, appetite to improve craftsmanship. Ability to inspire and influence others while maintaining high-quality creative output. Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions effectively. Confidence and assertiveness to speak to stakeholders and clients, constantly bringing energy and enthusiasm, whilst remaining professional. Strong organisational and time-management abilities to handle multiple projects. Proactive problem-solving skills and a collaborative mindset.

Competency Matrix: Level 2 (Mid-Level)

At Level 2, you are an independent contributor who consistently executes tasks with a high degree of quality and ownership. You are no longer just learning; you are a reliable and trusted member of the team. Your competencies are a clear step up from Level 1, with a greater focus on independence, proactive contributions, and the ability to mentor junior team members.

Communication & Influence

Communication:

You consistently deliver clear, concise, and professional communication in all forms, both internally and with clients. You can present information and key updates on your work with confidence. You are comfortable providing direct, constructive feedback to junior colleagues and proactively seek feedback for your own improvement, demonstrating a more developed sense of radical candour.

Influence & Stakeholder Management:

You have a growing ability to build and manage relationships with key stakeholders, including clients, partners, and internal teams. You can persuasively communicate your ideas and gain buy-in on project tasks and minor initiatives. You can effectively navigate conversations to move projects forward and begin to apply the "challenge directly while caring personally" aspect of radical candour.

Strategic & Commercial Acumen

Commercial Awareness:

You are aware of the financial health of your projects and Hallam as a business. You understand how your tasks contribute to client profitability and are mindful of project budgets. You contribute to the team's shared goals, showing unity by identifying potential project overruns or scope creep.

Strategic Thinking:

You proactively look for opportunities to improve a project's or initiative's performance. You can apply a wider, holistic digital marketing knowledge to your tasks, moving beyond simple execution to make strategic recommendations. You understand how your work fits into the overall client or Hallam strategy and consistently demonstrate a proactive approach, which is key to living our 'get after it' value.

Results Mindset:

You consistently deliver excellent work and take pride in the quality of your output. You not only meet but often exceed project expectations, actively seeking opportunities to raise the bar and improve client and business outcomes.

Problem Solving & Innovation

Problem Solving:

You can independently identify and solve routine or minor problems without needing to escalate them to your manager. When a more complex issue arises, you bring a well-considered analysis and multiple potential solutions to the table, embodying a solution focused mindset and taking ownership of the challenge.

Curiosity & Innovation:

You are encouraged to propose and test new ideas or approaches on projects. You actively look for ways to make processes more efficient and are willing to take smart, calculated risks in your work. Your entrepreneurial drive is evident in your efforts to innovate and really get after it.

Adaptability & Agility:

You are a highly adaptable and flexible team member who can pivot quickly to new tasks, technologies, or priorities with minimal disruption. Your ability to respond to change is a key part of your 'get sht done' attitude.

Leadership & Personal Accountability

Leadership:

Your leadership shows up in your role as a mentor to junior colleagues. You are a go-to person for questions and guidance on daily tasks, and you lead by example through your proactive attitude and high-quality work. You promote a positive culture and demonstrate the high standards we expect.

Decision Making:

You make confident, well-informed decisions on your projects and tasks. You can defend your choices with data, insights, or knowledge. When you make a mistake, you take ownership of it, learn from it, and see the decision through to a successful conclusion, demonstrating your decisive nature.

Responsibility & Accountability:

You fully "own" your tasks and projects from start to finish. You take personal responsibility for your deliverables and their outcomes. When challenges arise, you are the first to ask, "what could I have done better?*" and never place blame on others, reflecting our core value of taking ownership.

Professional & Interpersonal Skills

Collaboration & Teamwork:

You are a key collaborator on projects, working effectively with colleagues, partners, and clients. You seek to understand others' working styles and adapt your own to ensure project success, embodying our 'unity' value by pulling everyone together toward shared goals.

Trustworthiness & Ethics:

You have a proven track record of acting with integrity and delivering on your promises. You have shown that you can be trusted to get things done when you say you will, and you embody the "care personally" aspect of radical candour in your interactions.

Organisational Skills:

You are highly organised and manage your time, tasks, and resources efficiently. You consistently meet deadlines, prioritise your work effectively, and help to raise the bar on the quality of our output through your meticulous approach.

Resilience:

You demonstrate a strong ability to handle pressure and setbacks. When faced with tight deadlines or challenging clients, you remain calm and composed, showing the grit and determination of a 'get after it' attitude

About Hallam

We're not just some self-obsessed agency promising table tennis and unlimited snacks in exchange for your soul. And that's why we'll always show up with something to say, not just something to sell. We share a mission to deliver outstanding work with purpose. We're here to do business in a better way: to work hard to do the right things, not only for our clients but our people and the world around us. Work should exist to make life better and we are a great place to work. Hallam has been chosen by its employees as one of the best places to work, and in the top 40 marketing employers in the UK. You'll join a team of 50 talented digital geeks who love everything from board game nights to agency trips out to a post-work tipple(s).

What's it like working at Hallam?

You'll get to work for a progressive agency that is driven by its people and values, not just profit. We'll provide you with everything you need for your role with us, including the latest Apple equipment (or equivalent) and set you off on your personalised onboarding program where you'll get to know us; your manager, team and the wider departments as well as how we do things around here through our proven operations and processes.

Our Perks:

Unlimited remote and flexible working policy
33 days holiday (25 plus the extra 8 bank holidays to take whenever you want) Option of early finish Fridays Your birthday day off, whenever you choose to celebrate! Bi-annual, seasonal recharge days Other annual leave perks including, quarterly long weekends, additional holidays after longevity of service and the option to buy further holiday days Sabbatical opportunities after 5 years' service Enhanced parental and reproductive health policies, supporting every stage of family planning including access to menstrual and menopause leave Enhanced policies to support with leave for medical reasons, caring for dependents, compassionate or bereavement reasons Training, learning and development opportunities, both individual and company-wide A revered employee engagement programme including frequent surveys and retros. Your opportunity to have your voice heard and genuinely make a difference to your place of work 2 days per month of 'Thrive Time'. This is your personal development time you can spend on anything you want. Want to focus on innovation? Volunteer for a charity? Enrol for a qualification? We'll give you the time to do this Regular company and team socials, events and celebrations

Based on our 3 principles: Work from anywhere, Freedom to choose and Cultural Unity. We believe everyone has the right to work from wherever they want. This choice will always lay with the employee and not the employer. We hire the best and trust you to manage and deliver your own work. Whether you are 100% remote, hybrid or come into one of our offices every day, every Hallamer is an equally important part of our culture.*

Benefits

We're also proud to offer plenty of employee benefits:


Competitive pension scheme Monthly wellbeing allowance Access to paid for therapy and counselling services Payroll giving opportunities for charitable donations Travel to work schemes and electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme Know someone who would fit right in at Hallam? We also have a new employee referral incentive




We highly encourage applicants from under-represented ethnic groups and LGBTQ+ communities. Throughout the recruitment process, we will strive to make interviews as diverse and gender-balanced as possible for impartiality. As long as you're qualified, you'll receive equal consideration for employment regardless of race, religion, colour, gender or disability.