Creative Director jobs in United Kingdom

Twinkl Educational Publishing – Join us to apply for the Studio Creative Manager (Maternity Cover) role.

Location: Twinkl HQ, Sheffield (on-site) or Remote (UK‑based)
Contract type: Full time, Fixed‑term (12 months mat cover)
Annual salary: £41,500 – £55,000
Hours: 37.5 hours per week – Monday to Friday
Line Manager / Points of Contact: Head of Creative, Head of Creative Production, Creative Technologist
Recruiter: James Cook

Help shape the creative direction of one of the UK’s most loved education brands. This role goes beyond project management; it involves leading and inspiring a talented in‑house team to deliver consistent, high‑quality, impactful creative across brand, campaign, and marketing materials.

• Review campaign strategies to identify core creative challenges and opportunities.
• Collaborate with our Creative Technologist to champion adoption of tools like Figma and automation‑based processes, embedding them into the creative workflow to improve speed, scalability, and collaboration.
• Provide hands‑on art direction and visual guidance – from layouts and visuals to campaign storytelling.
• Guide the in‑house creative team through projects, ensuring high quality, brand consistency, and timely delivery.
• Work closely with marketing, production, and other teams to align creative output with broader objectives and improve workflow efficiency.
• Support and manage a multidisciplinary creative team, including designers, copywriters, and motion specialists – setting clear priorities, timelines, and expectations.
• Identify and implement new tools and technologies (including AI) to boost creative efficiency and scalability.
• Develop and refine creative templates, scalable processes, and studio systems to streamline production.
• Mentor and support individual creatives to foster growth, skill development, and a creative‑first culture where experimentation and originality are encouraged.
• Stay on top of creative trends to inspire innovative thinking within the team.
• Act as a creative quality gatekeeper, providing constructive feedback across brand and marketing projects to ensure visual consistency and impact.

• Have proven experience managing creative projects and people in a busy studio environment, ideally in‑house or within a fast‑moving brand or agency.
• Possess strong creative instincts and a sharp eye for design, layout, branding and visual storytelling.
• Be confident offering hands‑on creative direction and strategic input, even when not executing directly.
• Be a skilled traffic and resource manager – able to prioritise, balance multiple work streams, and adapt quickly when things shift.
• Understand brand marketing, campaign rollouts and creative for digital platforms.
• Be a positive, proactive team leader who brings out the best in others – with strong mentoring and communication skills.
• Have a collaborative, ego‑free approach and a passion for solving problems creatively and strategically.

• Work closely with team leads across design, copy, motion, and production to ensure projects are well‑shaped from the start.
• Champion and embed the use of tools like Figma and automation‑based processes to improve speed, consistency, and cross‑team collaboration.
• Support the creative studio in running efficiently and effectively, delivering projects on time and to brief.
• Maintain consistent creative quality across all outputs, with strong feedback from stakeholders.
• Support creative team members in their development – measured by team feedback, output improvement, and adoption of new tools and processes.
• Help evolve and embed best practice in creative workflows, tooling, and studio operations.

This role is ideal for a senior‑level creative manager with art direction / creative experience, ready to step into a leadership role during an exciting chapter at Twinkl. You’ll balance creative direction and project oversight with people‑focused leadership – helping a team thrive while shaping how our brand looks, feels and performs across channels.

• A friendly, people‑first culture.
• Flexible, remote‑first working.
• An inclusive environment supported by Employee Networks (LGBTQ+, People of Colour, Women in Tech, Working Parents, and more).
• CPD, mentoring, and development opportunities.
• A global mission that makes a difference to millions of educators, parents and children.
• If you require a reasonable adjustment to the application/selection process to enable you to demonstrate your ability to perform the job requirements, please include this at the foot of your covering letter.

Mid‑Senior level

Full‑time

Design, Art/Creative, and Information Technology

Primary and Secondary Education

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Twinkl Educational Publishing by 2x.

If you require a reasonable adjustment to the application/selection process to enable you to demonstrate your ability to perform the job requirements, please include this at the foot of your covering letter.