We've partnered with a well-established arts, culture and heritage organisation in Canberra that engages audiences through exhibitions, public programmes and its own in-house creative output. The organisation is investing in a more connected way of working between its creative team and the rest of the business, and this role sits at the centre of that shift.
The role
This is a senior design role for someone who wants to bring ideas to the table, not just execute someone else's brief. You will lead design and creative direction on the organisation's most significant print title, working just as comfortably across digital and social assets, retail collateral and campaign work for the wider organisation.
The clearest signal of what this role needs: some of the most visible creative work you'll lead is genuinely open brief. The team wants someone who can take a loose idea or a piece of source material and turn it into a strong, considered visual concept, sourcing outside creative talent where it serves the idea, rather than someone who waits to be told exactly what to design. It is design with real ownership, sitting within a close-knit creative team that spans photography, video, editorial and web, and working across an organisation that touches marketing, digital content, retail and public programming.
What you'll do
Lead design and creative direction for the organisation's flagship print title, from concept through to production, shaping how each edition looks and feels
Develop concepts and campaigns rather than simply laying out supplied content, proposing the strongest creative response even from an open or loosely defined brief
Design across a broad mix of formats, including static social and digital assets, exhibition and retail collateral, standard print collateral and website assets
Partner directly with marketing, digital, retail and public programme teams, often originating the brief yourself rather than waiting to be briefed
Contribute to the team's creative direction and standards, helping shape how design is used across the organisation
Manage multiple concurrent projects and competing deadlines with a high degree of autonomy
Liaise with external suppliers, printers and contributors, managing production from concept through to delivery
Bring a commercial lens to design decisions on customer-facing print and retail work, where design has to perform, not just look right
What you'll bring
A strong design background from agency, in-house or studio environments, with a portfolio that shows conceptual thinking as well as finished execution
Confidence proposing and defending creative direction, not just delivering against a brief
Experience across print and digital design; long-form or editorial design experience is highly regarded but not essential
Comfort working with ambiguity and an evolving team structure, rather than a fully defined process
Strong stakeholder skills, with the ability to build relationships and generate your own briefs across a large organisation
A genuinely collaborative approach; this is a team of specialists who work across each other's projects, not in isolation
This role is for you if:
You want ownership of creative direction, not just production
You are energised by carrying one idea across multiple touchpoints, from print through to social and retail
You want to be judged on the strength of the idea rather than the speed of the turnaround
You want to help build a studio's future way of working, not maintain what already exists
This role is not for you if:You want a fully defined process and clear briefs from day one
You prefer to specialise in a single channel or format
You want to work independently with limited stakeholder contact
Why you'll love working here
Genuine creative ownership of the organisation's most significant print title, not just execution of someone else's concept
Direct exposure across marketing, digital, retail and public programme teams, well beyond a standard studio brief
Time and trust to develop ideas properly, in contrast to the fast-turnaround volume typical of agency environments
A close-knit, multidisciplinary creative team, not a solo design function
The chance to help shape a growing creative function as it builds its future operating model
The details
Location: Canberra, ACT. Hybrid working. We are talking to designers already in Canberra and to people considering a move from interstate. If that is you, mention it when you apply and we'll talk through what the move actually involves
Package: $118,000 to $129,000 total package, inclusive of superannuation
Process: an initial video screening, followed by interview with the hiring team
Ready to apply?
If this sounds like the right next step, send through your CV. We'll be in touch to talk you through the role in more detail.
Skills Required
- Strong design background from an agency, in-house, or studio environment
- Portfolio demonstrating conceptual thinking and finished execution
- Ability to propose and defend creative direction
- Experience across print and digital design
- Comfort working with ambiguity and evolving team structures
- Strong stakeholder and relationship-building skills
- Ability to generate briefs across a large organisation
- Collaborative approach in a multidisciplinary creative team
- Long-form or editorial design experience
What We Do
Spatial Networks is an information technology company that specializes in geospatial data and analytics.
