Lead Graphic Designer And Brand Manager

Lead Graphic Designer and Brand Manager

Temporary Contract (August 2025 - March 2026)

Heriot Watt University, Dubai Campus

We are currently recruiting for a Lead Graphic Designer and Brand Manager with the Marketing, Recruitment, Admissions and Communications (MRAC) team. Reporting to the Head of Marketing in Dubai, you will be a guardian of Heriot-Watt's impactful University Brand externally and within the University. You will be responsible for managing the brand output and development of creative deliverables that support key student recruitment, and reputation, as well as marketing campaigns, events, online presence, social media, brand campaigns and stakeholder engagement activities in areas such as Communications, Alumni & Development, Research and Enterprise and Office of The Principal. Your role is to manage creative requirements for the Dubai campus in addition to supporting and aligning with creative requirements globally. Two Graphic Designers will be reporting to this role so applicants must have leadership experience.

Summary of Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Creative Lead: Using your creative judgement and communication skills to lead on creative development with regard to collateral development for the academic schools, help graphic designers maximise their own creative output and deliver first-class creative work; reviewing briefs and setting the creative direction for projects where necessary, taking into account direction from Head of Marketing
• Traffic & Workflow Management: Maintain high levels of production and traffic management to ensure internal client briefs are processed to agreed timescales and budgets, prioritising and reallocating tasks as necessary. This will involve using project/task/workflow delivery tools such as Slack, MS Teams, Monday.com and Trello.
• Supplier Management: Lead external supplier agreements and contracts for specialist media and print services, utilising suppliers and freelancers when necessary
• Digital-First: Adopting a digital-first approach to projects and constantly improving the creative output to ensure innovative digital solutions are adopted in client briefs
• Senior Stakeholder Engagement: Key stakeholder engagement at all levels of the University to take briefs and working with team members on delivering response to briefs professionally. Developing strong working relationships with Heads of/Directors
• Brand Stewardship & Management: To act as the key decision-maker on brand related matters for Dubai, escalating to Head of Marketing when necessary
• Global Coordination: Providing creative support for projects delivered by Malaysia and UK teams, ensuring briefs can be delivered that meet local market needs.
• Reporting: Providing regular monthly reporting on process efficiency in project delivery and also cost management
• Customer Service Evaluation: Continually evaluating client satisfaction and ensuring highest levels of customer service. This involves gathering feedback and identifying areas for improvement in effectiveness or efficiency, which can support our strategic objective to be a Globally Connected University
• Brand tone of voice guidelines and quality monitoring: Brand lead on the development of tone of voice and brand guidelines to ensure these are clear, consistent and up to date. This will enable our brand to be communicated externally and internally through the ongoing work of the design studio, external suppliers/agencies and professional service colleagues in the University.

Education, Qualifications & Experience:

Essential

1. At least 5 years’ experience in a graphic design or creative role, with a strong background in client delivery
2. Knowledge of video production/editing
3. Proven experience managing and delivering multiple projects successfully for internal or external clients
4. A strong entrepreneurial mind-set
5. Significant experience managing a team of graphic or digital designers
6. Experience managing internal and external print delivery and services.
7. Must have exceptional communication skills and be able to bridge the gap between the operational and creative demands of the team
8. Experience of developing or delivering brand guidelines and championing this through all areas.
9. Passion for brand building with strong commercial awareness
10. Proficiency in a variety of rapid prototyping and design tools – Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat) within a Mac environment.
11. Ability to work effectively, both independently and as part of a team

Desirable

1. Creative agency or design studio background
2. Experience of working in Higher Education
3. Technical knowledge of print production.
4. An appreciation of other cultures, the global reach of the university and its international agenda.

‘How to Apply’

Please submit your CV and a cover letter setting out how you meet the criteria for this role. All applicants must be on their own visa to be considered for this role as it is a temporary contact (maternity cover)

Shortlisted candidates may be invited to complete an on-demand-video interview as the first stage of the selection process. Successful candidates will then proceed to in-person formal interviews at our Dubai campus, where you will be asked to deliver a brief presentation on a relevant topic. Following the formal interview, the preferred candidate will attend a second interview with senior staff at the Dubai campus before a final offer decision is made.

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

The appointment is conditional upon successful completion of all Labor and Immigration formalities, and the start date will need to be delayed if the employment visa is not in place.