Creative Director

We are United Sports Brands (Shock Doctor, McDavid, Cutters, PEARL iZUMi, Nathan and Glukos), one of the largest and fastest-growing sporting goods companies in the country. We are looking for a collaborative, highly motivated, resourceful individual who thrives on a high-performing team and is always hungry to understand what athletes want. Sound like you? Read on.

We have a culture of working hard and smart and moving quickly. Taking initiative and communication vertically and horizontally is important and valued. Bringing new ideas and taking risks are encouraged!

SUMMARY OF POSITION:

You are an excellent curator of work. Your work is grounded in strategic insight and reflects superb storytelling. Therefore, you love – and demand – a great brief. You’ll be leading our ideation, production, and design studio and could step into those leadership areas with ease. You assure ideation stretches across paid, owned and earned channels. You have a deep knowledge and understanding of content creation and production. You understand how to assign work and manage the juggle of a dynamic creative environment. You have a BIG VISION and BIG IDEAS. You are a player/coach and mentoring and developing talent is equally as important as developing best-in-class creative. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

CREATIVE VISION

You have a clear and exciting vision of the future: 

• You can articulate what creative/creativity should do for the end consumer.
• You see more “possibilities” than “impossibilities”.
• You have a point of view on how to use AI, and where to enhance campaigns with motion graphics or interactivity. You are committed to an early adopter approach to new innovations.
• You are passionate about new information and trends in creativity and share them with the creative team and broader cross-functional teams.

HUMAN SKILLS

• You are the nourisher of all creative endeavors and all team members.
• You have a track record of attracting, retaining, and growing strong talent.
• You’re inspiring, encouraging, and friendly to others, always working to make positive progress.
• You take responsibility and keep commitments when facing huge challenges or crazy deadlines.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS:

• Oversee internal team by hiring, training, and mentoring staff (including Graphic Designers, Production Designer, UX/UI Designer, Content Creator, and Project Manager across all brands.
• Manage external agencies, content creators, and other freelancers.
• You are patient, persistent, and hopeful for pursuing the “Big Idea”.
• You know how to build a positive creative culture within your team and throughout the organization. You build trust and respect with others and develop a team with professional ethics and effective performance.
• You are a mentor and intimate grower of your people, a supporter in their lives and a champion of developing their skills.
• You give and receive continual, clear, usable feedback. You love to coach.
• You earn (and exhibit) respect and trust from colleagues.
• You collaborate well with internal stakeholders across departments to deliver high-quality work on time and on budget.
• You enjoy operational leadership and making management team decisions, developing/evolving policies and benefits, and discussions regarding agency direction. 
• You share your own expectations of the future and influence others to make changes.
• You maintain a belief in being creative and display the power of curiosity and creativity in daily life.
• Convey and utilize strong knowledge of storytelling through the creative arts.
• You translate what’s happening in the industry into strategies that will help elevate our brands.

POSITION SPECIFICS:

• This is a full-time position.
• Typical work hours and days are Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• This position is based out of the Fountain Valley, CA office. We are 3 days in office, 2 days hybrid. 
• <15% travel is expected for this position.

PAY TRANSPARENCY:

• The Company is committed to fair, equitable, and transparent compensation. Final compensation will be determined by various factors such as your relevant work experience, education, certifications, skills, and geographic location.
• The salary range for this role in Fountain Valley is $125,000 - $175,000.
• In addition, you may be eligible for additional compensation, such as a bonus. Employees may also be eligible for a wide range of other benefits, including health & wellness benefits, retirement, time off, employee discounts, and others.

REQUIRED EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree and formal training in graphic design, digital design, typography, and/or visual communications or related field.
• Minimum 10 years as a professional creative with 6 years of full-service or interactive agency. Specific management experience in focusing on creative ideas and visual creative craft. Success working across multiple brands in different categories is required.
• Proof of award-winning campaigns and brand creativity is a must.
• The successful candidate will have experience of and/or interest in sports (team sports, running and/or cycling).
• Highly skilled in leading a team of creative talent. 
• Strong creative vision with an understanding of business objectives. 
• In-depth expertise in developing creative solutions across a broad range of traditional and digital platforms (packaging, retail, print advertising, field marketing, digital design, ecommerce, social media, online advertising).
• Solid expertise with the latest versions of Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, , experience in all scales of studio and lifestyle photography and video production.
• Experience working with consumer brands and consumer advertising. 
• Strong presentation, communication and listening skills and the ability to translate feedback visually.
• Detail-oriented, highly organized and a keen eye for consistency.
• Must be team-oriented, dedicated, inquisitive, and collaborative.
• Self-starter and ability to work independently.
• Strong work ethic, personal accountability & excellent communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to manage time & projects to meet deadlines.
• Knows how to work within brand guidelines while still pushing creative boundaries and ideas.

Please visit our website to apply: unitedspb.com/careers