Reports to
Founder and Creative Lead
Timelines are set by, and this role works closely with company manager to ensure delivery stays on track.
Location
Sheffield, hybrid with regular office days
Team
Works closely across Design, Direction, Production, and Marketing to keep creative delivery on track, without formal line management.
The Role
This is a new senior role built to give creative delivery a single point of accountability. Right now, creative output sits across Design, Direction, Production, and Marketing, each moving at its own pace with no one holding the full picture together. This role changes that. You'll work across all four departments to make sure the creative pipeline, from concept to finished product, moves on schedule, stays on brand, and reaches senior leadership with clear visibility.
The Founder sets the creative direction and has final say on the brand. The Company Manager sets the timelines this role delivers against. You'll work closely with both, and directly with each department, to keep everything on track without needing anyone chasing for updates.
Key Responsibilities
Creative Leadership
- Own the creative roadmap across seasonal collections, turning brand direction into a plan every department can work to.
- Understand how each department actually works, not just what it delivers, so timelines are built on real production, creative and logistical requirements rather than guesswork or pressure from above. This means knowing what good lead time looks like for design, direction and production alike, pushing back on unrealistic deadlines when needed, and giving each team the space to do the work properly rather than rushing it to hit an arbitrary date.
- Make the call on sequencing when multiple departments want their piece prioritised at once, so decisions feel sound and consistent rather than arbitrary or political.
- Spot when something is quietly going off track early, before it turns into a deadline crisis, and step in to re-plan or unblock it.
- Hold the line on quality and consistency across every department's output, so the end result looks and feels like Drop Dead regardless of who touched it last.
- Stay the calm, steady point of contact when something is genuinely stuck, so departments have somewhere to go before it escalates unnecessarily.
- Translate brand vision into a clear, workable brief each department can act on directly, rather than vague direction that gets interpreted differently by each team.
- Flag any recurring performance or accountability concerns to senior leadership, who own formal HR processes across the team.
Tracking & Timelines
- Create and manage a product tracking system that allows products to be submitted, tracked and delivered, giving senior leadership visibility over status at any point.
- Put together realistic timelines each department can work to, based on how long each stage of the process genuinely takes, to keep delivery on track.
- Flag slippage early, and re-sequence workload across departments rather than letting deadlines quietly move.
- Create and run a streamlined weekly communication update for senior leadership, covering status, risks and decisions needed.
Production Oversight
- Review samples to ensure they match the original design intent before sending them forward for final review, protecting senior leadership's time for the decisions that actually need it.
- Raise design or development issues to the correct department as soon as they surface, so the right people can act on them without confusion over who owns what.
- Communicate product design details clearly to everyone across the product team, so no one is working from an outdated or incomplete brief.
What Success Looks Like (First 6 Months)
- A working product tracking system in place, allowing products to be submitted, tracked and delivered with clear visibility for senior leadership.
- Realistic timelines built for each stage of the creative process, that every department can consistently work to and be held against.
- Each department clearly on track against its timelines, with a defined pathway to completion rather than an open-ended deadline.
- A streamlined weekly update running for senior leadership, replacing ad hoc verbal check-ins with a clear, consistent format.
Person Specification
Essential
- Experience leading a creative, design or brand team in a fast-paced, product-led environment, ideally fashion or consumer goods.
- Experience getting senior creative and production people aligned and delivering to a shared timeline, without needing formal authority over them.
- Confident building and running a project tracking system to hold a team accountable.
- Direct communicator who addresses problems early rather than letting them surface at deadline.
Desirable
- Familiarity with screen print production or in-house manufacturing constraints.
- Experience working directly with a founder or highly involved brand principal.
- Strong grip on production timelines, how creative sign-off connects to sampling, manufacturing and print lead times.
Pay: £40,000.00-£45,000.00 per year
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Sheffield S3 8DG: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Creative Management : 1 year (preferred)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Sheffield S3 8DG
