Director, Creative Strategy at Medline Industries, Inc. in Northfield, Illinois

Job Description:

Responsibilities:

Lead the teams responsible for creative strategy and development of assigned brands/programs to deliver highly engaging marketing tactics that help drive sustainable business growth, within resource constraints.

Team Leadership: Reporting to the VP Brand & Creative, the CD has oversight of creative teams (writers and/or designers), coaching and developing their creative talent, career growth and staying abreast of industry trends.

Client Relationships: As a highly skilled and seasoned expert, responsible to for client stewardship through the creative process to build understanding, value, and trust in the Marketing department.

Creative Expertise: Responsible to set the vision, tools and processes to deliver creative strategies and execution of brand/program expressions, standards and global guidelines as well as oversight of sales enablement and go-to-market campaign tactics including websites.

Operations: Knows how to leverage key performance indicators through data systems to evaluate, solve and improve. Balances the workload by scaling and operationalizing production.

Team Leadership:

• Provide oversight, enabling and empowering the team to deliver solutions that are delivered with a high regard for professional craft, focused on effectiveness and deliver with efficiency for both internal and agency creatives.


• Leads a team of direct reports as well as guiding indirect reports. As part of a matrixed organization, holds accountability for both, working collaboratively across functional teams.


• Responsible for building the team, their talent and new skills necessary to keep up with new technologies and marketing strategies. Providing the on-boarding, coaching, feedback and performance management tailored to each individual on the team. Inspire and motivate the team to take on new challenges and do their best work.


• Maintain positive team culture through clear communication regarding business decisions, direction of company/department/team as well as their role and project expectations.

Client Stewardship and Briefing:

• Steward creative strategy projects from start to finish. Owns the client relationship and is responsible for the creative strategy and the team's creative execution.


• Responsible to assist the client on creative briefs of larger initiatives (new or refreshed brands, launches...) so it provides complete, clear project direction and success metrics for the teams.


• The CD will use their expertise and influence to guide internal clients (division, sales, marketing...) through the processes, towards the deliverables that will best meet their business needs.


• Identify opportunities for clients that will help them achieve their marketing and business goals. (for example a brand or packaging refresh, portfolio architecture organization with naming logic, etc...)


• Ability to anticipate and/or resolve issues and conflicts with diplomacy.

Creative expertise:

The CD leads the development of creative strategy to deliver the brand or campaign strategy into branded customer experiences. Leading the team to develop the big idea or semiotics into the core essence (copy & design) of the brand/campaign, guidelines and application across all channels and media with consistency. Creative assignments may include but not limited to:

• Go-to-market campaigns: Inspiring the team to create highly effective creative that meets established performance benchmarks across channels and tactics.


• Naming Creative: Responsible for all product and service naming process, strategy, creative development, legal searching and governance.


• Website: Collaborates on the development of our website building a user experience that drives organic traffic and engagement considering sitemapping logic, page templates, SEO, module development and design elements.


• Marketing Video: Establishing the overall vision, directing the development of the script, storyboard, visuals, music and VO.


• Brand Guidelines: Establishing, updating and training teams on the universal guidelines for our brand/s to drive consistent execution and drives equity.


• Sales enablement tools such as E-mails, catalogs, sell sheets, posters, kits, invitations, tradeshows, as well as direct-to-customer channels like Amazon, etc

Operations: Project Management

• Guide the teams on larger initiatives to map stage gates/milestones to achieve the expected results. Works closely with the account team to prioritize jobs, assign work assignments, allocate time.


• Proactively identify issues, work through resolution and get the project back on track.


• Ensure everyone understands roles and responsibilities for how the department functions.

Operations: Processes & Tools

• The CD will collaborate with the VP of Operations on all matters of workflow between teams.


• Work with cross-functional leaders to continually optimize our process and tools to free up team's time from redundant tasks for more creative endeavors.


• Monitors teams' usage and effectiveness of the systems/software in place including WorkFront, AirTable, Figma, P360, Word, Adobe Creative Suite, PowerPoint, TEAMS, excel dashboards.

Management responsibilities include:

• Oversee major projects/programs/outcomes


• Budget responsibility


• Interpret and execute policies for departments/projects


• Recommend and implement new policies or modifications to existing policies


• Provide general guidelines and parameters for staff functioning


• Hiring staff, recommending pay increases, managing team against their Formula metrics, performing performance reviews, training and development of staff, estimating personnel needs, assigning work and looking at allocation, monitoring on-time percentages, interpreting and ensuring consistent application of organizational policies

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in advertising, communication, design or equivalent degree
• At least 10 years of experience in creative services, marketing, graphic design and/or brand development.
• Experience working in healthcare (medical devices), compliant with regulatory, FDA, EPA requirements for marketing and packaging.
• Experience and skills in influencing, leading and directing individuals in matrixed organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Agency experience.
• Experience managing creative teams including hiring, developing, motivating and directing people as they work.
• Experience negotiating with outside vendors, including negotiating contracts, prices, resolving service issues and reconciling differences.

Medline is committed to offering competitive benefits and a variety of choices to best meet the needs of you and your family. For employees scheduled to work at least 30 hours per week, this includes health and well-being, financial fitness, career development, paid time off and more. Employees scheduled to work less than 30 hours per week can participate in the 401(k) plan, access the Employee Assistance Program(EAP), Employee Resource Groups (ERG) and Medline Service Corps. For a more comprehensive list of our benefits, please click here .

Medline Industries, LP is an equal opportunity employer. Medline evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/ handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic.

Every day, we're focused on building a more diverse and inclusive company, one that recognizes, values and respects the differences we all bring to the workplace. From doing what's right to delivering business results, together, we're better. Explore our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page.

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