Studio and Design Manager

Job Facts

Minimum Requirements

• Degree or relevant qualification in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Multimedia Design, Visual Arts or related field.
• Minimum 7–10 years' relevant creative/design Experience , with demonstrated progression into creative leadership and people management.
• Proven experience formally leading and managing creative/design teams, with demonstrated ability to inspire, develop and deliver through others.
• Previous experience as a Studio Manager, Design Lead, Creative Lead, Associate Creative Director, Creative Director or equivalent strongly preferred.
• Proven experience coaching and developing creative talent and managing performance.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating creative direction, conceptual thinking, integrated campaign development and high standards of design craft.
• developing design systems, templates or creative standards that improve quality and consistency at scale.
• within an agency, in-house creative studio or complex corporate environment; regulated environment experience advantageous.
• Demonstrated experience across static, digital, motion and video content, with the ability to creatively direct multimedia work across channels.
• Skills & Capabilities
• Strong people leadership, coaching and talent development
• Creative direction and conceptual leadership
• Design systems and visual identity development
• Brand stewardship and creative quality assurance
• Studio workflow, resource planning and prioritisation
• Integrated campaign development
• Stakeholder management and creative presentation
• Strong communication, judgement and interpersonal skills
• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite and contemporary design tools
• Understanding of digital design, multimedia, motion and emerging creative technologies
• Strong understanding of motion design, video production and multimedia content, with the capability to provide creative direction and hands-on guidance where required
• Essential Behavioural Success Factors
• Leading and inspiring others
• Developing people and capability
• Producing high-quality output through others
• Demonstrating accountability and empowered ownership
• Giving and inviting constructive feedback
• Collaborating for collective success
• Acting with courage and composure
• Driving continuous improvement and creative excellence
• Enquiries siphosihle.hobana@metropolitan.co.za
• People Leadership & Team Development
• Lead, inspire and manage the Studio team, creating a positive, accountable and high performing creative culture.
• Translate business and brand priorities into clear direction and deliver results through effective delegation, coaching and leadership.
• Coach, mentor and develop creative talent, identifying individual and team capability gaps and implementing appropriate development interventions.
• Build creative confidence, judgement and problem-solving capability, enabling greater autonomy and ownership within the team.
• Manage performance effectively, recognising strong performance and addressing performance concerns constructively and timeously.
• Creative & Design Leadership
• Lead ideation, conceptual development and creative critique to continually raise the quality of creative output.
• Provide creative direction on major campaigns and high-impact brand initiatives, ensuring work is strategically sound, distinctive and creatively excellent.
• Guide the team in translating strategy and messaging into compelling creative solutions rather than simply executing briefs.
• Stay abreast of contemporary design, culture, technology and creative trends and use these insights to drive innovation and evolve the Studio’s capability.
• Provide hands-on creative direction and intervention where required, while primarily delivering results through the team.
• Lead creative thinking across static, digital, motion and video, ensuring the Studio continues to evolve its capabilities in line with changing content and channel needs.
• Brand Stewardship & Creative Excellence
• Act as a champion and custodian of Metropolitan’s visual identity, ensuring consistent and distinctive expression across touchpoints.
• Translate the CI into practical design systems, templates, principles and creative tools that enable consistent, high-quality execution at scale.
• Identify opportunities to evolve and strengthen the application of the brand identity while protecting its distinctive assets.
• Partner with Brand to evolve toolkits, guidelines and creative standards in response to emerging business and communication needs.
• Oversee creative quality across integrated campaigns and BAU work, ensuring Responsibilities People Leadership & Team Development
• Oversee creative quality across integrated campaigns and BAU work, ensuring Outputs meet the brief, communication objective, CI and Metropolitan brand strategy.
• Provide creative review and quality assurance on priority and high-impact work.
• Studio Workflow & Operational Partnership
• Partner with Marketing Operations to implement agreed workflow processes, prioritisation principles and ways of working within the Studio.
• Translate the overall marketing calendar and priorities into clear Studio priorities and resource allocation.
• Lead the day-to-day workflow of BAU and ad hoc creative work, ensuring briefs are appropriately allocated, prioritised and delivered.
• Provide Studio input into Marketing Operations planning on capacity, resource
• with demonstrated progression into creative leadership and people management.

Responsibilities

• People Leadership & Team Development
• Lead, inspire and manage the Studio team, creating a positive, accountable and high performing creative culture.
• Translate business and brand priorities into clear direction and deliver results through effective delegation, coaching and leadership.
• Coach, mentor and develop creative talent, identifying individual and team capability gaps and implementing appropriate development interventions.
• Build creative confidence, judgement and problem-solving capability, enabling greater autonomy and ownership within the team.
• Manage performance effectively, recognising strong performance and addressing performance concerns constructively and timeously.
• Creative & Design Leadership
• Lead ideation, conceptual development and creative critique to continually raise the quality of creative output.
• Provide creative direction on major campaigns and high-impact brand initiatives, ensuring work is strategically sound, distinctive and creatively excellent.
• Guide the team in translating strategy and messaging into compelling creative solutions rather than simply executing briefs.
• Stay abreast of contemporary design, culture, technology and creative trends and use these insights to drive innovation and evolve the Studio’s capability.
• Provide hands-on creative direction and intervention where required, while primarily delivering results through the team.
• Lead creative thinking across static, digital, motion and video, ensuring the Studio continues to evolve its capabilities in line with changing content and channel needs.
• Brand Stewardship & Creative Excellence
• Act as a champion and custodian of Metropolitan’s visual identity, ensuring consistent and distinctive expression across touchpoints.
• Translate the CI into practical design systems, templates, principles and creative tools that enable consistent, high-quality execution at scale.
• Identify opportunities to evolve and strengthen the application of the brand identity while protecting its distinctive assets.
• Partner with Brand to evolve toolkits, guidelines and creative standards in response to emerging business and communication needs.
• Oversee creative quality across integrated campaigns and BAU work, ensuring Responsibilities People Leadership & Team Development
• Oversee creative quality across integrated campaigns and BAU work, ensuring Outputs meet the brief, communication objective, CI and Metropolitan brand strategy.
• Provide creative review and quality assurance on priority and high-impact work.
• Studio Workflow & Operational Partnership
• Partner with Marketing Operations to implement agreed workflow processes, prioritisation principles and ways of working within the Studio.
• Translate the overall marketing calendar and priorities into clear Studio priorities and resource allocation.
• Lead the day-to-day workflow of BAU and ad hoc creative work, ensuring briefs are appropriately allocated, prioritised and delivered.
• Provide Studio input into Marketing Operations planning on capacity, resource
• meet the brief, communication objective, CI and Metropolitan brand strategy.