Sr Director DM Creative & Insights

Quad

About The Position

The Sr Executive Director Direct Marketing Creative & Insights is responsible for leading and integrating Quad’s Direct Marketing Creative and Accelerated Marketing Insights (AMI) functions. This role establishes the strategic direction, operational excellence, innovation roadmap, and performance standards across both disciplines to drive measurable marketing effectiveness and enterprise growth. This leader ensures that creative strategy and data-driven insights operate as a unified capability—translating research, analytics, testing, and performance data into high-impact creative solutions that differentiate Quad in the marketplace. The role owns functional strategy, talent leadership, operational governance, and capability evolution across Creative and AMI, with enterprise-level impact.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Advertising, Analytics or related field
15+ years of progressive leadership experience in direct marketing, creative strategy and/or analytics
Demonstrated success evolving functional capabilities and operating models
Strong understanding of direct marketing production environments (inline, conventional, digital)
Expertise in research methodologies, testing strategies, and performance analytics
Executive-level strategic thinking with ability to connect data, creativity, and business outcomes
Strong financial acumen, including budget ownership
Exceptional leadership and talent development capability
Ability to integrate qualitative and quantitative insights into compelling strategic direction
Deep understanding of marketing performance measurement and multi-variant testing
Advanced communication skills with executive presence
Ability to operate with high autonomy and influence across functions
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite

Responsibilities

Establish and implement mid-term (3-year) strategic direction for Direct Marketing Creative and AMI
Own and evolve the integrated Creative + Insights operating model
Define discipline standards, frameworks, and best practices across both functions
Oversee departmental budgets and resource planning
Drive alignment with broader Agency Solutions and enterprise priorities
Represent Creative and AMI capabilities in executive leadership forums
Provide executive oversight to the Group Creative Director and broader DM Creative team
Establish creative quality standards and strategic frameworks
Ensure creative solutions are grounded in performance data, testing insights, and research
Lead creative innovation in direct mail, performance marketing, and multi-channel integration
Review and elevate strategic creative output to ensure alignment with brand and performance objectives
Foster a culture of bold thinking, accountability, and measurable impact
Set the strategic direction for AMI offerings and ensure alignment with enterprise and client needs
Oversee primary research, syndicated research integration, testing frameworks, and insight delivery
Advance research methodologies and data capabilities
Ensure insights translate into actionable creative and marketing strategies
Partner with Analytics and Data teams to enhance measurement and performance reporting
Serve as executive sponsor for high-impact research and innovation initiatives
Champion the integration of research, analytics, and creative testing into marketing strategy
Lead development of new tools, methodologies, and offerings that strengthen Quad’s competitive positioning
Identify and scale best practices across teams
Ensure both functions leverage emerging technologies and AI-driven capabilities
Foster cross-functional collaboration across Creative, Analytics, Production, Sales, and Strategy