Creative Lead

The Creative Lead (Design) is a senior member of the talabat Creative Studio leading design direction across campaigns, brand moments, and visual storytelling that shape how the region experiences us as a brand.

You’ll be hands-on with the work but equally strategic, guiding creative thinking, mentoring designers, and setting a new standard of design excellence. You see design as problem-solving, not decoration. You know how to turn cultural truths into concepts, and concepts into visuals that feel undeniably talabat.

This role requires a deep understanding of visual design, storytelling, AI-assisted creativity, and brand strategy.

What you’ll do

1. Design Execution & Craft Excellence

• Lead the design vision and execution for regional campaigns, ensuring every visual touchpoint feels real, witty, and brand-authentic.
• Build and maintain high visual standards across OOH, digital, social, CRM, and product experiences — guided by The Orange Juice brand principles.
•  Push the boundaries of AI tools (e.g., Midjourney, Runway, Firefly, DALL·E) to prototype, visualize, and enhance creative workflows without losing the human touch.
• Balance concept and craft — you know when a design needs emotion, edge, or restraint.
• Ensure consistent quality control across all deliverables from the design team.

2. Conceptual Thinking & Problem Solving

• Translate cultural insights, consumer behaviors, and briefs into strong creative ideas that connect across markets.
• Drive conceptual ideation sessions with designers and copywriters to unlock unexpected solutions.
• Use AI to experiment, iterate, and challenge what’s possible — not to replace creativity but to amplify it.
• Work closely with the Creative Director, Brand and Product teams to align design decisions with broader business goals.

3. Influence & Leadership

• Mentor and grow designers (IC1–IC3) through structured feedback, creative reviews, and hands-on coaching.
• Set the bar for visual storytelling within the creative studio, leading by example through craft, curiosity, and collaboration.
• Present ideas clearly and persuasively to senior stakeholders, cross-functional teams, and agency partners.
• Foster an open, experimental culture where design and AI innovation thrive together.
• Collaborate closely with other creative leads (copy, motion, content) to ensure an integrated creative direction across the brand.

What you bring

• 8+ years of experience in creative design, art direction, or brand storytelling — ideally in-house or at a top-tier agency.
• Proven track record of leading cross-channel design work that connects culturally and drives brand love.
• Advanced expertise in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma. Strong working knowledge of AI tools such as Midjourney, Runway, D-ID, Firefly, ChatGPT (for concepting), etc.
• Deep understanding of visual systems, photography direction, typography, layout, and composition.
• Exceptional attention to craft, consistency, and detail but always in service of an idea.
• Strong presentation and storytelling skills - you can sell work internally and inspire belief in your creative vision.
• A leader with a collaborative mindset - you inspire without ego and push work, not people.
• A natural feel for talabat’s tone: witty, confident, culturally aware, and human.

As the region’s leading local tech organization, we’re proud to say that we have been delivering for millions of people right across MENA for the past 18 years.

We were founded in Kuwait in 2004, and acquired by Delivery Hero (DHER) in 2015. This gives us a unique outlook - local knowledge with global expertise. It also allows us to innovate, create, and bring new technologies for the betterment of the MENA region, such as q-commerce, sustainable packaging, cloud kitchens, autonomous delivery vehicles, robots, and drones.

Today, we deliver hundreds of millions of food orders, grocery items, and other products per year, to our customers in nine countries throughout the region with more than 4,500+ employees! Our food delivery business works with over 27,000 brands and almost 50,000 branches.

Our q-commerce concept, talabat mart (121 Stores), now delivers groceries to customers in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE in 30 minutes or less! Our philosophy is to ensure we do what is suitable for our ecosystem- our customers, partners, people, riders, and the communities in which we operate.

What success looks like

• You elevate the visual language of talabat to feel fresher, bolder, and more distinct across every channel.
• The creative studio grows in both skill and mindset under your leadership.
• You integrate AI seamlessly into creative workflows — raising speed, originality, and craft quality.
• You’re recognised as a cultural driver — setting the bar for what modern, local creativity should look like at talabat.