Director, Creative Services

SASSO•Baton Rouge, LA

23h

About The Position

The Director, Creative Services leads and develops SASSO’s creative team through high-level creative execution, day-to-day creative leadership, and partnership with the Chief Creative Officer, management team, and executive leadership. This player-coach role combines a meaningful hands-on design workload with responsibility for maintaining and elevating creative standards across brand, campaign, digital, social, print, video, presentation, and production work. The Director translates brand strategy and creative vision into polished, strategically aligned work across clients, industries, audiences, and channels. The role helps strengthen creative processes, communicate ideas clearly to clients and internal teams, guide production, and support the growth of designers, video producers, photographers, and other creative team members. The ideal candidate brings exceptional design craft, conceptual thinking, storytelling, presentation and client communication skills, sound creative judgment, and a collaborative approach to leadership.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in a senior design or creative role.
2+ years of experience managing, mentoring, or directing creative team members.
A strong portfolio demonstrating elevated design, brand thinking, campaign work, and creative execution across multiple channels.
Experience across integrated campaigns, social content, digital, print, video, presentation design, and brand development.
Demonstrated ability to balance high-level creative thinking with hands-on execution and fast-moving timelines.
Experience presenting creative ideas and explaining design decisions to internal teams and clients.
Excellent design skills, including typography, layout, hierarchy, visual systems, composition, and brand consistency.
Advanced proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, and related design tools.
Strong understanding of digital, social, paid media, ecommerce, and performance-oriented creative best practices.
Ability to guide photography, video, motion, editing, post-production, and multimedia creative execution.
Strong conceptual thinking and ability to develop emotionally resonant storytelling and campaign ideas.
Ability to adapt creative direction, design style, and visual point of view across client categories and audiences.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, deadlines, and creative needs.
Strong creative judgment, visual taste, and commitment to craft.
Clear, direct, thoughtful communication skills, including giving and receiving feedback.
Collaborative leadership and ability to work effectively with the Chief Creative Officer, creative team, account team, and cross-functional partners.
Ability to lead through ambiguity, shifting timelines, client feedback, and competing priorities.
Strong client-facing communication skills, including presenting ideas, navigating feedback, and building relationships.
High standards for quality, professionalism, ownership, accountability, and team development.
Curiosity, cultural awareness, and commitment to continuous creative growth.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Advertising, Fine Arts, Marketing, or a related field.
Experience in an agency, creative studio, or brand environment.
Experience with sports, lifestyle, CPG, retail, ecommerce, or performance-driven brands.
Familiarity with AI-powered creative tools and emerging production technologies.

Responsibilities

Lead and execute high-level design work across brand, campaign, digital, social, print, presentation, and integrated marketing projects.
Translate brand strategy, campaign objectives, and creative direction into polished and strategically aligned creative work.
Develop concepts and visual systems balancing design, storytelling, audience relevance, and clear communication.
Create brand-right creative for digital performance, paid media, ecommerce, and conversion-oriented campaigns.
Serve as a brand steward across client accounts, maintaining consistency in visual identity, voice, tone, and creative standards.
Review creative work for quality, strategic alignment, audience awareness, and fit with client goals; provide decisive creative direction.
Maintain creative quality under tight timelines, shifting priorities, and client feedback.
Oversee and direct photo and video productions, including shot lists, visual direction, styling, composition, pacing, and creative execution.
Set standards for post-production, including photography, video edits, motion, color, sound, pacing, and finishing details.
Partner with production team members to ensure work is polished, strategic, and aligned with brand and agency expectations.
Support multimedia campaign, social content, digital content, and brand storytelling concept development and execution.
Build client trust through clear communication, attentive listening, creative judgment, and effective presentation of creative rationale.
Present creative strategy and design recommendations internally and to clients with clarity, confidence, and professionalism.
Translate client goals, concerns, feedback, and business needs into stronger creative solutions and help guide strategic creative decisions.
Partner with the Chief Creative Officer to define creative direction, translate strategy into execution, and communicate vision to the team.
Collaborate with Account, Strategy, Social, Production, Media, and Digital teams to align work and keep projects moving efficiently.
Help prioritize creative resources and support workflow across active projects; communicate creative needs, risks, feedback, and direction.
Support agency processes that improve creative clarity, operational efficiency, and execution quality.
Use AI tools thoughtfully and responsibly for concept development, design exploration, content creation, production workflows, and creative efficiency while preserving originality, craft, and brand integrity.
Explore emerging creative technologies, design trends, cultural shifts, and digital behaviors; bring practical innovation to creative development and production workflows.
Lead, mentor, and develop designers, video producers, photographers, and other creative team members.
Give clear, constructive, actionable feedback and lead creative reviews with candor and respect.
Foster creative excellence, accountability, growth, conceptual thinking, attention to detail, ownership, and collaboration.
Model professionalism, creative excellence, low ego, accountability, and a collaborative spirit.