Vicine Design

Strategic Creative Director

London preferred · Remote

Vicine is looking for its most senior hire yet: a Strategic Creative Director to own our brand strategy and identity engagements from a creative perspective, and to help us push the work past where we've taken it.

London preferred · Remote

Vicine is a strategy-led brand and product design studio. Here, brand and product designers work together to create new brands and products from the ground up.

We’re in an exciting, growing phase, and we need new leadership to help support this growth in the best way possible.

We're hiring a strategic creative director to lead our brand and identity work end to end, reporting directly to the two founders and leading a team of designers.

You'd set creative direction, work on project strategy, own the client relationships, and manage the people doing the work. While the founders are always involved in every engagement, you would be leading the projects from a creative perspective and wouldn’t need the partners to approve everything before it leaves the building.

We're not hiring someone to hold the current bar steady. The work Vicine is known for got there through a specific set of choices, and we want someone who’s hungry to leave their mark.

Vicine is a strategy-led brand and product design studio. Here, brand and product designers work together to create new brands and products from the ground up.

We’re in an exciting, growing phase, and we need new leadership to help support this growth in the best way possible.

We're hiring a strategic creative director to lead our brand and identity work end to end, reporting directly to the two founders and leading a team of designers.

We're not hiring someone to hold the current bar steady. The work Vicine is known for got there through a specific set of choices, and we want someone who’s hungry to leave their mark.

The shape of the job

There are four parts to this job, and it’s important to be able to switch between them. We've weighted them rather than just listing them, so you can see where the time typically goes. The split shifts by quarter, but not by much.

Your responsibilities

Creative direction and brand strategy

Take brand strategy from blank page to finished deck: positioning, architecture, archetype, narrative, and the written brief the identity work gets built on
Set and hold the creative bar across every brand and identity engagement in the studio
Run strategy workshops with senior client stakeholders and manage the room so they give you decisions rather than follow-ups
Direct identity development across multiple routes, and make the call when two good routes point in different directions (we like candidates that are still hands on, but most of the hands-on work would be completed by your team, you would be helping, refining, and guiding)
Review the team's work daily and give notes specific enough to act on
Learn the Vicine voice and the standards underneath it, including identifying where things can be improved

Creative direction and brand strategy

Take brand strategy from blank page to finished deck: positioning, architecture, archetype, narrative, and the written brief the identity work gets built on
Set and hold the creative bar across every brand and identity engagement in the studio
Run strategy workshops with senior client stakeholders and manage the room so they give you decisions rather than follow-ups
Direct identity development across multiple routes, and make the call when two good routes point in different directions (we like candidates that are still hands on, but most of the hands-on work would be completed by your team, you would be helping, refining, and guiding)
Review the team's work daily and give notes specific enough to act on
Learn the Vicine voice and the standards underneath it, including identifying where things can be improved

Client leadership

Act as the senior Vicine voice on brand engagements, from kickoff to final handover
Present strategy and identity work to client stakeholders, absorb difficult feedback without immediately conceding, and know when to hold a position or when to go with the client’s feedback.
Carry client relationships through stretches with no founder present, exercising judgment in real time and developing a deep understanding of each client.
Keep engagements from quietly expanding past their scope, and flag it early when they do
Through your work and relationship skills, convert existing clients into second and third engagements

Client leadership

Act as the senior Vicine voice on brand engagements, from kickoff to final handover
Present strategy and identity work to client stakeholders, absorb difficult feedback without immediately conceding, and know when to hold a position or when to go with the client’s feedback.
Carry client relationships through stretches with no founder present, exercising judgment in real time and developing a deep understanding of each client.
Keep engagements from quietly expanding past their scope, and flag it early when they do
Through your work and relationship skills, convert existing clients into second and third engagements

People and resourcing

Manage the design team and a rotating bench of specialist freelancers
Own resourcing alongside our project managers, setting who works on what week by week and flagging early when the plan and the capacity have come apart
Run regular design reviews to monitor the work progress and quality
Run regular one-on-ones with those reporting to you, focused on how they're growing and on projects status
Give feedback that helps talent develop and grow
Have the uncomfortable conversation early when a project or a person is drifting

People and resourcing

Manage the design team and a rotating bench of specialist freelancers
Own resourcing alongside our project managers, setting who works on what week by week and flagging early when the plan and the capacity have come apart
Run regular design reviews to monitor the work progress and quality
Run regular one-on-ones with those reporting to you, focused on how they're growing and on projects status
Give feedback that helps talent develop and grow
Have the uncomfortable conversation early when a project or a person is drifting

New business

Help write proposals and scopes, and pitch them
Be able to spot opportunities and convert existing clients into new engagements
Be able to manage an existing pipeline of clients and projects
Protect the referral and repeat-work engine that built the studio to where it is now
Represent Vicine publicly where it helps, including writing and speaking about the work

New business

Help write proposals and scopes, and pitch them
Be able to spot opportunities and convert existing clients into new engagements
Be able to manage an existing pipeline of clients and projects
Protect the referral and repeat-work engine that built the studio to where it is now
Represent Vicine publicly where it helps, including writing and speaking about the work

What we're looking for

8+ years across brand strategy and design, with meaningful time inside a branding studio or creative agency.
A proven track record of writing brand strategy end to end. Not just contributing to a strategy framed by others, or just directing a strategist.
Experience directing identity development across multiple routes, and the judgment to kill one even if you liked it.
Experience managing senior designers
Confident presenting to and disagreeing with client stakeholders, and capable of holding your own in challenging client environments.
Scoping fluency. You can take a vague project idea and transform it into a highly structured, realistic, and executable plan (including deliverables, resourcing, realistic timeframe, scope boundaries).
Strong writing. Not just decks of headline fragments, but real sentences that hold an argument together.
Working remotely with real autonomy and staying visible to a team of remote co-workers.
Precision. Attention to detail is crucial. You need to see the typo, spot the tiny mistake and make sure they are fixed before the work goes to the client. Vicine is known for exceptionally high standards of work and extremely high quality.

Preferable

Comfortable across brand and product. Understanding of basic product and web design principles and familiarity / proficiency with Figma
Based in the UK (ideally in the London area).

Personal traits

Over the years, we’ve learned that some traits make the difference if you want to thrive at Vicine.

Passion and curiosity. We’re looking for people who are genuinely hungry, who are curious about what’s next, and excited to bring it to life. We’re looking for people who didn’t choose this profession because it’s just another job, but because they are genuinely passionate about it, and want to make a difference for our clients.
Humility. All the people who work in our team are highly talented, and very humble too. We disagree openly, we push the work, but we always do it with respect and with an open mind. We’re always ready to learn from others.
Empathy. This is really important to us. Being fully remote and sometimes async, it’s really crucial that we’re kind to each other and are able to take other people's perspectives. This also applies to our relationships with our clients.
Can-Do Attitude. There are good days and bad days, but we always try to keep it positive. We’re looking for people who are enthusiastic about solving problems.
Timeliness. In internal meetings, and most of all in meetings with the client, being on time is a must.
Organisation. Being organised is essential to manage multiple projects, resources and clients remotely.

What we offer

We've asked for a lot above. Here's our side of it.

Competitive salary.
Remote work with some flexibility around working hours.
Permalancer with a yearly contract. Full-time employed option for UK-based employees.
Participating in the next stage of our growth, helping define and grow the team and the way we work together.
The founders' time. We will be there to support you, guide you and help you grow into a key member of the leadership team of Vicine.
Outright ownership of the brand work. Nobody above you redoing your thinking, and your name on decisions that go through.
26 days/year of paid vacation, + local holidays in your geographical area.
Parental leave (time varies depending on geography)
Start date: ASAP

About Vicine

We're a strategy-led brand and product design studio. We build brands that matter and products people love, and we connect the dots between brand and product to intensify impact.

We're a diverse, global team, with top-tier agency backgrounds. We disagree out loud, build on each other's ideas, and care most about producing work we're proud of. We ask the uncomfortable questions early so we don't design the wrong thing beautifully.

We're an equal opportunity employer. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or any other protected status.

We're a strategy-led brand and product design studio. We build brands that matter and products people love, and we connect the dots between brand and product to intensify impact.

How To Apply

Send us:

Your updated CV and Portfolio.
A brand strategy you wrote yourself. If there is anything you’d change today, please let us know.
3 branding projects you directed that you are proud of, highlighting your contribution, and how it impacted the project.
A project plan you put together yourself, explaining the thought process behind it.

Email hello@vicinedesign.com with “Strategic Creative Director application” in the subject line.

Send us:

Your updated CV and Portfolio.
A brand strategy you wrote yourself. If there is anything you’d change today, please let us know.
3 branding projects you directed that you are proud of, highlighting your contribution, and how it impacted the project.
A project plan you put together yourself, explaining the thought process behind it.

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Ready to build something remarkable? We partner with ambitious teams who are serious about growth.

The company

Who We Are

How We Work

Our Work

Blog

Explore

Hungry for more insights?

Subscribe to our to stay up to date with industry standards.

Let’s talk

Ready to build something remarkable? We partner with ambitious teams who are serious about growth.

THE COMPANY

Who We Are

How We Work

Our Work

Blog

Explore

Hungry for more insights?

Subscribe to our to stay up to date with industry standards.

Let’s talk