Motivate and grow the creative group; set the overall direction of the department to ensure that clients receive effective, innovative strategic solutions. Partner with regional offices and the region’s top clients to represent the creative work of the department. Expectations are that persons in this role will be well versed in digital trends and will be able to lead teams in social, mobile and online concepts and executions as well as traditional offline platforms.

Responsibilities :

• Work directly with client contacts to help establish the creative/marketing objectives, strategies, tactics and final, required creative executions
• Manage and mentor team of designers, art directors and copywriters; including coaching and developing staff members; hire as needed
• Assume responsibility for concepts and marketing strategies based on input from client, account service and other internal/external team members
• Assign resources to projects, oversee teams, lead projects, critique work and approve final executions – in partnership with operations team as needed for additional resources
• Work with research team to develop research-based brand messaging; ensure brand identity is integrated into all mediums and communications
• Continually grow, learn and experiment with new and innovative ways in which to solve client problems, and how to turn those solutions into innovative, dynamic creative executions
• Work as an integral part of the overall advertising team by nurturing customer relationships, both internal and external
• Actively participate in client presentations (both up-front fact finding meetings, as well as the presentation of finished creative strategies and executions)
• Establish solid relationships with other regional creative directors to share resources, talent, methodologies and philosophies
• Maintain a presence with upper management to promote the department and the staff internally
• Keep up with latest digital, social and mobile trends in advertising
• Remain connected to local advertising community to tap into new approaches and talent
• Set the overall direction of a creative team for the and enforce accountability when standards are not met
• Help other junior team members with priorities; know when to push the creative envelope and when to pull back
• Maintain a positive creative culture
• Be an expert in various client industries; understand advertising and HR trends, successes and challenges; continually learn and embrace new ideas and approaches.
• Network with other industry professionals to keep abreast of trends and new strategic applications
• Utilize experience to plan and implement effective creative processes and products.
• Review and approve art and copy materials developed by staff

Skills/Requirements:

MUST ATTACH OR PROVIDE LINK TO PORTFOLIO

• Bachelor's degree (or higher) from an accredited 4-year college or university
• 12+ years experience in Art Direction, Copywriting or Creative Direction for advertising, marketing, PR or a related field
• Solid Understanding of digital development principles including responsive/adaptive design, user experience, accessibility and content generation as well as thorough understanding of traditional print and collateral development
• Previous supervisory experience necessary with strong leadership and team-building skills
• Experience in all levels of creative development, from defining a concept to delivering a final product on time within budget, with specific emphasis
• Excellent communication, team-building and presentation skills are a must as well as strong customer service skills to build and maintain relationships
• Desire and ability to solve problems through creative thinking and use of technology
• A strong portfolio of prior work samples is required for consideration and must show a demonstrated creative ability for design or copywriting, an understanding of complex digital requirements, and the ability to execute abstract conceptual ideas