Lead Designer

Lead Designer
Birmingham City Football Club
Permanent | Full-Time (37.5 hours per week)
Location: St Andrew’s Stadium & Knighthead Performance Centre

Birmingham City Football Club is on the rise.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Role

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.

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What You’ll Be Responsible For

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

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Success will be measured by:

• Increased campaign engagement performance
• Improved brand consistency
• Distinctive campaigns driving measurable retail and ticket uplift

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Studio Leadership

• 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

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Brand Guardian

Protect and evolve the Club’s visual identity across:

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

Ensuring alignment with wider brand strategy at every touchpoint.

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Cultural & Commercial Impact

• 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

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Campaign & Digital Innovation

• Lead creative development of key campaigns including:
• Kit launches & retail drops
• Season ticket campaigns
• Commercial partnership launches
• 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

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Who This Role Is For

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

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Required Experience

• 8+ years’ professional design experience (agency, brand or sport preferred)
• Experience leading or mentoring creative teams
• Proven track record delivering multi-channel campaigns
• 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

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Desirable:

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• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Graphic Design or Visual Communication
• Experience in sport, retail or culturally driven brands
• Brand guideline development experience
• Understanding of digital performance metrics

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Why This Is Exciting

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You are joining at a rare inflection point where infrastructure, ownership ambition, commercial strategy and cultural repositioning are converging.

• Major stadium and infrastructure transformation
• Global membership expansion
• Retail ambition scaling
• Commercial partnerships acceleration
• Digital ecosystem growth
• Women’s football elevation

Few roles offer the opportunity to define the visual language of a club at this stage of evolution.

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Our Ambition

To build a Creative Studio operating at the standard of elite global clubs and culturally dominant brands.
To shape perception.
To drive commercial growth.
To define the next era of Birmingham City.

To think beyond matchday.

If you want to set standards, shape culture and build something lasting — we would love to hear from you.

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What can we offer you?

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• 23 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Complimentary matchday tickets for Men’s and Women’s home fixtures
• Employee Assistance Programme (Help@Hand) — including mental health support, virtual GP access, and more for you and your family
• Enhanced Company Pension Scheme
• Life Assurance cover (2x annual salary)
• Club discounts and offers
• The opportunity to work in a dynamic, collaborative, and professional sporting environment where technology drives progress

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Birmingham City FC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The safety and well-being of our players is our top priority, and we expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful applicants will be required to undergo a thorough background check and training in safeguarding as part of the recruitment process.

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Birmingham City FC is an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer. We welcome applications from all sectors of the community and assess candidates solely on merit, regardless of gender, race, age, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, political or religious belief, background, or family circumstances. We promote a diverse and inclusive environment and encourage all individuals to apply. If you need any adjustments to our recruitment or interview process, please inform us when applying.