Regional Design Director - Americas

The Regional Design Director, Americas is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of Creative across the region. This role will directly manage the Regional Creative Team in accordance with standards set forth by the Global Creative Team and will lead Designers with expertise in both Digital, Print and Visual Merchandising. They will support the Americas Business Leads in all ways – leading 360 Creative Executions for the brand within the region across all disciplines, including Store Design + Visual Merchandising, Print, OOH, and Digital to execute Creative that satisfies Regional Business Requirements while upholding Brand Equity and adhering to Global Brand Guidelines and Directives. 

To be considered for the role, a candidate must be uniquely qualified to oversee Creative across all disciplines. A robust background in Design Direction across Print, Digital, VM, OOH, and Film is required. The ideal candidate is an inspiring and motivated leader– a tenured and celebrated people manager will thrive in this role. This individual is expected to lead teams conceptually when New Creative is required within the Region– and be equally capable of directing Regional Adaptations to Global campaigns. This individual will be tasked with understanding and communicating the Business opportunities behind the adaptations back to the Global Creative Leads. Thus, a keen understanding of the regional Business goals and Familiarity with the industry nuances and regional requirements will be imperative to their success.  

The position will report dually report to the Creative Director and dotted line to the GM of Americas and will sit alongside the Americas Commercial + Marketing Leads to fulfill the Creative needs specific to the Americas business. On a project basis, this role will collaborate with Global Brand Category and Brand ACDs and will provide Creative leadership to Americas specific creative direct reports, peers all other relevant cross-functional partners. 

This role is a hybrid role based in NYC that requires 1-2 days per week in the office

Role Responsibilities: 

DESIGN DIRECTION, 360 DEVELOPMENT & CREATIVE CONCEPTING 

• Comply with Global Brand Guidelines in the successful execution of 360 Creative Work within the Region.  
• In-take Regional specific requests from Americas Commercial Leads and partner with Global Creative Leads to strategize, plan and execute adaptations required within the region.  
• Successfully onboard and familiarize new hires and agency partners to adopt all Brand Codes and Design Direction. 
• Concept, Develop, Produce and Execute International 360 Campaigns where they exist solely within the Region. Responsible for capturing market specific adaptations directly, or indirectly by managing outside agency partners.  
• Oversee Market Specific adaptations for creative assets and campaigns related to New Product Launches, Seasonal Campaigns, Product Repromotes. 
• Ongoingly, support Creative Work across the Region in response to New Markets and Regionally specific Opportunities and Initiatives. 
• Deep dive into marketing objectives, product insights and target audiences to translate product positioning, consumer trends, and offline/online consumer behavior into effective ideas and concepts for Regionally lead Creative. 

2D VISUAL MERCHANDISING OVERSIGHT 

• Oversee the development, maintenance, and release cadence of 2D artwork for Americas VM. Manage a team of 2D Designers and Print Production Artists. Intake retailer specific briefs, develop and execute work according to brief and in compliance to Global Directives.  
• Oversee adaptation of 2D Artwork to different fixture formats and sizes and ensure alignment across all regional assortments, fixture types etc. 
• Implement new processes and ways of working where needed to optimize workflow and approvals in partnership with VM Director and Copywriters. 
• In partnership with Project Managers and Cross-functional partners, create optimized timelines and process for VM workflow and ensure smooth delivery across stakeholders. 
• Deep dive into Regional marketing briefs, regional insights, and opportunities to lead teams to effective ideas and concepts. 
• Initiate and develop tools to aid market with new collateral launches and new VM principles. 
• Develop and implement International Market Tour process, to include: store visits, graphic audits and develop clear action plans for teams to execute. 

LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS 

• Lead all Regional Creative Output and Directly Manage Regional Creative Team who oversees work for SDJ.com, Amazon, Retailer.com + B&M, NA Brand 

• Work with Project Managers to assign work and assure that creative work meets brief objectives, follows strategies aligned to the brief before it goes out to Global Creative Lead and Commercial Leads for review. 

• Vet, Manage and Train Vendors and Agency Partners on Brand Guidelines and Brand Standards. 
• Foster a highly collaborative environment where design team is in lock step with Marketing partners. 
• Liase with Global stakeholders to ensure that Americas needs are captured within Global directives. 
• Mentor and inspire teams to perform at the top of their abilities and foster growth in the overall collective ability of the team to think differently and more broadly about their work. 
• Champion creative problem solving and develop a reputation for being a collaborative and solutions-oriented team. 
• Meet all timelines and ensure delivery of executions for stakeholder review. Manage expectations cross-functionally when timelines are not favorable to proper processes and executional standards.  
• Ensure Global Creative Leads have adequate time to review and approve all work that is created outside of Global Directives. 
• Manage various fast-paced workstreams with confidence. 

QUALIFICATIONS 

• 10+ Years experience working on integrated, cross-channel Creative. Design Director Credentials Required. Beauty Experience Required.  
• Career track record showing experience working across all aspects of 360s including, Print, OOH, Digital, Motion, and In-Store. Portfolio of work demonstrating Expertise across Visual Merchandising, Store Design, Graphic Design and Art Direction is required.  
• 5+ Years in High Visibility Leadership Role with proven experience as having been an influential player within multidisciplinary team.  
• Experienced people manager, inspiring mentor, and proven team builder. 
• Specialty-Multi-Channel Experience Required. 
• Experience leading External Agencies toward Creative Output that complies with Global Brand Guidelines. 
• Software Requirements: Adobe In Design, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Rhino. 
• Expertise in branding, typography and graphic storytelling and Art Direction with robust 360 Campaign experience. 
• Understanding of branding and graphic storytelling within the retail environment.  
• Highly proficient in vendor specifications across Digital, Print and In-Store. 
• Career track record that shows the candidate has a strong ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and to meet deadlines using excellent organizational skills, quality execution and attention to detail. 
• Excellent public speaking, presentation, and listening skills. 
• Strong communication skills with ability to articulate ideas clearly and concisely – ability to provide and receive constructive feedback that is necessary to improve work. 
• Must be highly collaborative with ability to understand the objectives of all cross-functional partners and work toward a design that meets that need and upholds the creative integrity of the Brand. 
• Elevated taste, keen design sensibilities and the ability to whole-heartedly deep dive into everything Brazilian to meaningfully contribute to Global Creative Output across all-touchpoints. 
• Ability to work in fast-paced environment and adapt to changing priorities with grace.