Senior Communication Designer/Design Language Lead

Senior Communication Designer

Role Summary

We are seeking an accomplished Senior Communication Designer to lead the development, governance, and evolution of the organisations visual and communication design language across internal and external touchpoints.

This is a strategic design leadership role focused on creating a comprehensive Design Language System (DLS) that serves as the organisation’s visual North Star and single source of truth for communication, marketing, product, and experience design.

The successful candidate will establish a unified, scalable design framework that shapes websites, mobile applications, social media, marketing collateral, exhibitions, events, and customer experiences. The role requires exceptional aesthetic judgement, strong visual communication expertise, and the ability to translate brand values and strategy into a coherent, distinctive, and actionable design system.

Key Purpose of the Role

The role is responsible for defining, documenting, and institutionalising a design language that:

Establishes a distinctive, recognisable, and cohesive visual identity.

Creates consistency across communication channels and customer touchpoints.

Provides a scalable framework for current and future design requirements.

Acts as the single source of truth for visual communication and design decisions.

Enables internal teams and external agencies to create work aligned with the organisation’s design philosophy.

Ensures every design output reflects the organisation’s brand values, personality, and strategic objectives.

Key Responsibilities

1. Design Language Strategy & Governance

Define and develop the organisation’s overarching Design Language System.

Establish core visual principles, aesthetic standards, and communication frameworks.

Translate brand strategy and values into clear, practical design principles.

Develop governance processes, quality standards, and review frameworks to maintain consistency across teams, functions, and external partners.

Establish clear ownership, documentation, and decision-making frameworks for the design system.

Continuously evaluate and evolve the design language in response to organisational growth, audience needs, technology, and emerging design practices.

2. Design Architecture & Visual Systems

Develop and formalise standards across:

Visual hierarchy and information architecture.

Grid systems, layout structures, and responsive frameworks.

Principles of form, proportion, scale, and balance.

Spacing, composition, rhythm, and visual relationships.

Colour systems, palettes, and usage protocols.

Iconography and illustration styles.

Photography, imagery selection, and image treatment.

Motion, animation, and transition principles.

Data visualisation and infographic standards.

Graphic devices, distinctive brand assets, and visual signatures.

Build flexible systems that create consistency while allowing designers and content teams to respond appropriately to different audiences, formats, channels, and communication requirements.

3. Typography, Type & Verbal Expression

Own the development and governance of the organisation’s typographic and verbal expression framework, including:

Selection and governance of primary and secondary typefaces.

Typography hierarchy and usage standards.

Print, digital, and responsive typography specifications.

Readability, legibility, and accessibility standards.

Editorial and publication design principles.

Relationships between typography, imagery, layout, and content.

Alignment between tone of voice and visual expression.

Visual storytelling and narrative frameworks.

Establish clear principles for how language, typography, imagery, and design work together to create a cohesive and recognisable brand experience.

4. Product & Experience Design

Provide strategic visual design direction across:

Websites and digital platforms.

Mobile applications.

Marketing communications and brand collateral.

Social media and content design systems.

Presentations and corporate communications.

Exhibitions, events, and environmental experiences.

Customer-facing physical and digital touchpoints.

Design documentation, standards, templates, and toolkits.

Ensure the organisation’s core design language is consistently translated across both digital and physical experiences.

5. Design Systems & Documentation

Create comprehensive design standards, principles, specifications, and guidelines.

Develop reusable components, templates, patterns, and visual assets.

Establish documentation that enables teams and agencies to apply the design language independently.

Work closely with digital and product teams to align visual design systems with component-based and responsive frameworks.

Ensure design documentation remains current, accessible, and easy to implement.

Essential Competencies

Exceptional Aesthetic Judgement

Demonstrated expertise in:

Form, structure, and proportion.

Visual composition and balance.

Scale, rhythm, and spatial relationships.

Colour theory and visual contrast.

Visual hierarchy and information clarity.

Editorial and publication design.

Imagery selection and art direction.

Typography and typeface systems.

Visual storytelling and narrative design.

The ability to make considered, strategic design decisions that improve clarity, engagement, usability, and brand distinction is essential.

Design Systems Thinking

Ability to translate abstract brand values and strategic objectives into tangible visual systems.

Experience creating scalable frameworks rather than isolated creative assets.

Strong understanding of design governance, consistency, repeatability, and system adoption.

Ability to balance consistency with creative flexibility.

Experience designing systems that can evolve with an organisation, audience, and technology.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

Strong ability to articulate and defend design rationale.

Experience influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

Ability to establish alignment across multiple business functions.

Experience managing internal designers, creative teams, and external agencies.

Strong presentation, communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills.

Ability to champion design quality while balancing business, operational, and user needs.

Qualifications & Experience

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Communication Design, Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Design Management, Fine Art, or a related discipline.

10–14 years of relevant experience in communication design, brand design, creative direction, visual design, or design leadership.

Demonstrable experience developing and implementing organisation-wide design systems, brand guidelines, or visual identity frameworks.

Strong portfolio demonstrating strategic design leadership across digital and physical environments.

Proven experience taking a design language from strategy and principles through to implementation and governance.

Technical Expertise

Advanced proficiency in:

Figma.

Adobe Creative Cloud, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

After Effects.

Design system and collaboration platforms.

Presentation and storytelling tools.

Strong working knowledge of:

UX/UI principles.

Responsive web design.

Accessibility and inclusive design standards.

Motion and interaction design.

Digital design systems.

Component-based design frameworks.

Cross-platform design implementation.

Success in the Role

Success will be measured by the ability to establish a distinctive, coherent, scalable, and widely adopted Design Language System that becomes the organisation’s visual North Star.

The successful candidate will create more than a set of guidelines. They will establish a living design ecosystem that enables teams and partners to make confident, consistent, and strategically aligned design decisions across every major brand, communication, product, and customer experience.