Principal, Creative Direction, APAC

Who We Are:

At Brooks, we believe movement is the key to feeling more alive. That’s why we’re driven to create gear and experiences that take people to the place that makes them feel more alive — whether it’s a headspace, a feeling, or a finish line.

Everyone who works at Brooks is propelled by a company culture that sparks excitement, fuels collaboration, inspires creativity, and ignites innovation.

Our brand values help bond us together and drive our success:

·       Runner First  

We act in the best interest of the runner

·       Word is Bond 

We do what we say we’ll do

·       Champion Heart  

We give our all in everything we do  

·       There is no “I” in Run

We stay generous with our humanity

·       Keep Moving

We find ways to move every day, because joy is kinetic!

We welcome everyone from every walk of life looking to inspire others through the power of movement — because we’re all moving towards something. Let’s run there.   

Your Job:

Brooks is seeking a dynamic and visionary Principal, Creative Direction to lead our creative efforts in Asia.  You will be the go-to creative leader in Asia who leads the vision and execution for how our brand shows up across retail, events, media, digital and print across Asia markets with a hyper focus on the China market.  Using campaign creative guides and our brand expression, you will lead and guide interpretation of global creative direction leveraging your expertise in regional market nuances to approve creative work that our agencies, freelancers and production houses are scoped for in Asia. The ideal candidate is a culture and creative leader plus excellent storyteller, who will work closely with the Asia team, global Brand Marketing team, Brooks Runsights (consumer insights) team, global Creative Lab team and external agencies to bring the creative expression of the Brooks brand to runners in Asia. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the visual and verbal identity of a leading global running brand within a dynamic and rapidly evolving market.

• Develop culturally relevant and brand-consistent creative strategies across all consumer touchpoints across Asia.
• Act as a champion for the Brooks brand, ensuring its integrity and relevance while pushing creative boundaries to connect with the unique needs and aspirations of our runners across Asia. 
• Define and implement a comprehensive creative strategy for each Asian market that aligns with the global brand direction while resonating with local cultural nuances and consumer preferences.
• Utilize your deep knowledge of industry trends, Asia markets’ culture, and creative best practices plus the Brooks brand expression to direct and guide creative agencies to deliver stellar creative
• Stay abreast of the latest trends in the Chinese consumer landscape, including digital platforms, social media, design aesthetics, and cultural nuances relevant to the running community.

• Lead the conceptualization and execution of integrated marketing campaigns that drive brand awareness, engagement, and ultimately, sales across each Asia market.
• Ensure consistent and impactful brand expression across all channels including digital print, retail experiences, product launches, events and brand storytelling. 
• Continuously elevate the quality of and approve concepts and execution for retail, events, photography, design, print, video, typography, web and social media creative

• Partner closely with marketing and cross-functional teams providing direction to marketing/creative briefs for creative agencies and production houses to deliver creative that uses the global campaign and brand creative direction and adds regional nuances for the APAC market to attracts runners to the brand and our products while also inspiring long-term brand affinity.
• Partner closely with global creative providing APAC market insights that will help level up creative campaigns and brand efforts to appeal to APAC markets.
• Partner with Creative directors for brand and campaigns plus key creative lab leaders to ensure regional creative efforts are aligned with global with regional nuance built in.
• Communicate regularly with leaders across the organization to understand business objectives and priorities. 
• Educate and guide cross-divisional business units on Brooks unique design and Brand POV.
• Gain alignment between key integrated and creative leaders and drive decision-making to final outcomes.
• Partner with marketing and global creative to measure creative effectiveness and evaluate creative before and after a campaign goes live in order to optimize strategy.
• Act as a key decision maker in the creative direction of Brooks APAC marketing and brand
• Travel to Global HQ and participate in seasonal product meetings to gain a deep understanding of product to inform creative work in Asia. 

• Lead art direction for image and video from concept pre-production to final video and images post-production, including guiding and approving concept art direction, story boards, location and talent choices, story themes, image and footage selects, crop recommendations, final cuts, cut downs, music, application of motion graphics and final color
• Be the on-set Brooks creative lead ensuring that image and video assets are captured as planned while staying within production time limits

• Lead creative direction for creative agencies and freelancers, articulating runner and business needs, and collaborating on campaign outputs. 
• Be a trusted partner to creative agencies, freelancers and production houses, including providing feedback that inspires, amplifies the work while ensuring it’s strategically sound
• Manage relationships with external creative agencies and production partners, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest creative standards.
• Push client and agency team beyond what’s expected – find the opportunities for bold brand action

• Bachelor's degree (B. A. or B.S.) from four-year University, preferably in Creative Arts or graphic design or related area of competency. Equivalent years of experience can be considered in lieu of degree(s).
• 10 years of professional experience in creative direction, art direction, or graphic design
• 5 years of experience in directing and guiding external agencies, creative freelances and production houses to best in class work
• Must be a creative thinker and skilled storyteller with exceptional writing, communication and presentation skills.
• Strong teammate, successful collaborator, ability to influence, motivate and mentor others.
• Have a proven track record of operating independently, being organized, having strong attention to detail, and managing multiple projects simultaneously; be solution-oriented when faced with ambiguity.
• Demonstrated ability to develop highly productive relationships with individuals and teams that are made up of diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds resulting in effective working relationships across the company and externally.
• Curious and open minded; always up for a challenge, inventive and creative. Ability to challenge the status quo- always looking at improving our people, products and processes while also displaying a willingness to dive into the details.
• Detail oriented. Strong organizational and time management skills are a must.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to work in a fast paced, changing environment, anticipating and resolving problems in a timely manner.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with an advanced ability to communicate a point of view concisely and functional expertise within project teams and to external stakeholders.   Strong storytelling, presentation and communication skills, including meeting facilitation.
• Expert MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.  Proficiency in Figma, Workfront and Adobe Creative suite.
• Professional Working Fluency in English, (generally 3 out of 5 on the State Dept tests).
• Embraces and lives the Brooks values!
• Travel 40% (Domestically/Internationally)
• An online portfolio demonstrating best in class image, video and design excellence with major consumer brands is required. Please add your online portfolio link at the top of your resume when applying.

At Brooks, we celebrate diversity & equity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment, and encourage people of all backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and skills to apply. Brooks is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, two-spirit identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, the presence of a physical, mental, or sensory disability, marital status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), caste, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, actual or perceived victims of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking, HIV or Hepatitis C infection, political ideology, use of a trained service animal by a person with a disability, or on any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, or any other non-merit based factors.