Design Director

About the role

• Agency: TMA
• Job Function: Creative
• Job Subfunction: Design

About the role

dotdotdash is a global experience & innovation agency. We decode shifts in culture, technology, and social behaviors to open up space for new ideas, new experiences & new growth. We turn these signals into systems. All to help our clients craft distinctive experiences across the brand ecosystem.

At dotdotdash, we are more than marketers; we are architects, innovators and creators of what's next. Our name is inspired by morse code. It's a nod to our belief in putting people at the center of what we create. And like morse code in its time, our work reimagines how brands and people communicate.

We're seeking to grow our team with individuals who share our passion for tangible creativity, our commitment to pushing boundaries, and our belief in the power of participatory experiences. At the heart of everything we do are the principles that guide how we create and collaborate:

• Play. We embrace curiosity, experimentation and fun in our work and our partnerships.
• Take Risks. We challenge the status quo and take informed risks to push boundaries.
• Stay Humble. We lead through example, listening and learning.
• Adapt. We evolve at the pace of culture and technology.
• Be Diligent. We commit to persistence and details through delivery.

As a Design Director, you ensure both creative excellence and operational effectiveness. You are accountable for the performance, growth, and wellbeing of your team, defining standards that shape how we deliver our best work. You balance craft, culture, and commercial outcomes to build lasting client relationships and drive agency growth. You are tapped into your passions, design culture and bring your distinct and unique perspective forward to our work.

Key Responsibilities

• Defines and upholds the standards of quality across the discipline.
• Leads the development of new design approaches, systems, and frameworks that enable consistency and innovation.
• Oversees multiple projects or accounts, providing guidance and critique to elevate creative output.
• Ensures the team's work aligns with both strategic and business objectives.
• Manages and develops a team of Leads, Seniors, and Intermediates through regular coaching and structured feedback.
• Drives discipline-wide learning and capability development, fostering a culture of accountability and inclusion.
• Ensures healthy team utilization and workload balance while nurturing engagement and retention.
• Builds succession and growth plans for emerging leaders.
• Oversees the creative and strategic quality of client partnerships, ensuring design outcomes deliver measurable impact.
• Builds senior client relationships and acts as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders.
• Represents design and innovation in high-level conversations and pitches.
• Ensures satisfaction, retention, and growth across key accounts.
• Owns team utilization, profitability, and contribution to the agency's P&L.
• Leads efficiency and quality improvements across processes and delivery models.
• Collaborates with leadership to develop and evolve productized offerings or accelerators.
• Shapes the culture and reputation of the discipline within the agency and the broader network.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in design, with a portfolio showcasing exceptional work in across range of design communications such as campaigns, digital and experiential work.
• An impeccable level of craft and care to all things they do. They can flex and adapt their expertise across brand identity systems, art direction, interface design and motion design.
• Knowledgeable in leveraging AI tools and platforms to enhance creative ideation and design production, such as: Nano Banana, MidJourney, VEO/Flow, Runway, Kling 3.0, Pika, Claude and more.
• Experts in visual design philosophy, methodologies and techniques. Conceive modern brand design systems for digital 2D and 3D experiences.
• Experts in design execution across various types of media and experiences, such as brand identity, brand systems, graphic/communications design, user Interface design, design systems.
• Experience in art direction desired, such as: campaign concept generation, campaign production, campaign treatment, visual narrative treatments, content and experience storyboarding.
• Directs: illustration, typography, animation, motion, design production.