United States Department of Defense

Director, Creative

United States Department of Defense

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: San Francisco • California • 🇺🇸 United States

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Salary

💰 $171,000 - $215,000 per year

Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Closely collaborate with multidisciplinary teams of talented people across the agency and projects.
  • Lead the creative team in rigorous conceptual exploration grounded in our ability to deliver. You must be comfortable driving the work from safe, foundational ideas ("mild") to boundary-pushing, disruptive concepts ("wild"), ensuring we explore the full limits of what is possible before refining for execution.
  • Orchestrate a seamless story across all physical touchpoints. This includes directing the strategy for in-store digital screens, physical print collateral, and subtle experiential details (texture, lighting, flow).
  • Partner lock-step with the Senior, Copywriting. You will work as a cohesive unit to ensure the visual environment and the narrative voice are inextricably linked and mutually elevating.
  • Distinct from one-off installations, you will establish a robust, scalable design system for our client’s stores. This system must be rigid enough to maintain brand consistency but flexible enough to adapt to different footprints and markets.
  • Infuse physical spaces with expressive design elements. You will determine how typography, color, and animation live within a three-dimensional architecture.
  • Strong knowledge of visual design, user-centered experience design, interaction design, brand development, and the creative process.
  • Ability to lead internal teams with strategic vision and creative inspiration.
  • An entrepreneurial and independent spirit.
  • A diverse sense of taste with the knowledge necessary to apply to various challenges.
  • Bring deep empathy to the users you design for, the brands you help evolve, and the internal teams you lead and collaborate with.
  • Innovation and experimental thinking that generate innovative thinking.

Requirements

  • 8+ years in creative leadership, specifically with a focus on Experiential Design, Environmental Design, or Retail Innovation.
  • A deep understanding of how humans move through and interact with physical spaces. You can read floor plans as well as you can critique a layout.
  • A portfolio of work that demonstrates the ability to translate brand strategy into immersive physical experiences. Must show examples of work scaling from concept to built reality.
  • Familiarity with material fabrication, print production techniques, and digital display technologies.
  • Mastery of the Adobe Creative Suite; familiarity with spatial tools (SketchUp, Rhino, or similar) is a strong plus.
  • Demonstrated ability to provide strategic vision and creative inspiration to large, diverse teams.
  • Excellent public speaking and presentation skills with the ability to clearly articulate complex information to clients and internal stakeholders.
  • Highly detail-oriented, proactive, comfortable navigating complex organizations, and focused on strategic problem-solving and process efficiency.
Benefits
  • Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
  • 401k plan, plus matching
  • PTO
  • Paid Company Holidays
  • Parental Leave

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard skills
Experiential DesignEnvironmental DesignRetail InnovationVisual DesignUser-Centered Experience DesignInteraction DesignBrand DevelopmentMaterial FabricationPrint Production TechniquesDigital Display Technologies
Soft skills
Creative LeadershipStrategic VisionCreative InspirationPublic SpeakingPresentation SkillsDetail-OrientedProactiveProblem-SolvingEmpathyCollaboration