Creative Director, Marketing & Brand Communications

At Gensler, we design for people. We leverage our global perspective and local presence to innovate at every scale. We’re not just designers. We’re tinkerers, craftspeople, visionaries, innovators, and thought leaders. Fueled by passion and entrepreneurial spirit, our people bring new ideas to solve the world’s most challenging problems, like designing a more resilient, inclusive, and equitable future for our communities and cities.

Gensler’s global marketing and brand communications studio is a design-driven content team that elevates the work, people and ideas of the world’s foremost architecture and design firm through bold creativity and brand innovation. We are a radically collaborative team of designers, editors, and marketing strategists who seek to bring our firm’s mission, purpose, and guiding principles to life through storytelling to grow the firm and attract the world’s top talent to join us in our mission to create a better world through the power of design.

Your Role

We are seeking a design-driven Creative Director to set a vision for exceptional storytelling, inspiring a team of graphic designers through action-oriented leadership. This is a senior role within our collaborative leadership model, and we would look to our Creative Director to be an exceptional partner, iterating with our editorial director, content strategist, PR director, and other key partners to bring ideas to life through multiple marketing and media channels.

This is a unique opportunity to be a design leader within a design firm. Our key stakeholders join us in the creative process, actively iterating and leveraging creativity and imagination that raises the bar on our award-winning work.

What You Will Do

• Leadership & Influence: guide and inspire our team of designers with oversight for their day-to-day activities, projects, and professional development.
• Prioritization & Systems-thinking: evaluate initiatives and ensure our teams are set up for success with processes and systems that enable our designers to find their creative flow.
• Collaboration & Partnership: work alongside editorial and content directors to conceptualize, storyboard, and present creative concepts that drive forward the firm’s mission and purpose.
• Growth Mindset & Creative Confidence: “see the unseen” creative opportunities that will elevate our storytelling and reach new audiences aligned with our goals for growth.
• Coach & Player: be able to move between leading creative sessions with firm leaders while collaborating on deliverables with our team and partners.
• Brand Champion: lead the firm towards a deep understanding of the integrity of our brand while seeking opportunities to push it forward.
  
  

Your Qualifications

• Minimum requirement of a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, graphic design, visual communications, or related field.
• 18+ years of creative design experience and brand strategy; (at least 10 years design direction and management experience), collaborating with and counseling senior executives (C-suite, Managing Directors, Subject Matter Experts, etc.).
• Proven track-record of leading and growing designers.
• Portfolio that demonstrates a deep knowledge of brand systems applied across a variety of media (link to portfolio required).
• Broad knowledge of and ability to implement industry best practices, including brand strategy, content marketing, audience engagement, and creative campaign strategy and development.
• Experience across multiple channels (digital, print, video, UX/UI)—enjoys working on big ideas and small points of execution, and everything in between.
• Deep experience in print with understanding of latest print trends and techniques, sustainable methods, and cost management.
• Experience working with decentralized multi-location, global and multicultural communications teams; experience with multi-lingual communications.
• Expert in Adobe Creative Suite.
• Experience working in-house for a professional services firm or working for an agency is preferred.
• Experience in the design, architecture, real estate, or building industries is highly desired.
• The compensation range for the Los Angeles is estimated to be $160-175k plus bonuses and benefits and contingent on relevant experience.
• The compensation range for San Francisco is estimated to be $165-180k plus bonuses and benefits and contingent on relevant experience.
  
  

Life at Gensler

At Gensler, we are as committed to enjoying life as we are to delivering best-in-class design. From curated art exhibits to internal design competitions to “Well-being Awareness Week,” our offices reflect our people’s diverse interests.

We encourage every person at Gensler to lead a healthy and balanced life. Our comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, vision, disability, wellness programs, flex spending, paid holidays, and paid time off. We also offer a 401k, profit sharing, employee stock ownership, and twice annual bonus opportunities. Our annual base salary range has been established based on local markets.

As part of the firm’s commitment to licensure and professional development, Gensler offers reimbursement for certain professional licenses and associated renewals and exam fees. In addition, we reimburse tuition for certain eligible programs or classes. We view our professional development programs as strategic investments in our future.