Past a certain point, making something look positive stops being the hard part.

The hard part is deciding what it should be, then holding that decision steady while other people build on top of it. A pattern set badly in the first week gets repeated for years. A rule nobody wrote down gets broken quietly by everyone.

Interfaces don't come apart because the people working on them lack taste. They come apart because nobody owned the standard once the work got big enough to need one.

This role exists to own that standard on the work it covers.

We're hiring for judgement more than years. Our honest expectation is somewhere around ten years of interface work, because that's usually how long it takes to build the judgement this needs. If you're further back and the work says otherwise, show us and we'll change our minds.

This role exists because the products and platforms we design, for clients and for ourselves, have to hold up in use rather than in a presentation.

We're ambitious about this. We want to be the team organisations turn to when the decision actually matters, not just when something needs to look good. That's a high bar, and we're not there yet. Getting there needs someone who owns the standard and won't let it slide.

The role, plainly

You'll own the interface standard on the work you're responsible for. Mostly that's client websites, products, and platforms. Some of it is ours rather than a client's, and it's held to the same standard.

August works in teams. You'll lead the design on one of our most important ones, close to the clients, the work, and the people delivering it. The interface standard on that work is yours to set and defend.

You'll be involved while the problem is still being framed and the commercial shape is still moving. Deciding what the interface should be is your call. So is arguing for it in front of clients, and making sure it survives contact with budgets, timelines, and other people's preferences.

You'll stay close to the build. Production isn't where designs go to be quietly diluted, and keeping it that way is part of the job.

You won't be doing that alone. We're hiring a principal interface engineer alongside this role, someone who'll build what you decide and tell you plainly when it won't hold up. That pairing is deliberate, and getting both halves right matters to us.

How people grow here is written down. We assess how far ahead you work, what you're trusted to commit without checking first, what you take responsibility for, how deep the craft runs, and whether clients come to you for judgement rather than output. It measures what you reliably do under normal load, not what you manage on a good day. You'll know where you sit and what would move you.

You'll lead through the work rather than through a reporting line.



There are no direct reports. People take their cues from whoever holds the highest standard in the room, so how you critique, explain, and behave when something goes sideways matters as much as what you produce.

What you'll actually be doing

- Owning the interface standard on the work you're responsible for, and holding it when pressure arrives

- Helping frame the problem properly first, then setting the design direction once it's defined

- Building and maintaining design systems that hold up when other people work inside them

- Drawing the screens and making the calls on type, hierarchy, colour, and state, then holding them

- Staying on the tools. The screens are yours, not just the direction they take

- Deciding what not to design, and what isn't worth the time it would take

- Working through the build with production so what ships matches what was decided

- Raising the standard of the work around you through critique, direction, and the direct conversation when it's needed

- Judging which shifts in the field are worth adopting and which are noise

- Deciding how AI gets used in the design process here, and where it has no business being

This work includes detail, repetition, clean-up, and follow-through. Senior ownership means taking responsibility for all of it.

You will need

- You've owned a design system other people had to work inside, and it held up

- Clients come to you for judgement before they decide, not just for output

- You hold a standard in front of a client without turning it into a fight

- You see problems coming and act early, rather than owning them after they land

- You decide with incomplete information, and you know where effort goes when time and budget are finite

- Your craft runs deep across web and mobile interfaces, and you can talk through the decisions behind it

- You know experience principles well enough to know when they don't apply

- You use AI where it genuinely speeds the work, and you know where it flattens it

- You lift the people around you, and stay clear in the room when someone disagrees

If you're looking for a role where the standard is someone else's problem, this won't be the right fit.

Non-negotiables

- You have the right to work in Australia

- You are able to work onsite from our Richmond office

- This is a full-time role

Extra credit, not essentials





- Sound knowledge of WCAG standards and how accessibility shapes interface decisions

- An understanding of how design decisions affect search, performance, and measurement

- Motion, prototyping, or enough front-end to reason about feasibility first‑hand

- Experience shaping how design gets done in a team, not just what comes out of it

- Writing, speaking, or teaching about the craft

You’ll probably enjoy this role if

- You’d rather set the rule once than correct the same mistake ten times

- You want your decisions to outlast the project they were made on

- You like being in the room when the problem is framed, not after it's settled

- You want peers who will argue with you properly and change their minds when you're right

- You care more about the work being right than about being the one who said it first

- You want to leave the way work gets done here better than you found it

- You've formed your own view on AI in design rather than inheriting someone else's

Working at August

Working at August is deliberate. It's not chaotic, and it's not rigid. It's designed to give experienced people room to do their best work without unnecessary friction.

We're building something here. Not in a rush, and not for scale at any cost, but with intent. We want our work to influence how organisations make decisions, not just how they market themselves. That ambition shows up in the standard we expect of the work and the problems we choose to take on.

You'll work with smart, pragmatic people across strategy, design, production, and delivery. You'll have autonomy, paired with clear expectations about quality, judgement, and follow-through.

The work is thoughtful and often complex. It rewards people who like to think things through, ask better questions, and take responsibility for outcomes. A sense of play still matters, but it's grounded in craft, not chaos.

As a team member, you can also expect:

- A competitive salary package with various incentives and rewards

- Flexible and hybrid working arrangements

- To work within a highly motivated, talented, and technology-driven team

- A team of people who will invest in your career progression and development

- Generous company policies that help you grow and balance life

We pay attention to how people think, not just what they've done.

Are you a recruiter? We know it's a competitive field, and a listing like this is an obvious lead. We're running this one ourselves, so please don't contact us about people for this role. We'd rather hear from them directly.

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📌 Principal Digital Designer (Williamstown)
🏢 August
📍 Williamstown