Lead Designer

Permanent | Full-Time (37.5 hours per week)

Location:

St Andrew’s Stadium & Knight head Performance Centre Birmingham City Football Club is on the rise.

With an incredible history dating back to 1875, Birmingham City Football Club is part of an exciting period of accelerated growth and modernisation, and is playing it’s part in once-in-a-generation opportunity to support the transformation of England’s second city as part of the Sports Quarter project.

With significant investment across our football, commercial, and community operations, we are rebuilding the Club for long‑term success — on and off the pitch. The journey we’re on involves strengthening our structures, elevating our performance environments, growing our teams, and investing heavily in the people, processes and culture that will define the next chapter of Birmingham City FC.

We are looking for a Lead
Designer to shape the visual future of the Club and set the creative standard for everything we release into the world.

As Lead Designer, you will oversee a team of graphic and motion designers and elevate every visual touchpoint across the organisation.

This is not a production‑only role.

It is about moving from reactive output to disciplined, idea‑led creative.

You will sit at the centre of brand, retail, women’s football growth, commercial partnerships, stadium experience and digital innovation — setting the benchmark for craft, cohesion and creative excellence.

• Set visual standards and quality benchmarks
• Ensure consistency across all brand platforms and verticals
• Elevate craft across digital, social, retail, stadium and commercial materials
• Own creative sign‑off standards before senior review
• Lead the development of major campaign creative — translating strategic ideas into distinctive, best‑in‑class visual output
• Push the club beyond traditional football conventions into culturally resonant, contemporary storytelling

• Increased campaign engagement performance
• Improved brand consistency
• Distinctive campaigns driving measurable retail and ticket uplift
• Lead and mentor a team of graphic and motion designers
• Build a studio culture that attracts elite creative talent
• Oversee workflow, prioritisation and project timelines
• Implement structured briefing processes and scalable systems
• Prepare the studio for future growth

Protect and evolve the Club’s visual identity across:

• Men’s First Team
• Women’s First Team
• Retail
• Partnerships
• Corporate

Ensuring alignment with wider brand strategy at every touchpoint.

• Bring football, fashion, music and digital culture together
• Shape bold retail narratives and kit launches
• Elevate women’s football storytelling
• Contribute to a global‑facing, culturally relevant brand identity
• Collaborate with commercial teams on high‑impact partnership campaigns
• Lead creative development of key campaigns including:
• Season ticket campaigns
• Women’s team growth initiatives
• Global membership initiatives
• Elevate motion and social‑first creative formats
• Improve matchday storytelling
• Integrate performance data into creative thinking
• Confidently present creative rationale to senior stakeholders

This is for someone who:

• Thinks like a Creative Director but executes like a builder
• Has exceptional creative judgement and taste
• Understands football — but sees beyond it
• Is excited by building a studio, not just managing workload
• Is comfortable presenting at senior level
• Wants to shape a club during a period of transformation

• 8+ years’ professional design experience (agency, brand or sport preferred)
• Experience leading or mentoring creative teams
• Strong portfolio evidencing brand systems, campaign development and motion integration
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite
• Working knowledge of motion tools (After Effects or equivalent)
• Experience in fast‑paced, high‑profile environments
• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Graphic Design or Visual Communication
• Experience in sport, retail or culturally driven brands
• Understanding of digital performance metrics

You are joining at a rare inflection point where infrastructure,…