Senior Director, Brand & Creative

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill•Charlotte, NC

About The Position

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is seeking a creative and brand marketing leader to shape how the brand looks, sounds, and appears across guest touchpoints. Reporting directly to the CMO and partnering strategically with the VP of Digital and Paid Media Lead, the Senior Director will co-own annual marketing strategy and calendar development, lead tentpole campaign ideation, and guide brand identity, photography, and copy. The role will build the creative function from the ground up, establishing workflows, standards, and production processes while leading a small team and working with freelancers and agency partners. The leader is expected to remain hands-on with concepting, writing, art direction, and editing as needed. The position supports campaigns and programs across digital, social, video, email, mobile, in-restaurant, print, loyalty, menu launches, new restaurant openings, local store marketing, and off-premise channels.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in brand, creative, or integrated marketing.
At least 5 years leading creative teams and agency or freelance partners.
Experience at an established, multi-unit consumer brand.
Experience building a creative function from scratch in a lean or startup-like environment.
A strong creative eye and storytelling ability, including the ability to art direct food or lifestyle photography and high-production video, sharpen headlines, and provide constructive creative feedback.
A track record of scrappy, high-impact work on modest budgets.
An active network of freelancers and smaller agencies.
Experience with integrated campaigns across digital, social, video, email, mobile, and in-restaurant channels.
Comfort working hands-on and working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, InDesign, or similar tools.
Strong organizational and project management skills, including the ability to manage concurrent launches and production work.
A collaborative leadership style and ability to serve as a strategic partner to senior leaders.

Nice To Haves

Experience in restaurant, hospitality, food and beverage, retail, or CPG brands.
Experience with upscale, aspirational, and experiential brands.
Examples and portfolio demonstrating creative work.
Experience or interest in leveraging AI tools for concept and creative development.
Restaurant menu and print production experience.
Organic social experience.
Email and digital creative experience.
PR agency management experience.
Experience with brand partnerships, talent, or celebrity chef collaborations.

Responsibilities

Own the visual and verbal brand identity, including photography and video direction, tone of voice, design standards, and brand guidelines.
Serve as creative gatekeeper, in partnership with the CMO, for campaigns, assets, and copy across channels.
Support the CMO in developing the annual marketing strategy and calendar.
Lead concept development for tentpole campaigns, including seasonal menu launches, holidays, loyalty, and signature brand moments.
Build integrated creative systems for paid, owned, earned, and in-restaurant channels.
Develop on-brand creative for loyalty, limited-time offers, new restaurant openings, local store marketing, and off-premise programs.
Partner with the VP of Digital and Paid Media Lead on creative for paid social, OTT/CTV, YouTube, programmatic, email, and the website.
Use performance data and testing to guide creative decisions and iteration.
Own menu updates, versioning, and print production across multiple menu versions, ensuring accuracy, timely delivery, and cost control.
Lead creative for in-restaurant marketing, including feature cards, in-restaurant TV video content, signage, and printed collateral.
Own organic social content strategy and creative development, building an efficient in-house photography and video content engine.
Build and manage a user-generated content program.
Support management of the PR agency and align earned media with brand storytelling.
Build and manage a bench of creative freelancers, including copywriters, photographers, videographers, video editors, and graphic designers.
Source, evaluate, and onboard agency partners and manage existing relationships.
Own creative budgets and manage spending effectively.
Establish the creative function’s briefing, review and approval workflows, asset management, and production timelines.
Lead, coach, and develop the team, including hands-on mentoring of a team member with photography and videography skills; grow the team as the function matures.
Remain hands-on with concepting, writing, art direction, and editing when needed.
Support the current partnership with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Partner with the CMO, as the brand is ready, to identify and develop partnerships that build Firebirds’ visibility and relevance.