Hybrid Director, Creative

at United States Department of Defense

• Job title: Director, Creative
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: $171,000 - $215,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Director, Creative leading experiential design strategies for clients at DEPT®. Orchestrating cohesive brand experiences across physical environments and digital interactions.

Responsibilities

• Closely collaborate with multidisciplinary teams of talented people across the agency and projects.
• Lead the creative team in rigorous conceptual exploration grounded in our ability to deliver. You must be comfortable driving the work from safe, foundational ideas ("mild") to boundary-pushing, disruptive concepts ("wild"), ensuring we explore the full limits of what is possible before refining for execution.
• Orchestrate a seamless story across all physical touchpoints. This includes directing the strategy for in-store digital screens, physical print collateral, and subtle experiential details (texture, lighting, flow).
• Partner lock-step with the Senior, Copywriting. You will work as a cohesive unit to ensure the visual environment and the narrative voice are inextricably linked and mutually elevating.
• Distinct from one-off installations, you will establish a robust, scalable design system for our client’s stores. This system must be rigid enough to maintain brand consistency but flexible enough to adapt to different footprints and markets.
• Infuse physical spaces with expressive design elements. You will determine how typography, color, and animation live within a three-dimensional architecture.
• Strong knowledge of visual design, user-centered experience design, interaction design, brand development, and the creative process.
• Ability to lead internal teams with strategic vision and creative inspiration.
• An entrepreneurial and independent spirit.
• A diverse sense of taste with the knowledge necessary to apply to various challenges.
• Bring deep empathy to the users you design for, the brands you help evolve, and the internal teams you lead and collaborate with.
• Innovation and experimental thinking that generate innovative thinking.

Requirements

• 8+ years in creative leadership, specifically with a focus on Experiential Design, Environmental Design, or Retail Innovation.
• A deep understanding of how humans move through and interact with physical spaces. You can read floor plans as well as you can critique a layout.
• A portfolio of work that demonstrates the ability to translate brand strategy into immersive physical experiences. Must show examples of work scaling from concept to built reality.
• Familiarity with material fabrication, print production techniques, and digital display technologies.
• Mastery of the Adobe Creative Suite; familiarity with spatial tools (SketchUp, Rhino, or similar) is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic vision and creative inspiration to large, diverse teams.
• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills with the ability to clearly articulate complex information to clients and internal stakeholders.
• Highly detail-oriented, proactive, comfortable navigating complex organizations, and focused on strategic problem-solving and process efficiency.

Benefits

• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401k plan, plus matching
• PTO
• Paid Company Holidays
• Parental Leave