Design Lead

Location:

Remote first role with the opportunity to work flexibly from home, providing it is within the UK. There may be occasional travel within the UK.

Job type:
Part-time (0.6 FTE)

Hours:

21 hours per week, with flexibility around how hours are worked.

Band: 4

Salary: £32,4 40 to £40,800 per annum, pro rata, dependent upon knowledge, skills and experience, plus excellent benefits

QAA is the UK’s independent quality body for tertiary education. Our purpose is to ensure that students and learners experience the highest possible quality of education.

We are the UK’s authority on quality and standards, acting as custodian on behalf of the sector of reference points including the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, Subject Benchmark Statements, and the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications.

We work with governments, funding bodies and education providers across the UK and internationally to support and enhance quality and standards. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we work collaboratively with the sector to meet the needs of each nation. In England, our membership programme provides resources and support to strategic leads, quality specialists and students and learners alike.

Internationally, we are recognised as one of the world's leading quality bodies, supporting the reputation and reach of UK tertiary education through global partnerships and transnational education.

The Design Lead shapes how QAA looks to everyone who uses our work. Our flagship publications are read across UK higher education and internationally, and their design affects how clearly they communicate and how far they're trusted. As custodian of our visual brand, you'll make sure everything we produce reflects the quality of the work behind it.

It's a hands-on role with real strategic value. A strong, consistent brand helps QAA stand out and builds confidence in what we publish. As a part-time role, your time goes on the work that matters most, and your influence reaches much further through the templates, guidelines and toolkits that let colleagues across QAA produce consistent, accessible material themselves.

Much of your impact will come through working with others. You'll be a trusted design adviser to colleagues across QAA, helping them turn loose briefs into clear, effective solutions. You'll work closely with the Website Editor and campaigns colleagues so our design stays consistent across print, digital and campaign activity, and you'll brief and manage the external creative partners who extend what we can deliver.

You'll join the Marketing Operations team, reporting to the Marketing Operations Manager. We want someone who sets high creative standards, builds accessibility into their work from the start and looks for ways to strengthen QAA's visual identity over time.

You're an experienced designer with a strong portfolio across digital and print, including long, complex publications such as annual reports, strategy documents or handbooks. You've applied and developed a brand at organisational level, and you understand how good guidelines and templates help a brand hold together when many people are using it.

Craft and attention to detail come naturally to you. You have a deep understanding of typography and layout, expert command of Adobe Creative Suite and a clear sense of how to make design accessible in print and on screen.

Confidence with people matters as much as craft in this role. You can explain and defend design choices with senior colleagues, offer constructive challenge and give non-designers what they need to get routine work right themselves.

As a creative partner, you're generous and collaborative, and you stay organised when publication cycles and campaigns bring busy periods. You're always looking for ways to strengthen how QAA presents itself.

We are a UK based remote first agency built on trust and flexibility, where we focus on outcomes rather than location. This supports strong delivery, collaboration and colleague wellbeing.

While most work is carried out remotely, there are occasional opportunities to come together in person for collaboration, engagement or specific activities where this adds value.

QAA is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and values the contribution that people from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives bring.

We aim to create an environment where everyone feels respected, able to be themselves and…