Global Brand and Design Lead

Global Brand & Design Lead, Group - 12-month FTC

Office Location: Triton Street

This role will benefit from our Hays Balanced Working agreement so will be based in our Triton Street office with a minimum of 2-3 day per week in office

About Hays:

At Hays, we invest in lifelong partnerships that empower people and organisations to succeed. With a track record spanning over 50 years, and a workforce of 11,000 people across 33 countries, we're a global business that has evolved by putting customers at the heart of everything we do.

Hays is much more than a specialist recruiter - we are a global workforce partner. By providing advice, insights and expertise on the issues our customers face today in the fast-paced world of work, we help them make the right decisions for tomorrow.

We offer an unrivalled suite of recruitment and workforce solutions, whether it's helping professionals realise what's next in their career, or assisting organisations in solving their skills gaps, we help our customers get to where they want to go .

Your New Role

The Global Marketing team is comprised of several core functions spanning Brand, Content and Editorial, SEO and Web, Sales Enablement, eCRM, Social, Insights and Reporting with team members across the globe. Within the Global Brand function, a small brand and creative team is responsible for delivering to creative briefs/ requests spanning the Global marketing team as well as other central functions including Global People and Culture, Investor Relations, and Internal Communications teams.

The Global Marketing function works in close collaboration with our Regional/ Country marketing teams to deliver marketing campaigns and initiatives spanning B2B and B2C audiences, to amplify awareness and engagement with Hays that produces meaningful commercial outcomes for the organisation.

We're looking for a seasoned and hands-on Global Brand and Design Lead to join our Global Marketing team during a 12-month parental leave period. You'll play a key role in leading the creative expression of the Hays brand across all global marketing campaigns, ensuring brand excellence at every touchpoint. The objective of the role is to create compelling, on-brand creative that reinforces Hays' positioning as the leader in recruitment and workforce solutions and overseeing the key governance processes to ensure the brand is expressed in a consistent manner globally.

You'll lead and mentor a small, high-performing design team, guiding the development and delivery of world-class creative assets, campaigns, and internal brand enablement initiatives. You'll also oversee our brand governance framework and manage our global brand portal, ensuring teams across the world are empowered to create brand-aligned content at scale.

Key Result Areas:

• Lead the creative and design execution of global brand and marketing campaigns in partnership with our global marketing team
• Provide creative direction and mentorship to a team of designers (1 direct report, 3 indirect)
• Collaborate with regional brand and creative teams across the globe to deliver best-in-class assets that drive brand consistency and impact
• Oversee the prioritisation and workflow of design requests and briefs, balancing strategic priorities and delivery timelines - liaising with teams to effectively set and manage expectations around delivery
• Be the primary Hays Brand subject matter expert, with an in-depth understanding of our brand's visual language and lead the ongoing evolution of our brand expression, tools, and design systems
• Champion brand governance, ensuring brand guidelines and systems are embedded and upheld across all teams
• Manage the global brand portal, keeping content up to date and ensuring accessibility for global stakeholders
• Work closely with marketers to refine creative briefs, deliver campaigns, and produce engaging brand materials across digital, print, and motion
• Apply creative and innovative thinking to concept leading creative ideas to deliver brief/project objectives
• Keep abreast of emerging tools and technologies to aid branded asset/ campaign creation, remaining at the creative forefront whilst seeking to realise operational efficiencies where possible
• Design and produce digital assets and marketing materials, including but not limited to, website graphics, social media assets, motion graphics, videos, whitepapers, eBooks, interactive pdf's and email templates
• Lead, engage and liaise with free-lancers, suppliers, content writers and others to ensure the seamless production and delivery of creative materials/ campaigns
• Interpret the creative needs of projects/initiatives to engage the desired audience and drive the desired action/ outcome of the brief

Knowledge, Skills and Competencies

• 8+ years' experience in design, with a portfolio that demonstrates high-quality, brand-led work across a range of formats
• Proven experience managing and mentoring designers and leading the creative process from brief to delivery
• Strong understanding of brand systems, campaign development, and internal brand enablement
• Ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders across marketing, digital, and content teams globally
• Excellent communication and project management skills - able to confidently manage competing priorities and inspire great creative work
• Expert-level proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
• Video editing and post-production experience in video editing tools such as Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
• Proficiency in Figma would be highly desired
• Extensive experience with workflow tools like Asana or similar project management platforms
• A hands-on leader who enjoys both setting the vision and rolling up their sleeves to deliver brilliant design

What you will get in return

This is a truly unique opportunity to work in the strategic function of the Hays group business and collaborate with senior leaders to help shape tomorrow together.

In addition, Hays group offer:

• Competitive compensation and reward package
• Stimulating and rewarding work at a time of significant organisational change.
• An inclusive culture built on rewarding success and the opportunity to influence your future career path.
• Flexible hybrid working patterns.
• Broad range of employee wellbeing initiatives and benefits
• Community of internal support networks
• Paid volunteering day for all employees under our Working for Your Tomorrow Initiative

Life at Hays presents the opportunity for growth, varied career paths, exciting challenges and a culture of inclusion that celebrates diversity. As a committed Disability Confident employer, if you're thinking of a new tomorrow for your career, whatever your background, let's work together to create it!

At Hays, we share a passion for creating a culture of opportunities for our people to flourish and succeed, whatever your background. We know that diversity of perspective and an inclusive approach, which encourages those experiences and views to be heard, is great for business and therefore your career.