Creative Design Manager

Job description

King & Spalding is a leading global law firm with a commitment to excellence, innovation, and the seamless delivery of legal services. We harness innovative technology and exceptional talent to meet the complex needs of our clients in a fast-paced and dynamic legal landscape. King & Spalding seeks a Creative Design Manager to lead a small team of designers responsible for producing high-quality visual communications that support the firm’s marketing, business development, and client engagement initiatives. This role serves as a working manager, balancing team leadership and project oversight with hands-on design execution. The Design Manager collaborates closely with the Associate Director of Brand and Creative to ensure that creative work aligns with the firm’s priorities, brand standards and communication objectives while delivering thoughtful, polished design solutions across a wide range of marketing materials. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Team Leadership & Resource Management Manage and mentor a team of two designers, providing guidance, feedback and support on projects. Assess team bandwidth and assign work to ensure balanced workloads and timely delivery. Build and manage a roster of external creative partners including contract designers, photographers, animators, printers, illustrators and other vendors, exercising judgment based on project needs, timelines and team capacity. Collaborate with the Creative Media Producer on animated assets and other visuals used in video production. Review work produced by designers to ensure alignment with project objectives. Creative Development & Design Execution Serve as a working manager by actively contributing to the design and production of marketing and business development materials. Translate written concepts into visually compelling communications that reflect the firm’s tone and positioning. Design a wide range of collateral, including invitations, announcements, digital campaigns, websites, newsletters, advertisements, social media graphics, trade show materials, and event-related assets. Develop custom typography treatments, campaign graphics and other bespoke visual elements. Demonstrate versatility across multiple design styles depending on audience, context and communication goals. Brand Stewardship Together with the Associate Creative Director, help author, maintain and evolve the firm’s brand and visual style guidelines. Ensure that marketing materials consistently reflect the firm’s brand standards and visual identity. Stakeholder Collaboration Work with internal stakeholders across marketing, business development and events to develop creative solutions that support business and communication objectives. Partner with the Associate Creative Director when shaping the creative approach for complex or high-visibility projects. Present design concepts clearly and confidently in both written and verbal settings. Production Oversight & Vendor Coordination Oversee production processes to ensure projects are delivered accurately and on schedule. Attend press checks as needed. Coordinate with vendors to troubleshoot production issues and ensure quality outcomes. Maintain familiarity with production specifications, templates, and technical requirements. Innovation & Technology Liaise regularly with the Associate General Counsel for International Offices and the General Counsel’s office on risk and regulatory matters; Coordinate compliance requirements, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), anti-money laundering (AML) requirements and Paris Bar regulations. Support statutory compliance requirements, including audits and returns, payments of all kinds and regulatory reporting. QUALIFICATIONS: 7-9 years of professional design experience, preferably within professional services, financial services, or corporate marketing environments. 2-5 years of experience managing designers or creative teams. Strong portfolio demonstrating sophisticated design work for high-end or luxury clients across print and digital media. Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite including InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom. Experience with Figma and knowledge of UX wireframing processes and design principles. Knowledge of After Effects or motion graphics tools is a plus. Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint (master slide development) and Word (template and style development). Excellent organizational and project management skills with strong attention to detail. Thorough understanding of print and digital production processes. Ability to manage multiple projects and solve problems in fast-paced environments. Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design or related field preferred. The Firm offers a generous total compensation package with annual bonus in recognition of individual merit-based performance. Eligible employees may participate in King & Spalding’s comprehensive benefit program, including private medical insurance with Bupa, life assurance (4x salary), critical illness insurance (2x salary) and income protection insurance, 7% firm pension contribution, gym membership/wellness allowance contribution, Employee Assistance Programme, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and 25 days annual holiday. King & Spalding LLP (K&S) is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees in full compliance with all state, federal, and local laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, age, disability or any other status protected by applicable law. We are proud of our remarkably cohesive culture, which now encompasses more than 2,500 lawyers and business professionals worldwide. We seek to attract and develop the very best talent to work with us.