Lead Designer

Occupation: Communications, marketing and media

Location: Melbourne - CBD and Inner Metro suburbs

Reference: VG/SLV/DIG/1876066

At State Library Victoria, we believe that access to information and stories builds knowledge, strengthens community and inspires our future. Our recent redevelopment transformed our services and spaces, enhancing our role as a driver of Victoria's education, innovation, tourism and creative industries.

• Set the creative direction for one of Victoria's most iconic cultural institutions
• Lead the Library's design practice and a team of multi-disciplinary designers
• Design engaging new digital and interactive projects and experiences

About the Opportunity

The Lead Designer is responsible for setting and delivering the creative direction for State Library Victoria's design work, shaping how audiences experience the Library across both digital and physical touchpoints.

This role combines strategic leadership with hands-on design expertise to create new and engaging digital experiences and creative assets that are conceptually grounded and expertly realised. The role plays a central part in the expression and evolution of the Library's brand and visual identity.

Reporting to the Head of Creative Studio within the Digital Directorate, the Lead Designer oversees a multidisciplinary team and leads the development and execution of the Library's design strategy, fostering a healthy design culture.

Creative Studio creates work at the intersection of art, design, film, interactivity and technology, to help bring the Library's collection and activities to life. As an interdisciplinary studio, we aspire to foster experimentation, collaborative design, transparency and open-sourced processes.

In addition to leading the design team, the Lead Designer is actively involved in creative production to deliver high-profile digital and graphic projects. These may include immersive in-gallery experiences, interactive online content and projects using game engines or AR/VR technologies.

About You

The ideal candidate will be highly skilled in design leadership, able to provide contemporary, conceptually grounded creative direction for the Library's design processes and outputs. As a leader you will be experienced at providing creative and technical guidance that fosters innovative thinking and collaboration. You will also be able to articulate your approach to achieve outcomes and demonstrate an aptitude for problem-solving and prototyping purposeful design solutions.

In addition, you will come to us with:

• Tertiary qualifications in a relevant discipline, e.g. Bachelor of Design, or equivalent production experience.
• Demonstrated experience in Art Direction, Creative Direction or Design Direction
• Demonstrated experience in successful leadership of a creative team, including fostering a supportive environment conducive to the delivery of successful outcomes, providing guidance to increase the engagement of team members and encourage the growth of capability.
• Extensive experience leading challenging creative projects, including hands-on design of high-quality digital projects.
• Demonstrated experience developing comprehensive design systems for digital products in applications such as Figma.
• Experience collaborating with stakeholders and responding appropriately with strong communication skills to organisational requirements.
• Proven capability in leading a multidisciplinary design team to create exceptional user experiences.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and deliver high-quality design outcomes that express and evolve a cohesive visual identity, with a strong understanding of brand strategy and its application across marketing and communication channels.

About the Library

State Library Victoria is Australia's oldest public library, and one of the first free public libraries in the world.

We believe in the power of knowledge to change lives. Free to access and open to all, the Library enriches the cultural, educational, social and economic lives of all Victorians.

State Library Victoria preserves and shares the stories of Victoria and the world, and is a major dest ination for stimulating cultural experiences, contemporary debates, and community-driven collecting. We encourage learning, exploration, imagination, and creativity, opening up possibilities for all Victorians.

State Library Victoria is a child-safe organisation. A valid Working with Children Check will be required before commencing.

State Library Victoria promotes a workplace that actively seeks to welcome and value the unique contributions of all people. We strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, people from cultural and linguistical diverse backgrounds, LGBTIQ+, D/deaf, disabled, neurodiverse people and people of all ages and abilities to apply.

How to apply

Please click the Apply button to submit your application via Careers.Vic

The following documents should be attached to your application:

• Resume
• Cover letter summarising how you meet the key selection criteria in the Position Description.
• Samples of your work or a design portfolio. This can be as webpage or a PDF document.

(For more information on format and content of your application, please see how to apply for a job ).

Enquiries

To arrange a confidential discussion about the opportunity, please contact Mike Daly, Head of Creative Studio,at mdaly@slv.vic.gov.au

For assistance with the application process please contact us atemployment@slv.vic.gov.au .

Privacy Collection Notice

Information about how we collect and use your personal information, and how you can contact us, can be found here .

Reasonable Adjustments

We want all applicants to have an equal opportunity to demonstrate that they are the best person for the job. If you require an adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, or the provision of a particular access service, please contact our People team onemployment@slv.vic.gov.au .

Applications close on Thursday 7 August 2025 at 11.59pm Australian Eastern Standard Time.