Lead Specialist - Digital Media & Graphic Design

Job description

Company: Mercer Description: We are seeking a talented individual to join our Commercial Enablement CoE team at Mercer. This role will be based in Gurgaon. This is a hybrid role that has a requirement of working at least three days a week in the office. Lead Specialist – Digital Media & Graphic Design The Global Service Delivery – Commercial Enablement function is a center of excellence that supports Mercer across multiple geographies & businesses. Commercial Enablement enables Consultants globally with strategic and bespoke solutions for sales, business development, marketing and communication processes, increasing Mercer’s chances of winning new business through lead generation, managing commercials, client-focused proposals, strategic research, digital and graphic design support. The incumbent in this role will ensure superior service delivery to the clients globally. This position balances design strategy and management responsibilities – experienced professionals / designers and to manage senior stakeholder requirements and relationships. This position manages who exercise latitude and independence in managing day-to-day Operations. The role will focus on: • Delivering high quality, client ready deliverables for senior management and stakeholders worldwide. • Optimizing people, processes, and technology to improve operational efficiency, financial performance, and risk management. • Identifying and executing opportunities to transition work to the center to support growth and diversification. • Managing relationships with senior stakeholders, with accountability for KPIs such as revenue growth, client satisfaction, operational efficiency, and colleague retention. • Driving engagement and continuous improvement in partnership with Learning & Development. • Mentoring and coaching designers and influencing design direction strategically. • Leading adoption of AI driven design methods and other innovative approaches to enhance quality and speed. • Collaborating flexibly across time zones for project management, calls, and stakeholder workshops. • Ensuring cultural sensitivity and alignment with the business needs of operating companies to deliver appropriate, high-quality designs. We will count on you to: Relationship management: • Manage client relationships and act as the lead on joint onshore/offshore projects—own escalations and maintain close collaboration with Account Management. • Partner closely with onshore stakeholders and subject matter experts to shape persuasive storylines and ensure content is structured and aligned to client objectives. • Proactively surface and develop opportunities to transition work to the center and support business growth objectives. • Prioritize clients at risk—proactively intervene, coach specialists, and recommend ways to exceed expectations for high priority accounts. • Foster cultural sensitivity and effective cross geography collaboration. Service Delivery: • Own end-to-end service delivery: capacity planning, resource allocation, workflow governance, volume management, and KPI tracking (SLA, quality, turnaround). • Lead, coach, and mentor a multi tenure design team, setting clear KRAs, mentoring plans, and performance standards to ensure consistent quality and enhanced delivery. • Provide both strategic direction and hands-on execution for client deliverables: translate business goals into creative strategy, prioritize workstreams, and contribute to production when needed. • Lead content curation and reuse initiatives: identify, index, adapt, and govern reusable assets and slide fragments to accelerate delivery and ensure brand consistency. • Serve as the subject matter expert on design strategy — drive solutions that align with Mercer brand, voice, and visual standards while influencing outcomes across projects. • Ensure adherence to team procedures and tools, promote consistent planning and documentation, and review plans/materials for completeness and alignment. • Proactively surface and develop opportunities to transition work to the center and support business growth objectives. (service delivery impact) Problem Solving: • Mitigate delivery risk through contingency planning, troubleshooting (technical and business), and timely issue escalation and resolution. • Drive continuous improvement: conduct root cause analysis, implement process optimizations (Lean mindset), and enhance content curation and delivery workflows. • Champion innovation in design, including AI enabled workflows, multimedia, digital storytelling, and new tools or methodologies that improve speed and quality. • Own accountability for troubleshooting issues in projects on both technical and business fronts; coach teams to resolve and prevent recurrence. • Strategize and innovate AI solutions to integrate and make an impact at an organizational level, driving transformation. What you need to have: • Degree in Graphic Design or related field. • 8+ years in creative services with 4+ years design operation and management • Expert-level MS PowerPoint and Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat). • Strong project management skills: prioritization, timelines, and stakeholder management in fast-paced environments. • Proven client relationship skills and experience managing service providers or complex stakeholder groups. • Experience in content curation, asset reuse, and turning raw content into structured storylines for client presentations. • Excellent verbal and written communication; calm under pressure and decisive. • Experience driving knowledge transfer, process transition, and designing to SLAs. • Experience in AI-driven design innovation and strategic leadership in design technology. What makes you stand out: • Experience with multimedia/video production, UI/UX, microsites, or animation. • Familiarity with AI-enabled design workflows and strategic implementation. • Certifications i