Director, Creative Studio

Would you like to join our innovative team? If so, read on!

GEICO's Marketing Department is seeking an experienced professional to join our team!

Job Description:

We are seeking an accomplished Marketing creative professional to lead our in-house creative studio team for a dynamic and renowned brand. This pivotal role involves leading a diverse team of creative talent, overseeing brand standards, visual ID governance, brand voice and tone, and the end-to-end process of conceptualizing and executing various and high-profile marketing materials. Additionally, the Director of GEICO's Creative Studio will play a key role in supporting enterprise-wide operational and employee engagement initiatives, ensuring a cohesive and impactful brand presence across all channels. If you possess a proven track record of elevating brands through creative excellence and have the strategic vision to align creative efforts with broader organizational goals, we invite you to join our innovative team.

Collaboration and confidence will be critical to the success of this role. Our marketing organization is rapidly evolving and integrating new functions - so it's important you are comfortable with a high level of interoperability across various internal and external teams to produce solutions as well as developing new methods. We're looking for someone willing to challenge the status quo and raise the bar with every initiative.

This role reports into the Sr. Director of Brand and Creative.

Responsibilities for the job include but are not limited to:

• Drive operational and executional excellence across all creative endeavors.

• Lead the creative team in distilling strategic briefs and developing innovative concepts for marketing materials, including but not limited to all forms of digital media, social media, print, OOH, email, and direct mail while demonstrating an understanding of funnel phase differentiation and medium best practices. Holistically look for opportunity to leverage efforts beyond defined parameters of respective projects.

• Establish procedural expectations, standards, milestones and measurable KPIs with every project plan. Oversee the end-to-end execution of creative projects, from ideation to delivery, ensuring high-quality and on-strategy outputs.

• Partner with Data and Analytics leads to establish testing frameworks and iteration opportunities to unlock optimal performance. Tie back content performance to specific business outcomes whenever possible, formulate hypotheses, and recommendations for future optimizations.

• Lead post-mortem discussions with appropriate stakeholders and provide summary of learnings and actionable next steps to department leadership.

• Motivate and mentor a team of creative professionals.

• Manage and mentor a team of creative and content professionals, ensuring they are meeting performance goals and delivering high-quality work. Help team to sharpen ideas, hone their craft, and build the strongest rationale in support of their work possible.

• Motivate internal cross-functional teams and agency partners and drive accountability to business objectives.

• Stay up-to-date with industry trends, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies to inform strategies and recommendations. Consistently seek out ways to accelerate and elevate the work of the team.

• Brand Standards and Governance:

• Continue to enhance, implement, and enforce brand standards to ensure consistency and alignment across all creative outputs as well as that guidelines meet evolving strategic and business needs.

• Oversee visual identity governance, ensuring that design elements maintain brand integrity. Consult with cross-functional counterparts to drive alignment and consistency across all touch points.

• Continue to enhance and uphold the brand's voice and tone guidelines, ensuring messaging resonates with the target audience will remaining distinctly and authentically, GEICO.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate brand messaging seamlessly into various campaigns.

• Operational and Employee Engagement Initiatives:

• Support enterprise-wide operational initiatives with creative solutions that enhance brand visibility and impact.

• Contribute to employee engagement efforts by developing creative strategies that foster a positive and cohesive organizational culture.

• Leadership Qualities:

• Provide strategic direction for the creative studio, aligning creative initiatives with overarching business objectives.

• Foster a collaborative and innovative team culture, encouraging creativity, continuous learning, and professional development.

• Effectively manage and mentor a team of creative professionals, providing guidance and feedback to nurture their growth.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, Product, and other departments to ensure creative alignment with broader organizational strategies.

• Build strong working relationships with internal stakeholders, fostering effective communication and collaboration.

• Quality Control:

• Implement rigorous quality control processes to guarantee that all creative deliverables meet or exceed brand standards.

• Actively seek out new and innovative tools, technologies, and other resources to optimize team operation and output, e.g., new automation or iteration tools, AI generation, etc.

Qualifications:

• Required:

• BA/BS or higher, preferably in marketing or design field, such as graphic design, interactive design, or a related discipline

• 10 years of marketing or design team supervisory/management experience required, preferably within a similar dynamic and/or industry

• Strong understanding of marketing principles and the ability to develop and execute marketing strategies that align with business objectives.

• Experience in managing large scale programs for both B2B and B2C activations.

• Experience working with external Creative and Media agency partners.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and senior leadership.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to apply and make data-driven decisions.

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet tight and/or evolving deadlines.

• Strongly preferred

• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, CSS, usability and responsive design principles

• Working knowledge of Celtra, eLateral Brandgility, Wrike, Figma, Cinema4D

Locations:

• This position is hybrid with an expectation of 3x/week in office.

• Potential travel for Productions, Agency Meetings, and other business travel

• Business travel expenses covered.

• Preferred locations are commutable D.C. (Corporate HQ) or NYC area.

Annual Salary

$143,000.00 - $224,000.00

The above annual salary range is a general guideline. Multiple factors are taken into consideration to arrive at the final hourly rate/ annual salary to be offered to the selected candidate. Factors include, but are not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the role, the selected candidate's work experience, education and training, the work location as well as market and business considerations.

At this time, GEICO will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.

Benefits:

As an Associate, you'll enjoy our Total Rewards Program* to help secure your financial future and preserve your health and well-being, including:

• Premier Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance with no waiting period

• Paid Vacation, Sick and Parental Leave

• 401(k) Plan

• Tuition Reimbursement

• Paid Training and Licensures

• Benefits may be different by location. Benefit eligibility requirements vary and may include length of service.

Coverage begins on the date of hire. Must enroll in New Hire Benefits within 30 days of the date of hire for coverage to take effect.

The equal employment opportunity policy of the GEICO Companies provides for a fair and equal employment opportunity for all associates and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. GEICO hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.

GEICO reasonably accommodates qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to receive equal employment opportunity and/or perform the essential functions of the job, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship to the Company. This applies to all applicants and associates. GEICO also provides a work environment in which each associate is able to be productive and work to the best of their ability. We do not condone or tolerate an atmosphere of intimidation or harassment. We expect and require the cooperation of all associates in maintaining an atmosphere free from discrimination and harassment with mutual respect by and for all associates and applicants.