Design Lead

• Bridge the gap between tech and design, architecting scalable, automated templates
• Best of both worlds, Hybrid 3 days in office collaborating with your creative community
• Surry Hills or Norwest location, 12 Month fixed term contract

We are Woolworths Group

We are Woolworths Group. 200,000+ bright minds, passionate hearts and unique perspectives connected by a shared Purpose – ‘to create better experiences together for a better tomorrow.’ It’s that Purpose that fuels our ambition to explore new ideas, make brave commitments and innovate better ways to meet the food and everyday needs of more than 24 million customers every week.

If you’re excited to turn today’s blue sky thinking into a better tomorrow for future generations, you’ll find yourself supported and enriched in a dynamic, inclusive and empowering workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve. With a culture of genuine care, a flexible approach to work and opportunities across the group to grow your career and make a meaningful impact, the possibilities for what we can achieve together are endless.

Welcome to the Greenhouse Collective

The Greenhouse Collective is the home team for creatives, designers, and production focused craftspeople within the Woolworths Group. As part of the Brand and Marketing team, we are a center of creative excellence, powered by a collective of internal team members and agency partners who support the Woolworths Group Brand & Marketing practitioners in applying their craft and capabilities to solve and achieve goals.

What you'll do

This role is a specialist pillar within the Greenhouse Collective, designed to accelerate our shared journey into the future of creative production. You are the design backbone of the Catalogue Reimagined program. As the Design Lead, you are the bridge between cutting-edge transformation technology and the hard-nosed reality of print production. You are a "maker" who will be on the tools daily, architecting the logic within our InDesign templates, troubleshooting complex technical design issues, and serving as the primary design voice within a cross-functional squad of data and tech specialists.

While you are not responsible for the technical build of the automation platform, you are the technical gatekeeper; ensuring that every template, variable, and print-ready file maintains the visual excellence and brand integrity of the Woolworths Group.

• Design, maintain, and document modular InDesign templates using GREP styles, parent pages, and grid systems to drive automated layout builds.
• Serve as the core design representative in the Catalogue Transformation squad, converting creative intent into technical logic for the automation roadmap.
• Consult on new template builds to ensure strict brand compliance, collaborating directly with the Brand Design Lead and business stakeholders to update assets.
• Manage technical relations with print partners and direct the pre-production process to guarantee flawless print output for high-volume weekly builds.
• Ensure rigorous typographic standards (kerning, hierarchy, baseline grids) so automated promotional layouts match the quality of bespoke design.
• Champion new technologies and automation tools within the catalogue workflow to continuously boost production efficiency and creative output.

What you’ll bring

• Expert-level proficiency in InDesign. You don't just build pages; you build systems. You are highly skilled in GREP styles, nested styles, modular grid systems, and parent page architecture.
• Ability to understand and influence the technical side of design (scripting, variable input types, and automation logic).
• Proven experience in retail and price promotion design, with a strong understanding of how layout constraints affect retail commercial outcomes.
• Proven experience in a senior or lead capacity, with a demonstrable ability to provide strategic input, guide direction, and influence senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to 'sell in' design rationale and influence non-creative stakeholders, ensuring that design integrity is maintained even when facing complex technical or data-driven trade-offs.

What you’ll experience

• A commitment to flexibility through a hybrid working model which combines time spent at a support office or hub and time working from home, supporting both in-person connection and balancing the flexibility that remote working provides for our teams.
• High-impact role supporting our teams who enrich our communities.
• A global business with endless career possibilities around every corner and across every discipline – with valuable exposure to a vast and exciting business network.
• A range of programs to help you prioritise and manage your wellbeing, including 24/7 access to the Sonder app.
• A progressive and competitive leave policy that gives you more space for what matters to you.
• Team discounts across our range of Woolworths Group brands you know and love and a robust rewards program that celebrates and incentivises purpose-driven work.

Everyone belongs at Woolworths Group

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are key to realising our purpose of better together for a better tomorrow. We recognise the value our team’s diversity brings to our business, customers, and communities and that teams with diverse experiences and backgrounds enrich our group and are better able to innovate and solve problems. As one of the largest employers in Australia and New Zealand, we aim to create a truly inclusive workplace where everyone feels that they belong, can be their best selves, and reach their full potential.