Creative Director

Chapman University Careers • Irvine, CA

15d • Onsite

About The Position

The Creative Director in Chapman’s Strategic Marketing and Communications ( SMC ) department is an experienced, agency-quality creative professional and creative strategist with strong experience in studio management, creative concepting, advertising and new media, graphic design, and the ideation and production of numerous different multichannel, multimedia assets. The Creative Director brings a marketing-first mindset and thrives on the art of storytelling, design, and solving complex creative challenges to drive university and marketing objectives. Reporting to and receiving strategic direction from the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs, this role oversees the in-house creative team to help develop the creative campaigns and assets designed to enhance Chapman University’s brand awareness and favorability among target audiences and increase enrollment and other revenue-generating efforts. The Creative Director must be a seasoned leader who has demonstrated experience in leading and motivating teams to reach the highest goals and highest levels of quality, performance, and productivity to advance the university. This is a working, player-coach role. In addition to providing leadership and creative oversight, the Creative Director will be expected to routinely produce hands-on creative work and deliverables (actual design files and multimedia assets) that are strategic and high level in nature. As such, the Creative Director must possess the highest levels of proficiency in all aspects of Adobe Creative Cloud. This role is expected to be in person on Chapman’s Orange Campus a minimum of four days a week; five days is preferred.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, fine arts, film, or a related field.
• At least 7 years of experience working directly in the advertising or marketing fields in a creative management capacity.
• A strong and enthusiastic leader with at least 5 years of experience managing multiple full-time creative positions with a range of functions and skill sets.
• Experience developing high-quality, high-volume creative deliverables on tight deadlines, with emphasis on digital advertising and social media channels (paid and owned) for demand and lead generation campaigns.
• Must be a blue-sky thinker and a hands-on producer.
• Highly experienced and has expert proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite and asset management systems.
• Experience leading brand development and/or rebranding programs, including experience developing, refreshing, and rolling out visual identity systems.
• Experience with video production and animation, including creative concepting, scripting/storyboarding, and editing.
• Understanding of market research and audience insights to inform creative direction and execution.
• Understands that strategy must lead over design.
• Experience working with printers and other third-party creative and production vendors.
• Recent and relevant experience leading the development of a marketing campaign aimed at recruitment/customer acquisition and conversion.
• Recent and relevant experience leading the development of a marketing-minded social media campaign.
• Highly collaborative inside and outside of a creative team, highly receptive to feedback, and possesses a dynamic team mentality.

Responsibilities

• Creative studio management: Guided by the direction set by the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs, oversees an in-house team of five professional creative staff members, providing direction, oversight, and resource allocation, as well as a network of freelancers and student-workers. This role supports and helps to carry the office and cultural expectations of SMC set by the SVP .
• Creative concepting and execution: This manager-creator heads the creative development for a variety of campaigns, ranging from large-scale paid marketing campaigns aimed at influencing perception and enrollment to other internal initiatives. The role helps to harness the in-house team’s creative talents while also taking an active role in doing the work: concepting, scoping and budgeting, designing, writing, shooting, and producing projects directly.
• Brand strategy and direction: This role is responsible for the university’s brand strategy, execution, and governance in collaboration with SMC’s leadership team. Under the direction of the Creative Director, the creative team stewards the Chapman brand and provides training and brand resources internally and for the campus community.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees