Creative Director

Role Overview

The Creative Director owns the visual identity and creative output of our client's brand assets. This is a hands-on leadership role: you will set the creative vision and guardrails for the entire brand alongside the Founder and CEO, while managing the art team and personally executing high-priority projects. Product design is not the focus of this role, though you'll lend creative support to product initiatives as needed.

Reports to: VP of Product Operations
Direct reports: Sr Graphic Designers (Packaging and Marketing), plus freelance graphic designers
Compensation: $150K base

Key Responsibilities

Creative Leadership & Team Management

• Oversee and manage the art team, directing all brand creative asset output
• Set brand guidelines, creative standards, and the overall creative outline for the brand
• Establish and enforce the approval process for all department materials, in partnership with the VP of Product Operations
• Act as an active work manager: assign, prioritize, and review team output while keeping projects on schedule
• Manage a priority work list for each designer and project, including due dates, status reports, ETAs, and notes, alongside the Product Ops Coordinator
• Oversee consistent art asset file naming conventions and the organized folder system, in partnership with the VP of Product Operations

Brand & License Creative Direction

• Direct creative execution across all licensed properties, ensuring brand and licensor guidelines are met
• Own creative direction for sales sheets, catalogs, packaging, instruction manuals, marketing materials, website artwork (banners, digital assets), POP activations, and trade show presence
• Ensure licensed graphic assets adhere to licensor style guides and are submitted to the licensing coordinator correctly
• Track licensor feedback and own next steps to secure approval on current and future assets

Marketing & Campaigns

• Set creative direction for all marketing campaigns (social media, website activation, email newsletters, video, ads)
• Ensure a consistent, compelling brand voice across every consumer and retail touchpoint

Hands-On Execution

• Personally own and produce select projects: packaging, sell sheets/catalogs, sales decks, marketing materials, and other deliverables as priorities dictate

Market & Industry Knowledge

• Maintain broad, detailed knowledge of the bricks/building-toy market and the toy industry at large
• Track competitor lines, launches, and creative approaches on an ongoing basis
• Stay current on design, packaging, and marketing trends across toys and collectibles
• Regularly visit retail stores and online sellers (Walmart, Target, Amazon) to observe merchandising, packaging, and consumer engagement firsthand
• Translate market and competitive insights into creative recommendations for the brand

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Creative Director or senior art lead, ideally in consumer products, toys, collectibles, or licensed goods
• Strong portfolio spanning packaging, retail/POP, sales collateral, and digital/web design
• Deep familiarity with the toy/brick category, competitive landscape, and current consumer trends
• Experience working within licensor brand guidelines and approval workflows
• Demonstrated ability to both lead a team and remain a hands-on maker
• Excellent project and workflow management skills; comfortable owning process and deadlines
• Fluency in industry-standard design tools (Adobe Creative Suite, etc.)