Multi-Disciplinary Design Director, Design Hub

POSITION: Multi-Disciplinary Design Director, Design Hub

POSTING END DATE: 29/08/2025

LOCATION: Gaydon, Warwickshire (UK)

SALARY: Competitive

WHAT TO EXPECT

The Multi-Disciplinary Design Director, Design Hub, is a senior creative leadership role within the newly created Design Hub, responsible for defining and delivering the total brand experience, including the brand world for two distinct JLR brands. This position leads the design strategy and execution of the total brand experience from visual identity, art direction, spatial and retail design, industrial design, UX/UI (on and off-board), and shared responsibility for materiality, ensuring each brand is uniquely expressed and consistently experienced across all customer touchpoints.

THE ROLE

This role sits at the heart of how each brand is perceived, shaping a cohesive and emotionally resonant journey that goes beyond the vehicle to include everything from digital interfaces and in-vehicle interactions to branded accessories, environments, and physical products.

Based in the UK, the Multi-Disciplinary Design Director, Design Hub, will work in close collaboration with JLR Brand MDs, operating with agility across two business models, while ensuring both brands remain clearly differentiated. The Director will partner with internal and external stakeholders to ensure creative excellence, brand integrity, and market relevance across all initiatives.

The role is a critical leadership position, leading the UK based Brand Design team within the Design Hub and working in partnership with the Vehicle Design Director and Realisation Director to build a ‘one team’ culture of excellence, innovation and courage to push the boundaries, enabling quick and clear creative direction.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Inception and Governance

• In collaboration with the Brand MDs, develop a cohesive Brand strategy, defining the brands DNA.
• Define, develop, and maintain the brand world for each brand, translating brand strategy into tangible, emotionally compelling brand books to define how the brands are deployed in all touch points, in all markets.
• Work closely with the Brand MD and licensee to localise global strategies for regional markets without compromising the core brand.
• Ensure the target customer(s) & segmentation of the brand and the positioning and segmentation of the vehicles are sufficiently different from our existing brand portfolio by partnering with the Creative first line and Brand MDs.
• Working in collaboration with the Brand MD and Product strategy team to influence the brand attributes and ensure clear brand alignment and differentiation for both brands.
• Monitor the design execution of the brands, ensuring it is within the guidelines defined by the brand books.
• Manage the creative development and design governance of all experience touchpoints, ensuring brand consistency and differentiation across the House of Brands.
• Adapt the creative strategy to account for different business models and market contexts while preserving the integrity of each brand.
• Translate brand identity across the customer journey, including vehicle interactions, spatial environments, digital interfaces, and lifestyle extensions through design.

Creative Leadership

• Responsible for providing the Creative Direction for a multidisciplinary design team
• Visual Identity & Art Direction: Own the creative direction of brand symbols and iconography, typography, visual language, and tone of voice.
• UX/UI: Define the on and off-board digital experience strategy, ensuring consistency across platforms and product ecosystems.
• Spatial Design: Guide the design of branded environments (e.g., retail, events, exhibitions, charging spaces).
• Industrial Design: Branded objects and accessories, including vehicle additions, lifestyle products and apparel (e.g., key fobs, charge points).
• Materiality: Direct the brand manifestation of materiality strategy.

Strategic Collaboration & Governance

• Work in collaboration with the Vehicle Design Director to align physical vehicle design with the wider brand world and experience.
• Work closely with the Realisation Director to ensure clear strategic requirements for all brand experience vision that must be delivered.
• Work in collaboration with the licensee stakeholders to ensure shared vision, co-development, and successful delivery of design vision.
• Partner with internal stakeholders including Brand MDs, Product Strategy, Engineering, Programme Management, and senior leadership to balance business objectives with creative ambition.
• Deliver clear, strategic updates to the CCO, the Brand Design Director and Creative executive leadership team.
• To present to board level stakeholders.

Technical and Creative Realisation

• Provide hands-on creative guidance to operational teams to ensure the design intent is understood, preserved, and delivered.
• Encourage pragmatic design development, balancing vision with delivery, cost, and commercial considerations. (Given the timing that these brands work to, this is an absolute imperative).

Team Leadership & Innovation

• Creatively direct, lead, and inspire a high-performing, multidisciplinary design team. (Pastoral leadership to be provided by the Creative discipline leaders).
• Foster a culture of innovation, design quality, and customer-centric thinking across all design domains.
• Champion emerging trends and new technologies to evolve the brand experience and maintain competitive advantage.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Extensive experience in leading brand or experience design at a senior level, ideally within the automotive, mobility, lifestyle, or premium consumer goods sectors.
• Proven ability to develop and deliver a multi-dimensional brand world across physical, digital, and spatial domains.
• Strong creative leadership across visual identity, UX/UI, materiality, spatial, and industrial design.
• Experience working with international or licensed brand structures.
• Deep understanding of how to shape customer experience holistically through design, with sharp business acumen and commercial awareness.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to operate at executive level and across multiple functions.
• Comfortable balancing creative vision with technical, operational, and commercial constraints.
• An inspirational leader who role models the Creator’s Code.
• A collaborative leader with exceptional communication skills.
• A visionary leader who is courageous and resilient.
• High levels of emotional intelligence, with the ability to influence and inspire at all levels.
• Demonstrates our Creators' Code behaviours of Customer Love, Unity, Integrity, Growth and Impact.

Creating Modern Luxury requires a modern approach to work. At JLR, hybrid working is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement providing employees flexibility around how, when and where they work. Some roles require more on-site work, but details of this can be discussed with the hiring manager during the interview stage.

We work hard to nurture a culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all. We understand candidates may require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process. Please discuss these with your recruiter so we can accommodate your needs.

JLR is committed to equal opportunity for all.

Please be aware that we may close this vacancy for applications before the stated deadline if we receive a high volume of interest. We strongly advise you to submit your application as early as possible.