Associate Creative Director

Associate Creative Director

TPS Group Holdings, a family of brands including The Paper Store and Uncharted, is all about transforming daily routines into joyful escapes that inspire and surprise. Our mission is to connect with every customer through carefully chosen products, immersive shopping experiences, and service that goes the extra mile—creating a space that sparks joy with every visit.

Associate Creative Director

The Associate Creative Director will bring a deep understanding of the evolving creative landscape and a proven ability to engage consumers across digital and traditional marketing channels. With expertise in layout, typography, brand identity, and digital experiences, their resourceful and collaborative nature aids them in solving complex brand and marketing challenges. Under the Creative Director, the Associate Creative Director will lead the design and strategic execution of compelling brand campaigns, ensuring each experience delivers a lasting impression for both new and existing consumers, culminating in driving traffic and sales. Design portfolio required showcasing strategic, high-impact creative solutions across multiple channels. ((Include your portfolio in application or on resume).

The Associate Creative Director reports directly to the Creative Director.

COMPETENCIES:

• Communication: Communicates information with consistency and clarity; uses active listening to effectively understand and provide feedback. Adjusts communication style to suit the audience to promote engagement and increase understanding.
• Leadership: Ability to motivate and influence the team to create buy-in. Clarifies initiatives and articulates their strategic relevance. Helps employees to see the potential for developing their skills; assists them in eliminating barriers to their development.
• Team Development: Demonstrates a passion for teaching. Identifies skill opportunities and takes timely and appropriate action to coach, develop and redirect employees as needed.
• Delegation: Delegates responsibility based on the employee’s ability and potential. Communicate action steps and desired outcomes. Follows up to ensure success.
• Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of corporate responsibility. Takes personal ownership and responsibility for the quality and timeliness of work. Ensures that actions are consistent with words.
• Creativity and Initiative: Forward-thinking, recognizes opportunities and finds new ways of doing things and implements improvements whenever possible. Encourages creativity and innovation.
• Professionalism: Maintains a professional and positive manner even under changing or uncertain conditions. Works well with a wide range of individuals to provide support, encouragement and direction. Engages others to accomplish organizational and departmental goals. Is seen as a role model.
• Personal Development: Displays self-awareness, a high level of energy, persistence and a positive outlook. Continuously seeks ways to improve and learns from mistakes and constructive feedback.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

We’re looking for a resourceful, driven and passionate Associate Creative Director who excels in a fast-paced retail environment. They will utilize their proven track record in developing and leading a team of designers and creatives to implement new ideas to amplify and shape our brand. This role demands a blend of big-picture thinking and hands-on execution, ensuring every design elevates our brands and drives measurable results.

• Lead with Big-Picture Vision: Collaborate with the Creative Director and Marketing leadership to craft overarching creative strategies that define our brands’ storytelling and maintain consistency across all customer touchpoints.
• Develop Multi-Channel, Integrated Campaigns: Create compelling marketing initiatives alongside the Creative Director and Marketing Leadership across digital, print, and in-store channels, driving brand awareness, engagement, and customer conversion.
• Inspire & Develop a High-Performing Creative Team: Build and nurture a team of designers, copywriters, photographers and studio team members, offering leadership and ongoing guidance to ensure an agile, curious, driven and passionate group of team members.
• Champion Creativity & Innovation: Push the limits of design, exploring new and imaginative ways to collaboratively share our brand story while staying aligned with consumer insights and business goals.
• Oversee Content Production & Photoshoots: Maximize the efficiency of shoots and asset production for multiple channels, providing proper art direction and creative informing to ensure visuals strike the right balance of sales driving product, aesthetics, and brand messaging.
• Drive Art Direction & Visual Identity: Play a key strategic role in the evolution of The Paper Store and Uncharted brand’s visual identity with a digital-first mentality, enhancing our brands through cutting-edge design and storytelling.
• Cultivate a Culture of Smart Efficiency: Encourage a workplace where team members approach their tasks with curiosity and a mindset of continuous improvement. Inspire them to find ways to work smarter each time, embracing new ideas, trends, and best practices that enhance both personal and professional growth.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 7 years of experience in design, with a strong background in conceptual thinking, brand storytelling and large campaign execution.
• Excellent leadership and team development skills with a proven track record of leading and developing young creative talent.
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop).
• Deep understanding of digital-first creative strategies across site, mobile, email, social, and emerging platforms.
• Experience leading creative teams in a fast-paced, multi-channel retail or brand environment.
• Excellent communication and organizational abilities with a passion for collaboration and innovation.
• Ability to work 4 days/week at the Corporate Office in Acton, MA. Due to the nature of this role overseeing photo shoots, occasional travel is required.

TPS Group Holdings, LLC is an equal-opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, veteran status, or any other classification protected by state, local or federal law.