Job Title : Graphic Designer
Department : Commercial
Reports to : Senior Designer
Salary Banding : Competitive
Job Level : Implement
Location : Twickenham (min 2 x days in office)
Duration: : Permanent
Nature and scope:
The graphic designer is a key member of the design team and will work closely with the wider design team and Brand Lead to evolve the England Rugby brand (and associated sub-brands), ensuring it remains engaging, relevant, and differentiated within the sports and entertainment market.
The individual must display an appetite and aptitude for innovative, unique and eye-catching creative. Alongside the wider team, the graphic designer forms the internal design agency responsible for delivering on projects that bridge design, brand development, strategic communications, content & events. The studio is fast-paced, and requires an agile and hands-on approach, working collaboratively with colleagues and project teams to create outstanding creative for all England Rugby audiences.
Accountabilities:
- Clear ability to bring to life the England Rugby (ER) brand across a range of assets and channels.
- Create consistent and effective match day branding and design assets across England Rugby channels.
- Produce a broad section of creative material across all ER print and digital channels.
- Key player in the design of social creative and working with the content team to supply relevant and inspiring assets that enhance the overall social offering.
- Ability to integrate and work seamlessly across the other departments within the business.
- Regularly turn design projects around in tight deadlines without compromising quality of work.
- Prepare print ready artwork and understanding the print processes and materials on offer.
- Seek out inspiration from the design/advertising world to share internally with the brand and design team and develop own creative and design skills.
- Ensure all briefs are responded to in a timely and effective manner and provide regular communication to the Senior Designer and Brand Lead regarding workloads and solutions to streamline outputs.
- Act as an ambassador for, and promote the best interests of England Rugby at all times.
- Ensure accuracy on all delivered projects.
- Undertake such other duties as maybe required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of England Rugby.
- Actively collaborate with colleagues to contribute to the development and delivery of the current strategic, business and operational plans
- Act as an ambassador for, and promote the best interests of the RFU, including the promotion of the RFU core values and BACK culture.
- Undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation
Person Specification
The skills and attributes outlined in this description are not exhaustive and we welcome candidates who can bring different relevant experiences to the role.
Qualifications, skills & experience:
Essential:
- Educated to degree standard, preferably in a relevant academic discipline.
- Demonstrable commercial experience within the creative industry. Agency or In-house.
- Demonstrable knowledge of the Adobe suite within a design/graphics environment.
- Exceptional attention to detail and high standards of output – the ability to ensure accuracy whilst maintaining pace to ensure deadlines are met.
- Creative thinker with strong awareness of design trends; able to build and evolve concepts that are both visually appealing and commercially aware.
- Committed to driving forward inclusion in your role and day-to-day behaviours or Committed to actively contributing and building an inclusive BACK culture in your role and day to day behaviours.
- Advanced editing skills with a high level of proficiency.
- Exceptional design and typographic skills with a drive to learn more.
- Effective written and verbal communication, with strong visual presentation skills.
- Able to work to strict deadlines and a pressurised environment.
Desired:
- Knowledge of moving graphics and animation would be beneficial
- Understanding of current styles and trends within sports and culture, particularly for younger audiences.
- High levels of energy and enthusiasm with a creative driven mind.
- Ability to think laterally and provide ideas with value.
- Strong proof-reading skills with excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to juggle multiple projects at once.
- Willingness to work flexibly and support the team/business in other roles where required.
- Passionate about sport and entertainment.
Additional Information:
- All role holders must maintain an appropriate standard of confidentiality. Any disclosures of confidential information (including personal information kept on computer or other media) made unlawfully outside the proper course of duty will be treated as a serious disciplinary offence
- The role description, person specification, job level and job title may be subject to change at the discretion of the RFU and under business developments. Any changes will be communicated to the role holder as appropriate
- During your application, we will ask questions about your identity. This information is considered highly confidential and will not be seen by hiring managers. You can find out more about why we ask these questions here .
- Please submit an anonymised CV
About England Rugby
England Rugby or Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby in England. We deliver three core activities, and our purpose is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations.
Our core activities are:
- Rugby – supporting rugby from grassroots to performance level
- Commercial – building partnerships and hosting matches and events
- Running the business - ensuring our organization and people can thrive
Our Culture
At England Rugby, one of our core objectives is to drive rugby union to better reflect the diversity of society. We are aware that rugby, and sports in general, has not always been as welcoming an environment for everyone as we would like, and we are working hard to make rugby a more inclusive space for all identities.
We believe hiring people from underrepresented groups into positions at all levels is vital to creating spaces and initiatives that better support those identities. We would love to see applications from disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, people from ethnically diverse communities, people of faith, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and women and non-binary people.
We know that representation is more than just getting people through the door, it’s about keeping people by responding to structural barriers relating to identities and valuing the insights that different lived experiences bring. We have network groups that provide peer-to-peer support and drive forward change internally. We support colleagues to develop, and each colleague has access to a personal coaching platform that can provide same-day one-to-one coaching. We are pushing ourselves to create a more inclusive culture every day through role modelling our BACK behaviours which stand for Brave, Accountable, Collaborative and Keep improving.
We know that flexible working is important to our colleagues, so our guiding principles are designed to support everyone to work in the way that suits them, their teams, and the organization in the best way.
We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential. If there is anything we could do to support you through your application or to provide the best environment for your interviews, including assistance or adjustment, please reach out to recruitment@rfu.com .
What we can offer you
We are proud of the range of benefits we can provide:
- Retail discounts include 30% off Adidas, 20% off Optimum Nutrition, 25% off 02 and many more
- Priority access to purchase match tickets
- 25% discount in Rugby Store and EnglandRugby.com
- 25 days of annual leave and your birthday day off
- Free dental care and free access to the stadium gym
- Life assurance of 4x your basic salary, income protection scheme and Employee Assistance Programme that offers anonymous and confidential, emotional and practical support 24/7
- After 3 months, you will be enrolled in our Aviva pension scheme and we will match and double your contribution up to 10%
- Ride-to-work scheme, eyecare vouchers and season ticket loans
About Our Team
At England Rugby, we want to hear our employees’ thoughts, ideas and feedback on our strategies, new initiatives and our work environment. That’s why we have quarterly meetings called ‘the Voice’ where various topics are discussed, in addition to regular surveys, including our annual D&I survey. We are always striving to create the best environment for our colleagues, and we are proud to present some of our most recent feedback from Feb 2022:
- 85% feel motivated to perform their role to the best of their ability
- 83% feel supported by their Manager
- 90% agree or strongly agree that their Manager empowers and trusts them to deliver while working from home
- 83% feel informed and connected with the organisation
If you would like to find out more about our diversity and inclusion work or the culture at England Rugby, please visit our website here: https://www.englandrugby.com/about-rfu/rfu-policies/diversity-and-inclusion/our-approach