What Does a Head of Design Do? Key Responsibilities and Skills Explained

A Head of Design is a senior leader responsible for a company's visual identity, managing the creative team, and ensuring all design output aligns with strategic business goals. This role blends creative vision with managerial and operational duties, making it critical for building a strong, recognizable brand. Based on common industry standards, their core responsibilities range from establishing brand guidelines to budgeting and talent management.

What Are the Core Responsibilities of a Head of Design?

The day-to-day duties of a Head of Design are multifaceted. Their primary objective is to build a cohesive visual language that supports business objectives, from recruitment to sales.

Establish and Evolve Brand Guidelines The Head of Design creates the foundational brand guidelines—a set of rules that define the company's visual identity, including logo usage, color palettes, and typography. This document ensures consistency across all marketing collateral and customer touchpoints. They are also responsible for updating these guidelines as the brand evolves, communicating changes effectively across the organization to maintain a fresh and relevant market presence.

Manage Design Workflows and Team Operations A key part of the role involves creating efficient design workflows. This includes establishing a clear briefing process, project management systems, and quality control checkpoints. By structuring how the team operates, the Head of Design ensures that projects are delivered on time and meet quality standards, allowing designers to focus on creative tasks while the manager handles operational logistics.

Oversee Recruitment and Team Development As a department head, they actively support recruitment for their team. This involves writing job descriptions, forecasting budget needs, and participating in interviews. For specialized roles, they might design application tasks to assess candidates' skills. Their goal is to build a skilled team that can execute the company's creative vision, focusing on long-term talent retention.

Lead Budgeting and Supplier Management Like any management position, budgeting is a core duty. The Head of Design is accountable for the department's budget, ensuring resources are spent effectively to support business goals. They also liaise with external partners, such as freelancers or agencies, making final decisions on supplier selection and managing these relationships to ensure high-quality external contributions.

What Skills Are Essential for a Head of Design?

Success in this leadership role requires a blend of technical design expertise and strong soft skills.

• Design Acumen: A deep understanding of design theory—including color theory, composition, and user experience (UX)—is non-negotiable. This expertise allows them to guide their team and make informed creative decisions.
• Attention to Detail: Meticulous attention to detail is crucial for quality control, ensuring all customer-facing materials are on-brand and error-free before publication.
• Interpersonal Skills: The role demands excellent communication, empathy, and conflict resolution skills to manage the team, collaborate with other departments, and present ideas effectively to stakeholders.
• Analytical Abilities: Data-driven design is increasingly important. The ability to interpret performance data (e.g., from social media or A/B tests) allows them to justify design choices and optimize visual strategies based on what resonates with the audience.
• Adaptability: The design landscape changes rapidly. A successful Head of Design must stay current with trends and be willing to adapt the brand to avoid appearing stale.

To excel as a Head of Design, focus on developing a strong strategic vision backed by both impeccable design taste and robust managerial skills. Building an efficient team and clear processes is just as important as creative leadership for driving brand success.