Are you a strategic, business-minded Design Director who thrives on the complexity of large-scale corporate environments? Do you lead with rationale, speak the language of business, and win over C-suite stakeholders through high-level storytelling and conviction? We are currently partnering with a Melbourne-based branding design studio looking for a "Strategic Anchor" to lead their creative output and drive agency growth. This isn’t a role for FMCG, campaign brand, or consumer-only backgrounds. This is a high-stakes position dedicated to corporate branding for listed companies, institutional entities, and major organisations. We are looking for a true powerhouse whose portfolio absolutely sparkles with original thinking and standalone creative depth. The Role As the Design Director, you will be the driving force behind the studio’s most complex corporate identity projects. Crucially, you won’t just be managing a team or orchestrating collaboration; you must be a hands-on design lead who can personally originate powerful, baseline creative concepts from scratch. You will ensure every creative decision is rooted in a solid "why" that resonates at the board level. Your day-to-day will involve: Strategic Leadership: Developing comprehensive brand style guides and visual identities for complex organisations. Conceptual Ownership: Personally coming up with the core creative concepts, ensuring all output is filtered through the lens of brand strategy and high-level craft. Team Mentorship: Managing, inspiring, and elevating a talented team of designers who excel at rolling work out. Pitching & New Business: Taking an active lead in pitches, selling nuanced stories and strategic solutions to CEOs and COOs. Stakeholder Diplomacy: Navigating high-stakes feedback with authority and grace, building unity among diverse stakeholder groups. Business Acumen: Identifying opportunities for account growth and positioning the studio as the leading partner for corporate brand excellence. About You You are someone who leads with strategy first, but your true superpower is your creative weapon of a portfolio. You possess the gravitas to command a room of executives, translate complex business goals into clear design logic, and maintain high engagement across every critical meeting. To be successful, you will bring: Extensive senior-level experience with a strict focus on Corporate Branding . A portfolio that clearly demonstrates your specific footprint. We want to see your raw, standalone creative concepts and ideas, not just collaborative or rollout work. The ability to read, understand, and speak "Brand Strategy" fluently. Proven experience in leading new business pitches and winning over high-value clients. A collaborative yet authoritative leadership style that elevates the team’s output. If you are a corporate branding powerhouse ready for your next challenge, we would love to hear from you. (Note: While we are ideally seeking an established Design Director, the studio is highly collaborative and focused on raw talent; we would also be open to a top-tier Senior Designer with an exceptional conceptual baseline who is ready to be trained up and mentored into director-level leadership ). To apply, upload your CV and folio to the link below. Please note, while we would love to be able to get back to everyone, we will only respond to shortlisted applicants. We are only keen to hear from people who are Australian Residents or who have the appropriate Australian Working VISAs. Sadly, we won't be able to assist people based outside of Australia. A periodic rate of pay applies for this role. To help manage applications please no phone calls or DMs; apply here.
