Head of Brand and Communications & Creative

Job title: Head of Brand Communications & Creative

Location: Hybrid – London

Reports to: Marketing Director

Salary band: Head of £50 - £64 depending on experience

Contract: Full-time/part-time, permanent

About D&AD

D&AD is a global non-profit that exists to celebrate, inspire, and enable excellence in commercial creativity. Through our iconic Pencil Awards, education programmes, and talent initiatives, we bring together the world’s most creative thinkers, makers, and doers - championing creative excellence and its ability to drive change in business and society.

As we look to the future, we are seeking a strategic and imaginative Head of Brand & Communications to elevate our presence, deepen engagement across our global community, and ensure that D&AD is at the heart of the creative conversation.

The Role

We are seeking a visionary and hands-on Head of Brand Communications and Creative to lead the development and execution of our brand narrative and creative expression across all channels. This role sits at the intersection of brand strategy, creative leadership, and cross-platform storytelling.

You’ll own the brand’s voice and visual identity, ensuring consistency and resonance across every touchpoint - from digital content and advertising to campaigns and owned media. The focus of the role is on shaping how we communicate who we are, what we stand for, and how we engage audiences with clarity, creativity, and purpose.

You’ll work closely with senior leadership, marketing, partnerships, and product teams to unify D&AD’s voice and drive consistent, culturally attuned messaging that builds brand equity and relevance worldwide.

Key Responsibilities

Brand strategy & stewardship

• Define and evolve D&AD’s brand positioning, tone of voice and visual identity across all channels and markets.

• Ensure brand coherence and resonance across our programmes, awards, education, and partnerships

• Lead brand guidelines and ensure internal alignment and adoption

• Define and evolve the brand’s narrative and messaging frameworks

• Ensure the brand is expressed consistently and effectively across all internal and external touch points

• Lead brand communications initiatives that build awareness, differentiation, and emotional connection

Creative direction, content and storytelling

• Develop and lead team to execute content strategy

• Lead the ideation and execution of high-impact creative campaigns, content series, and brand moments

• Manage and inspire internal creative teams and external partners (designers, copywriters, content producers, agencies etc.)

• Oversee the creation of assets across channels including web, social, email, video, print, events and experiential

• Champion a user-centric, insight-led approach to content development and brand messaging

• Oversee development of core brand content - from manifesto and messaging frameworks to long-form thought leadership, case studies, and editorial collaborations

• Partner with internal and external content creators to tell meaningful stories that reflect D&AD’s mission and impact

Campaign Development and Execution

• Lead the end-to-end development of brand and marketing campaigns from concept through to rollout ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and brand guidelines

• Translate business goals to campaign goals and plans - turning audience insight into compelling creative ideas that cut-through

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders and external partners to develop campaign plans and messaging

• Oversee multi-channel campaign execution across digital, social, content, experiential, and owned platforms

Leadership & Team Management

• Build, lead, and inspire a multidisciplinary team of brand, content, and creative professionals

• Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture grounded in creativity, accountability, and shared purpose

• Provide clear direction, mentorship, and professional development opportunities to support team growth and retention

• Champion inclusive leadership, encouraging diverse perspectives and creative risk-taking

• Set clear goals and expectations, ensuring alignment with wider brand and business objectives

• Manage resourcing and recruitment, scaling the team to meet evolving needs and project demands

• Oversee team workflows, processes, and tools to ensure efficient delivery and creative excellence

• Act as a creative and strategic coach, guiding the team through feedback, reviews, and iteration

• Manage agency and freelance partners as needed

Social Media strategy and direction

• Provide strategic leadership for the brand’s social media presence, ensuring alignment with overall brand narrative and campaign objectives

• Guide the tone of voice, visual consistency, and storytelling approach across all social platforms

• Oversee the planning and execution of social-first content and campaigns in collaboration with channel owners and creative teams

• Use insights and analytics to shape strategy, track performance, and ensure the brand remains culturally relevant and audience-focused

About You

• Proven experience leading brand and creative teams, ideally in a fast-paced, purpose-led or creative environment

• Deep understanding of brand strategy, messaging, design systems, and storytelling techniques

• Strong conceptual thinker with the ability to translate strategy into compelling creative work

• Skilled in managing cross-functional collaboration and agency partnerships

• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills

• Confident navigating between high-level strategy and hands-on execution

• A strong strategic mindset with proven ability to develop and articulate brand positioning across markets

Bonus if You Have

• Experience in sectors such as culture, education, sustainability, tech, or non-profit

• Background in design, copywriting, or content production

• Familiarity with digital performance metrics, audience insights, and brand tracking tools

D&AD is committed to diversity, equality, equity, inclusion and respect for all.  Providing a work environment in which all employees are treated with fairness, respect and dignity and which is free of discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment.   At D&AD we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Please email [email protected] to let us know if you need any reasonable adjustments to be made for any part of the recruitment process.

In order to comply with the Prevention of Illegal Working, Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act, you will need to provide appropriate documentation that proves that you are eligible to work in the UK.

Due to the number of applications we receive, we regret that you will not be contacted unless you are shortlisted for an interview. If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date of your application you should assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.

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