The Creative Director inspires and engages audiences with creative, high-quality coordinated design that advances the importance and relevance of Colonial Williamsburg’s licensed brands. They strategically evaluate the brand(s) to lead and implement visual identity designs as well as iterative licensed brand evolutions, ensuring close coordination with external business partners and internal stakeholders. The Creative Director drives the design integrity and design success of our licensed products, from digital marketing to product surface design, ensuring the brand resonates with target customers. This position guides licensees in translating historical inspiration into successful market relevant products; they will also serve as the creative lead on special brand projects, including web design, national marketing campaigns, newsletters, brochures, presentations, and all branding collateral.

This role requires a savvy professional who is tapped-in to current home, food and apparel market trends, has an entrepreneurial spirit and who is creative, strategic and collaborative in his/her approach to design.

Essential Functions:

• Communicates clearly the vision, design, and key elements of projects involving staff, contractors, and/or partners working to develop digital content as well as product designs for licensed brands. Seeks ways through design, color palette and themes/product stories to update, elevate and integrate the design of WILLIAMSBURG and CRAFT & FORGE branded products. Plays an integral role in setting trend, color and core design directions for the brand.

• Researches and identifies market-relevant inspiration in Colonial Williamsburg’s extensive archives, brainstorming and conceptualizing collections. Presents new collection ideas to licensing team for internal buy-in. Works collaboratively with the Colonial Williamsburg licensing team and licensee creative teams to refine strong, themed design stories and create production-ready assets to meet market standards.

• Continually assesses, presents and adapts current and emerging design trends in order to ensure brand’s products are relevant and market-focused. Utilizes graphic software to design and produce conceptual drawings, finished artwork and renderings of products in a broad range of materials and categories including home, gift, stationary, apparel, accessories, tabletop and apparel, among others.

• Creates an optimal digital experience to support WILLIAMSBURG and CRAFT & FORGE brands.

• Drives the technical build-out and implementation of website pages, email, advertising and social media campaigns.

• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to support and execute email & social media campaigns, including the template designs, calls-to-action, website landing pages for segmented marketing campaigns to drive customer acquisition and revenue.

• Leverages & directs design, photography and creative programs and technology to develop cutting edge, creative and high-quality print and digital campaigns.

• Directs Social Media Editor in Instagram feed strategy, concepting content coverage, and in securing images for social media.

• Liaises with industry influencers, editors, designers, and other potential partners to create and foster new brand partnerships,

• Strategizes with external licensing agency and PR agency on new brand marketing content and collaborates on development of promotional materials.

• Other duties as assigned.

Required and Preferred Education and Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, training and/or experience from which comparable knowledge, skill and abilities have been attained.
• 12-15 years’ experience in a product design /product development role leading a team in key categories and/or key accounts for top national brand(s.)

Preferred:

• Advanced working knowledge of WIX.com for brand(s) website management and expansion.
• Advanced working knowledge of web design, development and implementation, including basic composition, page layout, and presentation packages.
• Demonstrated creative and content leadership in the design, development, production, and management of digital content in accordance with brand style guide.
• Advanced ability to concept, sketch product and print designs, demonstrate strong knowledge of fabric, bedding and rug manufacturing processes and understanding of 18th-century design preferred.

Qualifications:

• Superior working knowledge of design software - InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Proven track record of driving commercially successful national products (hard and soft lines). A portfolio is required for interviewing.
• Mastery in conceptualizing themed collections of products and direct the design of them from start to finish.
• Ability to work under deadlines, multi-task and respond quickly to unanticipated design support requests.
• Knowledge of current trends and technology, specifically with regard to design and marketing
• Highly creative with a demonstrated history of filtering such creativity through the reality of brands and the consumer. Excellent typographical skills and strong color sense. National branding experience a must.
• Innovative mindset with strong implementation skills with flexibility and adaptability in an emerging and changing environment.
• Proven track record in initiating and spearheading collection development (and broader departmental promotional projects) that continually moves a brand forward in design relevance and marketability.
• Ability to drive the development and/or deployment of platforms, tools, and resources to support a variety of digital outreach initiatives.
• Strong communication and presentation skills required to effectively convey & sell-in design concepts and details to licensees and other key stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, licensees and vendors in a mutually supportive, positive and professional way that supports business goals.
• Advanced understanding of the fabric, bedding and rug industry on the designer level.
• Occasional domestic travel to licensees, vendors and markets.

Other Duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

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