Design Director

Creative Leadership & Design Execution

• Own, uphold, and evolve the Havas Media Network look and feel across all touchpoints
• Lead design for all new business pitches — partnering with new business and strategy teams to use design as a strategic lever to increase pitch win rates, strengthen perceived value, and differentiate HMN in competitive reviews.
• Partner with Growth leadership to shape how ideas are expressed — ensuring creative storytelling amplifies the strategic narrative.
• Bring a clear and opinionated creative point of view on design, storytelling, and emerging formats — setting the bar for what great looks like across the organization
• Oversee design of client-facing meeting materials, QBRs, and executive presentations across the Havas Media Network North America portfolio
• Develop creative programs and design concepts that meet business objectives and advance our brand and proposition strategy
• Create and steward design identities and toolkits for tentpole internal and external events — developing visual systems that give each initiative a distinct and memorable presence
• Design internal and external email communications, newsletters, announcements, and leadership presentations
• Curate imagery and graphics that support key messaging and overall agency look and feel

AI & Innovation

• Champion the design team’s adoption of AI-powered creative tools — identifying, testing, and implementing solutions that reduce production time and improve output quality across all formats
• Build repeatable, AI-enhanced workflows for the team’s most common tasks: deck production, image sourcing, template generation, and copy-fitting
• Stay at the forefront of emerging design and AI tools — form opinions, run experiments, and translate what’s useful into everyday practice for the team

Systems & Enablement

• Develop and maintain a library of brand-approved, self-service templates in tools accessible to non-designers across the organization (e.g., Canva, Figma, PowerPoint)
• Create and run training programs that equip colleagues network-wide to produce on-brand materials independently — reducing bottlenecks without sacrificing quality
• Own the design tool stack for both the team and the broader organization, ensuring access and training for all
• Establish intake processes, prioritization frameworks, and production workflows that keep the team efficient and delivering at a high level

Team & Resource Management

• Manage, mentor, and grow the in-house design team — setting clear expectations, fostering a culture of craft and continuous improvement, and creating pathways for professional development
• Supervise and develop designers, assigning projects and managing hours accordingly
• Ensure that deadlines across projects and designers are met
• Provide quality control over design outputs and production
• Manage relationships with freelance designers and external creative partners (videographers, etc.), along with the design department’s budget

WHAT YOU’LL NEED / SKILLS

• 7-10 years of design experience, with at least 3 years in a leadership role overseeing a team or design function
• An exceptional portfolio demonstrating mastery of presentation design, brand identity, and communications design — work that is strategic, not just aesthetic
• Deep expertise in the Adobe Creative Suite, with strong command of Figma, PowerPoint, Keynote, and Canva
• Fluency in AI-powered creative tools — you have built workflows around these tools, not just experimented with them
• Experience building design systems, brand guidelines, and self-service templates for large, complex organizations
• Experience designing and publishing lightweight websites and social media pages on platforms like WordPress and Squarespace
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate and defend creative decisions to senior stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing deadlines across multiple high-priority projects simultaneously

WHO YOU ARE

• A hybrid designer comfortable with both print and digital mediums
• A senior creative leader with strong design instincts and a genuine hunger to experiment with what’s next
• Equally comfortable setting the strategic vision for a high-stakes pitch and rolling up your sleeves to produce it
• Energized by building systems and tools that make others more effective — your definition of success includes the wins you enable, not just your own ou…