Magnetic is the UK’s leading innovation and digital design studio. B Corp certified and female-led, we work with startups, governments and organisations in the UK and internationally to create products, services and strategies that drive growth and deliver impact. Our purpose is to design better futures, and we do this by helping people and businesses innovate. Over the past ten years, our partners have included Waitrose, Essex and Dorset Councils, Bupa, Mars Wrigley, Innovate UK, Google, Fulham Football Club and Save The Children.

In 2024, Magnetic joined Newton, combining our design and innovation expertise with Newton’s deep operational experience. Newton is a UK-based consultancy of 600 employees, working across healthcare, government, retail, defence and infrastructure to turn strategic goals into real-world outcomes. Often operating behind the scenes, they play a crucial role in large-scale, multimillion-pound change and transformation programmes. Together with Newton, we share a commitment to delivering lasting impact and value.

The Magnetic Managing Innovation Designers are senior creative leaders who shape, direct and deliver high-impact design work for ambitious organisations. This role blends design excellence, client leadership, and commercial awareness to create work that drives decisions and elevates brands and experiences.

As an MID, you will lead design-led projects end-to-end. You’ll set the creative intent, guide multidisciplinary teams, and ensure every output is coherent, elegant and strategically aligned. You’ll collaborate closely with senior client partners and innovation leads to bring clarity, imagination and momentum to complex challenges.

This is a hands-on leadership role.  The majority of your time will be spent delivering projects, where you will mentor designers, strengthen client relationships and contribute to the growth of key accounts.

Reporting into the Managing Director, you’ll be a key member of the Squad leadership team, working closely with the Managing Innovation Consultants and Directors to bring clarity and quality to everything the squad does. 

You’ll work wherever you’re most needed. That could be with clients, with project teams, or supporting new opportunities. Travel across the UK (and occasionally overseas) is part of the role and may sometimes involve short notice trips or longer stays, depending on project needs.

We’re looking for an MID who brings creative ambition, operational discipline, and a collaborative mindset. Someone who sets high standards, inspires teams to do their best work, and brings clarity and confidence to clients navigating uncertainty.

Skills & Capabilities

• Deep expertise in design across a number of disciplines that make up our work, e.g. prototyping, visual, UX/UI, copywriting or service design
• Strong client leadership, able to build trust and inspire through creative direction
• Outstanding storytelling and communication, bringing ideas to life with clarity
• Commercial confidence in scoping, budgeting and protecting margin
• Experienced people manager and mentor for designers
• Collaborative, flexible and comfortable leading multidisciplinary teams

Key Responsibilities

Creative and Delivery Leadership

• Lead design direction across brand, experience and innovation-focused projects
• Set creative vision, standards and design systems that ensure coherence and quality
• Deliver work that is imaginative, rigorous and commercially viable
• Own scope, commercials and project delivery for design-led engagements

Client Leadership

• Build trusted relationships grounded in expertise, clarity and high-quality delivery
• Create standout client experiences from pitch to final delivery
• Partner with senior stakeholders to shape future phases of work

Growth and Opportunities

• Strengthen proposals and pitches through elevated storytelling and creative thinking
• Identify design-led opportunities from live projects and feed them into the pipeline
• Work closely with client and innovation leads to support account growth

People and Culture

• Manage and mentor designers, building confidence in craft, delivery and creative judgement
• Create psychologically safe, high-performing environments where teams do their best work
• Role-model high standards and support a culture of curiosity, generosity and ambition

External profile and Partnerships

• Act as a thought leader to elevate Magnetic’s profile and credibility
• Contribute to the marketing plan through thought leadership, a clear industry point of view, event participation, and advocacy for Magnetic’s mission
• Build and nurture partnerships with Newton stakeholders and external partners to shape joint propositions
• Maintain and grow a broad, high-quality professional network

What we offer

We make sure our team is well looked after with generous salaries and a great benefits package, which includes:

• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Group Life Assurance
• Income protection
• Enhanced pension with employer contribution of up to 4% of your salary
• Membership in our management bonus scheme
• Employee assistance programme
• Cycle to work
• Gender-neutral parental leave

In addition, to ensure that everyone has enough time to rest and recharge, we give all our employees:

• 25 days of annual leave per calendar year (increasing by a day for every two years served)
• 3-day Christmas shutdown period
• 8 bank holidays (please note these can be repurposed in line with your religious beliefs)
• An additional ‘Magnetic’ bank holiday day

We are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace - a place where we can all be ourselves. We offer a range of family-friendly, inclusive employment policies and flexible working arrangements.