Director, Creative Services & Brand Strategy

The National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation are proud to be part of a highly respected industry, providing hospitality, opportunity, and quality of life. Much like the industry we represent, we have a dynamic, diverse, and inclusive culture grounded in trust, hospitality, collaboration, and innovation. These are the core values that inspire our work, and what we are looking for in an innovative, versatile, and inspired Director, Creative Services & Brand Strategy.

As the Director, Creative Services & Brand Strategy you will be responsible for setting the creative direction, general design and production processes that support our enterprise. This is a hands-on production and leadership role overseeing a creative team of multimedia designers, video producers, writers, content developers and contract designers, in producing high-quality, thoughtful designs that meet the evolving needs of our industry.

Ideal candidates bring a minimum of ten years of experience in multimedia design and layout, including print and digital development, and proven success as a creative director or similar creative role, leading, building and mentoring a team. Position requires a strategic thinker with the ability to manage multiple, high priority projects and cross functional relationships. In addition, must bring in depth knowledge and application of Adobe Creative Cloud suite as well as multimedia production processes, with a significant emphasis on digital development on a variety of platforms.

You will thrive in this role if you bring a highly collaborative and team-driven spirit, positive attitude, and an eagerness to deliver high-quality, creative solutions and results.

Position operates out of our DC office, with a required three days onsite, Monday - Wednesday, with flexibility to work remote on Thursday and Friday.

If you are a champion of design excellence, we invite you to apply for this pivotal role as Director, Creative Services & Brand Strategy. We look forward to hearing from you!

We are proud to offer our team members comprehensive benefits, designed to support their financial, professional, and personal well-being. In addition to outstanding healthcare coverage (medical, dental and vision), competitive salaries, generous vacation and leave time, we offer a matching 401(k) plan, a unique collection of corporate discounts and memberships, as well as programs to support career and skills development, including coaching, learning and tuition assistance, and so much more.

Responsibilities

• Assist the Chief Marketing Officer to accomplish departmental goals; collaborate and support other functional leaders across the enterprise including the Educational Foundation.
• Work as part of the Enterprise Marketing team to accomplish Association goals.
• Support all internal team members and departments following the Association mission and values while promoting Association culture.
• Manage and provide leadership to creative and video team and other department staff while providing strategic guidance, creative direction and overall support in individual professional growth and development.
• Lead the development and execution of creative concepts and style guides that adhere to project and brand standards.
• Develop and execute original concepts for all membership, advocacy, foundation, research, and event materials, including but not limited to booklets, brochures, postcards, and other direct mail pieces; sales tools including PPT presentations, sell sheets, research papers, white papers; other association-related promotional pieces.
• Lead visual development and oversee production of all online materials including but not limited to website design/layout/user experience, email template design and maintenance, and content marketing creative.
• Establish effective design methods, processes, and tools to support products across all desired media and platforms, including but not limited to video, animation, web, email, and print.
• Contribute to annual budgeting process, providing guidance as to appropriate allocation of funds to support creative efforts across the enterprise.
• Develop and manage the execution of visual identities (logos) for new programs and products as they are created.
• Develop graphic standards based on approved look and feel and function as visual "brand steward" to ensure consistency in all visual communications.
• Serve as the "go to" within the department for in-depth knowledge of Adobe CC software and best practices in multimedia design.
• Build and lead an exceptional design team to support our project needs.
• Oversee scheduling, resource allocation, vendor management, and quality control for the creative services function of assigned projects.
• Ensure the usability, consistency, brand relevance, and functionality of finished deliverables.
• Participate with other senior managers to establish strategic plans and objectives. Make final decisions on administrative or operational matters and ensure operations effective achievement of objectives.

Secondary Duties

• Proactively research and track design trends and technological improvements related to National Restaurant Association's product portfolio.
• Complete design tasks as needed to ensure projects remain on track.
• Work on special projects and other duties as required, helping to promote the department's success.
• Collaborate with other creative leads throughout the National Restaurant Association to ensure effective and efficient use of shared tools and resources.

Work Complexity

• Work on complex issues where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth knowledge of the company. Participate in corporate development of methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for projects, programs, and people. Ensure budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements.

Decision Making

• Applying sound business judgment and critical thinking skills to ensure overall success of functional, division, or company operations.

Interaction

• Regularly interact with executives and/or major customers. Interactions frequently involve skills, such as negotiating with customers or management or attempting to influence senior level leaders regarding matters of significance to the organization.

Supervision

• Direct and control the activities of a broad functional area through several department managers within the company. Overall control of planning, staffing, budgeting, managing expense priorities, and recommending and implementing changes to methods.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in graphic or multimedia design.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in multimedia design and layout; including print and digital development.
• Proven experience as a creative director or in a similar creative role, and success building and mentoring a team.
• Strong portfolio displaying multichannel campaign development; event marketing experience a plus.
• Expertise in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite - including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Media Encoder, Audition, and InDesign.
• Highly effective communication skills (verbal and written).
• Strong organizational, priority-setting and time-management skills
• Self-motivated, customer focused, and proven ability to build positive, productive business partnerships.
• Expert knowledge of the principles of typography and iconography, graphic design principles and methodologies, and print- and web-production processes.
• Highly adaptable; ability to work well under pressure, within fast-paced and fluid environment.
• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Proficiency across Microsoft Office products, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, and ability to learn new technology as needed.
• Thoughtful interpersonal and diplomacy skills.
• Demonstrative abilities in collaborative team and consensus building (including internal and cross-functional groups).
• Sound business judgment and problem-solving skills.
• Understanding of emerging trends and technologies,
• Ability to travel; estimate 1-2 times per year.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, age, disability status, genetic information, and testing, family, and medical leave, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We strongly encourage women, people of color, people with disabilities and veterans to apply for our job openings. This commitment supports our policy of developing and capitalizing on the abilities of all our team members, as well as selecting, developing, and promoting those who are best qualified.