Design Manager, Creative Services

Description & Requirements

WHAT MAKES US A GREAT PLACE TO WORK We are proud to be consistently recognized as one of the world’s best places to work. We are currently the top ranked consulting firm on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work list and have earned the #1 overall spot a record seven times. Extraordinary teams are at the heart of our business strategy, but these don’t happen by chance. They require intentional focus on bringing together a broad set of backgrounds, cultures, experiences, perspectives, and skills in a supportive and inclusive work environment. We hire people with exceptional talent and create an environment in which every individual can thrive professionally and personally. WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH You’ll join our Creative Services team, working with a talented group of design professionals who support Bain teams across offices, regions, and service lines. This role will be based in our Lisbon Global Business Services (GBS) center. Creative Services plays an important role in helping our teams communicate clearly, creatively, and with visual impact. As Design Manager , Creative Services, you’ll lead a design operations team while continuing to deliver high-quality design services to supported offices. You’ll work closely with team members, senior leadership, internal stakeholders, and regional or global partners to drive strong service delivery, effective resource management, and a high-performance customer-centric culture. WHERE YOU’LL FIT WITHIN THE TEAM In this role, you’ll lead a Creative Services design operations team and manage related workflows within approved budget. You’ll be responsible for the team’s service levels, including quality and productivity, as well as the professional development of team members. Alongside your leadership responsibilities, you’ll also dedicate a portion of your time to providing design services to supported offices. This allocation will vary depending on team size and business needs. WHAT YOU’LL DO You’ll lead Creative Services delivery by monitoring service levels for the team, driving action plans when needed, and ensuring consistent application of Creative Services standards of work, Bain brand standards, Professional Standards, Operating Principles, and Best Demonstrated Practices. You’ll chair and lead regular team meetings, creating strong two-way communication between the team and senior leadership. You’ll help build and sustain a high-performance, customer-centric service culture and set up quality control processes that reinforce a zero-defect mindset across team operations. You’ll troubleshoot service and staffing issues, manage escalations as needed, continuously improve processes, and drive improvement initiatives. You’ll also deliver high-quality design services on assigned work. You’ll manage resource planning by regularly assessing workload, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and productivity, and recommending paid overtime decisions when needed in line with office policies. You’ll lead and develop the team by contributing to recruiting and hiring decisions, overseeing onboarding for new hires, managing training plans, and monitoring training quality. You’ll provide timely feedback, coach team members, manage performance, and conduct regular one-on-one meetings to review skill plans and track progression. You’ll drive the annual review process for team members and create opportunities for knowledge and experience sharing across the team. You’ll also contribute to project work by supporting global and regional standards and strategies, advising on layout, design, and technical solutions that maximize visual impact across relevant service lines. You’ll liaise with internal stakeholders on high-stakes presentation design projects, regional and global marketing projects, and campaigns, particularly as they relate to resource and capacity management. You’ll lead and shape the implementation of