Lead or Principal Product Designer

Location

Victoria, Essex | United Kingdom

Job description

About The Role

We're looking for a highly creative and experienced design leader to join a multidisciplinary team leading across core experiences, digital bespoke editorial and special projects as part of the Telegraph’s Product Design team. As part of your role you will lead a variety of projects and initiatives, managing a team of designers, supporting the Deputy Creative Director in the oversight of multiple work streams and supporting the overall direction and vision for the team. You will be responsible for the development of individuals and their skill sets, and maintaining the high standards and attention to detail across their projects as well as your own.

Working closely with other Lead Designers and the Design Director; you'll be shaping how we tell stories digitally, working on innovative formats to create experiences that are a joy to read. You'll use the newspaper and its supplements as a reference and be unafraid to challenge briefs, pushing the boundaries of what is possible to elevate and convey our journalism to the highest standard. Collaborating with editorial desks and the visual journalism team, providing visual guidance and support to producers, developers, editors and journalists to ensure visual excellence across all we do.

Your role will be to lead and oversee projects owned and worked on by your team that go beyond expectations across the concepts developed for our day-to-day and high profile journalism. You will oversee work for one or more areas of the team's daily, weekly and longer term output.

You are independent, autonomous and demonstrate an exceptional eye for detail and have experience in dealing with many different stakeholders. The successful candidate will be passionate about design and eager to work with wider teams in realising all design ideas through to delivery. 

Communication is important so you will be comfortable presenting, and able to confidently justify your design decisions. You will be expected to interpret and implement the creative vision across a broad range of projects ranging from digital, print, social and video.

You’ll be

• You’ll be designing the way The Telegraph tells stories across its platforms, using established as well as new technologies to elevate and enhance our storytelling visually
• Lead the art direction for all digital features content, ensuring stories are powerfully projected digitally
• Collaborating with editors, illustrators and picture desks, the role endeavours to find effective ways to illustrate the biggest and most topical stories across digital platforms
• You’ll be ambitious in your thinking and brave in your designs, whilst being able to create something that’s a pleasure to use
• You’ll be creating designs, animations, and art directing stories to bring your ideas to life
• You’ll be keen to learn and comfortable with experimenting to find the best possible outcome
• You’ll be working on a range of projects, from the big to the small, the experimental to the practical. You’ll be comfortable juggling a few things at once, and always eager to try something new.
• You'll be working as part of a team, collaborating with other designers, developers and journalists to come up with the best possible solution. 
• You’ll be comfortable working as part of a group, as well as alone, and able to articulate the rationale behind your design decisions to others.
• You’ll be responsible for mentoring junior designers, sharing insights and providing guidance, feedback and support.

Key responsibilities

• Overseeing and leading a team working on a variety projects within a team of multidisciplinary designers
• Work collaboratively with your team, managing others designers, and supporting the Design Director to ensure the team is operating effectively to meet deadlines
• Manage expectations of stakeholders and raise potential issues in a timely manner
• Turn concepts into working solutions for all digital channels as well as print
• Be comfortable managing multiple projects and deadlines
• Liaise with key stakeholders/account managers to deliver creative requirements.
• Continuously improve your designs, working with research and data tools to gain a deeper understanding of how your designs are working

Essential skills for this role

• Professional experience as a Designer

• Have experience owning projects and leading others working as part of a team
• Have extensive knowledge of design processes
• Have proven in-house/agency experience
• Thrive in a fast paced environment, working as part of a team and mentoring Designers
• Be confident and great at communicating
• Have an open minded and receptive approach to innovating and iterating your designs
• A mastery of Figma and Adobe Creative Suite
• Art school/University background (BA or Master level)
• Have an outstanding portfolio of projects you've worked on, either individually and as part of a team.
• An excellent understanding of typography, colours, usability and accessibility.
• Have a clear vision and editorial awareness.
• Have the ability to animate as well as design
• Be interested in current affairs and have a passion for telling stories
• Know your Instagram Stories from your Snapchats
• Be energetic, have an appetite for experimentation and a good sense of fun
• Know how to create a consistent visual language that is beautiful, stylish and recognisable for the entirety of our customers' experience.
• Be able to keep editorial objectives and the 'bigger picture' in mind when designing.
• Have solid experience of the print and digital production process
• The ability to confidently multitask different print and digital projects at once.

Our benefits

The nature of our industry means life at the Telegraph Media Group is fast-paced, demanding, and interesting. We also want it to be rewarding for everyone who works here by creating a suite of benefits that contribute to lifestyle choices and leisure activities. From dynamic working opportunities, medical cover, and parental leave (six months fully paid maternity leave and enhanced paternity/partner leave), to life assurance and season ticket loans, you can choose from a range of flexible benefits, designed to support your lifestyle and help you achieve a healthy work-life balance.

Training and development

With support from your manager and colleagues, you’ll also have access to a variety of training and development opportunities through The Academy. Covering a range of personal and professional skills, our courses enable you to develop an enjoyable and rewarding career.

Our commitment to inclusion

At Telegraph Media Group, we foster a diverse and inclusive workplace and we are committed to building a team that reflects a wide variety of skills, perspectives and backgrounds. We believe in equality of opportunity and welcome candidates from all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.

We are proud to be a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader as part of the government’s Disability Confident Scheme. If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition and would like support in applying for any of our roles or if you require any reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process with us, please make us aware.

To find out more about Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Telegraph Media Group, and for more information on our purpose, beliefs, and people values, please visit our website .

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Salary