Creative Services Director

Great Wolf Resorts - Chicago, IL

Full-time - Senior

Remote - Chicago, IL

Accommodation

About the position

Great Wolf Resorts is the world's largest waterpark resort company, dedicated to bringing joy to families. The Creative Services Director plays a pivotal role in translating business needs into impactful creative executions. This position requires a leader who can guide a dedicated team of creative professionals while collaborating with internal cross-functional teams and external agency partners. The goal is to ensure that all creative outputs align with the overall brand strategy, meet business objectives, and are delivered with a customer-centric approach. The ideal candidate will be collaborative, resourceful, and possess a deep understanding of the creative production process. They should have experience managing and directing creative teams, along with a proven track record of effectively growing a brand that has high-volume creative requirements. In this role, the Creative Services Director will elevate the quality of design and conceptual work across various channels, including lodges, web, email, social media, and digital platforms. They will provide strategic, innovative, and design-thinking-led solutions that facilitate fresh and compelling creative concepts aimed at delivering business objectives. The director will also be responsible for guiding, mentoring, and managing the performance of the creative services team, fostering both professional and personal development among team members. The position involves overseeing the design and development of content and assets, both in-house and through agency partners. Building strong relationships with cross-functional business partners within Great Wolf is essential to drive quality work, scope projects, develop briefs, budgets, and timelines. The director will facilitate creative project kick-offs with clear briefings and implement brainstorming sessions with the internal creative team, ensuring consistency with brand standards. They will also be tasked with advancing new ideas and approaches that keep the Great Wolf brand evolving and unique. Managing multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment is a key aspect of this role, which includes creating work plans and budgets, managing timelines, and fostering a culture of accountability. The Creative Services Director will determine the best tools, frameworks, systems, and resources that enable teams to scale creative excellence effectively.

Responsibilities

• Elevate the quality of design and conceptual work to advance branded content across multiple channels.
• Provide strategic, innovative, and design thinking-led solutions for compelling creative concepts.
• Guide, lead, and mentor the creative services team, managing performance and development.
• Oversee the design and development of content and assets in-house and through agency partners.
• Build strong relationships with cross-functional business partners to drive quality work and develop project briefs.
• Facilitate creative project kick-offs and implement brainstorming sessions with the internal team.
• Advance new ideas and approaches within the brand voice to keep the brand evolving.
• Lead multiple projects simultaneously, managing work plans, budgets, and timelines.
• Determine the best tools and resources to scale creative excellence.

Requirements

• 8-10+ years' experience leading creative for a large relevant consumer brand or in retail/hospitality.
• Experience leading an in-house creative studio or similar environment.
• Strong creative background including graphic design, copywriting, and production.
• Expertise with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).
• Demonstrated team management experience, including growing and developing teams.
• Experience working cross-functionally and managing workflow effectively.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Experience across various mediums (video, photo, interactive, print) and channels (TV, digital, web, email, mobile, social media).
• Ability to work well under pressure and achieve results in a fast-paced environment.
• Willingness to roll up sleeves and execute work alongside the team.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in the hospitality industry.
• Familiarity with digital marketing strategies.
• Knowledge of current design trends and technologies.

Benefits

• Flexible work schedule with optional work from home days.
• Opportunity to leverage 'work from anywhere weeks' for added schedule flexibility.
• Travel opportunities to Great Wolf's lodge locations across the country.