The NationSwell Creative Director will lead the storytelling content, experience design and creative execution of Studio work at NationSwell, setting the bar high and empowering the whole NationSwell team to produce and present our work in a way that leads in the market, delights partners, and resonates with audiences. As with all leadership roles, this person will also be responsible for modeling our core values of Innovation, Inclusion, Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork, and Inspiration.
This role is both external and internal facing – providing leadership and direction for all phases of creative development work from concept to completion. They design and implement standards and tools that reinforce the organization's branding strategy and goals. Promotes excellence in design thinking and a creative strategy for services, products and programs. Interprets stakeholder requirements to produce effective creative concepts and designs. Recruits, develops, and manages a team of designers, copywriters, production crews and other relevant freelancers. Studies current trends and technologies to adopt the most effective tools and techniques across all media. Leads or co-leads on creative-oriented projects including campaign development, branding and visual identity, video production, and more.
The salary for this position is $150,000-$170,000.
How you’ll contribute:
- Collaborate closely with the other, cross discipline team members to pioneer creative and impactful design and storytelling work
- Play a lead and key role in developing highly creative concepts for partner campaigns and creative work, and oversee the work of their team to ensure it is high quality, on time and distinctive
- Play a key role in helping to drive energy, awareness, and profile elevation around NationSwell as a credible and innovative creative partner, including spotting opportunities to apply and overseeing the submission for awards
- Pitch and sell creative approaches and ideas, internally and externally — including inspiring ideas and practical rigor of how you will make it happen in a way that is creative and confidence building (leading meetings and proposals)
- Work in lock-step with the program management team to ensure partner delight and optimize partnerships renewals and growth — responding nimbly to requests, flexing and evolving our processes where necessary
- Build a diverse team of talented creatives who will help us create distinctive, inspiring, relevant and impactful work — managing, inspiring and nurturing a talented team of designers, producers and expert creative freelancers as needed, creating opportunities for their talent to shine
- At any one time, lead several client teams and work streams to deliver ground-breaking, reputation-building work — and oversee the creative work of the Studio generally, to ensure it is meeting our high standards for inclusivity and excellence
- Apply creative energy and sophistication to experiences across the ecosystem, including creating distinctive and usable design systems for our Signature Initiatives (e.g. Summit)
- Champion new and innovative approaches to our work and offer that center inclusivity, creativity and impact, and evangelize our creative capabilities internally, and empower others to spot opportunities
- Prepare and deliver client presentations with empathy, rigor and inspiration
- Model NationSwell core values: Innovation, Inclusion, Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork, Inspiration
Desired Qualifications
- Relevant experience in a similar role, ideally within a consulting or professional services environment; or other demonstrated ability to apply creativity in a business context.
- Team leadership: Proven ability to lead and inspire a team of creative professionals, provide guidance and feedback, and foster a collaborative and innovative work environment.
- Graphic design (including report design & article artwork): Proficient in developing visually compelling designs for various mediums, employing typography, color theory, and layout techniques to communicate effectively and engage audiences.
- Branding: Extensive experience in crafting brand identities, including logo design, brand guidelines, and brand positioning, to create cohesive and impactful brand experiences.
- Art direction: Ability to guide the development of visual identities, marketing collateral, digital assets, and other creative deliverables
- Video production: Experience in overseeing the end-to-end video production process, including concept development, storyboarding, filming, editing, and post-production, to create impactful and visually captivating video content
- Editorial design: Skilled in creating visually appealing layouts and compositions for print or digital publications, integrating typography, imagery, and visual hierarchy to enhance storytelling and user experience.
- Freelance and resource management: Successful track record of effectively collaborating with freelancers, coordinating projects, managing timelines and deliverables, and ensuring seamless integration of their work within larger creative initiatives.
We know that having a positive team culture is essential to achieving our goals, so we put time and effort into making NationSwell an encouraging, energizing, and exciting place to work. We are proud to be a certified B Corp. Here are just a few of the ways we celebrate our staff and culture at NationSwell.
- Health and Wellness: Health, dental, and vision insurance, an EAP, HSA, FSA, and a gym membership subsidy for you + your family
- Work-Life Balance: Unlimited paid time off and flexible schedules to encourage your work-life balance
- Giving Back: Paid time off for employees to volunteer for causes that matter to them and internal moments to celebrate it
- Transit: A fully-covered Citi Bike membership and pre-tax transit benefits to help you get to where you’re going
- Net Purpose + Culture Index: Measure of our employee’s sense of purpose and engagement with our Mission
- Your Savings: Employees are offered a 401k account, and we match a portion of each contribution
NationSwell is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are dedicated to building a workforce that celebrates diversity and equity and believe that inclusivity plays an important role in our decision-making process, both in staffing and in work product.