Associate Creative Director

Visit Seattle is seeking a creative, collaborative, enthusiastic, Seattle-based Associate Creative Director. Reporting to the SVP/CMO, this role will lead the organization’s internal team working on content, design and marketing enablement materials. This person in this role will also act as a thought partner with our external creative and marketing agency. A key leader on the marketing team, they will be involved with, and have responsibility for, all levels of the design process - from defining strategic project goals, to establishing conceptual and stylistic direction for the creative team.

The ideal candidate for this role should be highly creative, passionate about Seattle, have effective communication skills, exhibit great attention to detail, easily build rapport with others and excel at managing and motivating team members. This role is hands-on and would suit a creative who enjoys daily design work.

This role requires in-person work for the first 90 days, then shifts to a hybrid schedule, with a minimum of three days in the office each week. This position does not offer relocation assistance.

What You’ll Do:

• Design work: Create multimedia marketing content (i.e.: print and digital collateral, presentations, videos, social content, landing pages, swag, etc.) with refined design, typography, animation, video editing and motion graphics. 
•  Team leadership: Manage and mentor a team designers; providing insights and guidance to ensure deliveries satisfy needs and surpass expectations while fostering a collaborative environment.
• Concept development: Collaborate with the marketing, sales and external agency teams to brainstorm and develop creative concepts for branded materials, content and collateral that are impactful, effective and timely.
• Project management: Oversee the creative process from concept to completion, assign tasks and ensuring projects meet deadlines, budgets, and client expectations.
• Communication: Effectively communicate project status and updates in a proactive and timely manner
• Brand consistency: Maintain brand identity and messaging across all marketing materials, ensuring alignment with established brand guidelines.
• Presentations: Present creative concepts to internal stakeholders, effectively communicating the strategic rationale behind the work and addressing feedback.
• Quality control: Review creative deliverables to ensure high quality and adherence to brand standards.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams like marketing, sales, public relations, membership, and travel development to ensure seamless campaign execution. Partner with outside agencies to drive creative integrity across all channels.
• Innovation: Help to conceptualize and execute innovative marketing campaigns to differentiate Visit Seattle from its competitors.
• Customer centricity: Cultivate a deep understanding of the target audience; both on the leisure and meetings side of the business to create compelling marketing and communications materials.
•  Trend analysis: Stay informed about industry trends, emerging technologies, and cultural shifts to incorporate innovative ideas into creative strategies.
•  Local engagement: Attend member and community events, visit member businesses, and explore local neighborhoods to collect content.

Who You Are:

• 10 years’ experience working as a senior designer or art director.
• Experience in design team leadership with proven experience as a mentor and cross team collaborator
• Proficiency in video editing required. Motion graphics design and experience in generative AI tools like Midjourney preferred.
• Knowledgeable of print pre-press and production
• Experience in creating multimedia marketing content, including print and digital collateral required.
• Extremely proficient in all core Adobe CS programs (Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign)
• Self-starter, who takes initiative, exhibits follow through and is consistently reliable.
• Strong service approach with both internal and external customers
• Consistent positive attitude and professional demeanor
• Extremely proficient in all core Adobe CS programs (Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign)
• Ability to work efficiently and accurately with minimal supervision.

What Your Benefits Are 

Your experience is our most important asset, so we created an environment for you to thrive. We designed the following benefits package with you in mind.  

Our benefits are always evolving, though here's a peek into your perks: 

• You'll have 15 days of Paid Time Off to start, with 12 paid office holidays and 1 Personal Holiday.
• You’ll have 100% of medical, dental, and vision coverage paid by Visit Seattle. In addition, Visit Seattle will cover 75% of premium for family coverage.
• You’ll be eligible for Paid Parental, Bereavement and Jury leave.
• You’ll receive a company-provided ORCA card and subsidized parking in the Tower parking garage (restrictions apply).
• You will be reimbursed for monthly cell phone expenses.
• You'll receive a 401k with up to a 5% company match.
• Starting annual salary range is $100,000 - $115,000 per year with up to an 10% annual incentive.

Who We Are: 

The Visit Seattle team knows and loves Seattle. By promoting our city for travel and tourism, we helped bring 38 million annual visitors in 2023 who spent $8.2 billion in Seattle and King County. The economic power of travel and tourism supported nearly 65,000 Seattle area jobs and contributed $790 million in annual state and local tax revenue. Visit visitseattle.org.

Beyond our sales and marketing vision, you'll appreciate our culture. Visit Seattle has a fun, inclusive culture where everyone is welcome and encouraged to be their authentic selves. We aspire to be as diverse as the city we represent and to honor the unique perspectives of the communities we serve, intertwining them in everything we do. Kindness, respect, and accountability serve as guiding principles for our team at every level. Here, your voice will be heard, and opinions respected as we move toward a more inclusive world together.

We are grounded and guided in our work together by our Values:

• INCLUSION: We value a safe environment where diversity and lived experiences are embraced, authentic vulnerability is encouraged, and active empathy is practiced.   
• IMPACT: We value the idea of building a legacy that starts today, by committing to being mindful, helpful, and dedicated to a positive ripple effect that we create. 
• COMMITMENT: We value a community where growing, celebrating and embracing each other for a greater future is encouraged, and an appreciation for sacrifice, grit, integrity, and the passion for conquering the unknown is well recognized. 
• EXCELLENCE: We value having pride and passion in the work that we do by committing to always giving it our all and celebrating success in both the big and small tasks.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Visit Seattle is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth and pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances. Visit Seattle’s leadership team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, access to facilities and programs and general treatment during employment.