CREATIVE DIRECTOR

This is not your mama’s ‘Creative Director’ job posting

LMNO, one of Western Canada’s longest running and most respected agencies, is looking for our next Creative Director to help further shape, define and continue our path to creative innovation and excellence across all mediums.

While we appreciate and occasionally wish we lived in a time of Don Draper, liquid lunches and chain smoking in the office (OK, maybe not the last), we look at things in a different way. We embrace creativity from a place of diversity and possibility, and while creative is still king, there is no single ruler.

We encourage diversity in groups, people and ideas and see the role of Creative Director being a little more like a coach who brings the best out in the players and the teams, while ensuring the agency stands out among its peers nationally and internationally.

Overview of the role

Reporting to the Chief Creative Officer, the LMNO Creative Director guides and fosters conceptual and thought-provoking ideas in various forms and mediums, overseeing a team of ideators and welcoming input from all people and sources.

LMNO is seeking a true leader who is driven by a chosen passion to pursue this career and who is constantly learning, engaged and tapped into the industry, consumer trends and influences, including subculture as well as pop culture. Diversity in thinking and the ability to encourage cross-collaboration is a key attribute of this role.

Character traits (Hey, does this seem like you?)

• You are a strong, confident ‘empathetic leader’ and ‘listener’ that brings out the best ideas in others.
• You are a practicing artist of your chosen craft who can roll up your sleeves and jump in at any time.
• You are curious — you ask as many questions as you try to answer.

You have a good dose of creative doubt. Knowing ego can blind you to possibilities, you challenge yourself to question your assumptions, evolve your thinking and keep your mind open to possibilities.

You possess a strong interest in the intersection of creativity, technology, consumer trends and behaviour, and look for creative ways to leverage these on a day-to-day basis.

• You are opinionated but open to being challenged on your thinking. You value the input of others and they know it.
• You allow data, experience and instinct to inform your opinions.

Responsibilities

You will balance the needs of the people and the business equally, knowing they are dependent on each other for success.

You will balance the need to inspire and motivate with the need to guide and lead your team. You understand the importance of making decisions under pressure while motivating others to support the goal of producing world-class and award-winning work that is ‘sharable’ and spoken about.

You will actively embrace thinking from others with the goal of generating a multitude of ideas versus a multitude of executions or high-fidelity designs (it is easier to get one great idea out of 50 than out of five).

You will passionately and articulately present and defend conceptual and directional choices, ensuring that all work:

• has a ‘single core idea’ at its foundation
• can be brought to life in different ways in a variety of mediums
• is on brief, innovative and beautifully executed

You will promote continual improvement by actively embracing a culture of play, innovation and encouraging others to find and share inspiration from anywhere and everywhere.

You will champion the vision and values of the agency and as part of the team, commit to building the profile of the agency in the community.

You will recognize and support key clients and the roles they play in our business while proactively offering support where opportunities exist.

You will develop strong working relationships with your co-creative leaders and other leaders and team members across the agency.

An experienced and respected leader, you will hold the team accountable to agency needs, managing budgets and deadlines based on the trust and respect you have worked hard to earn.

You will build on the strengths of the creative team members and others across the agency and actively contribute to a culture of self-improvement, innovation, excellence and accountability.

You will advocate for innovation and change and use the strength of the idea itself to confidently sell it in.

As part of the Creative Leadership Team, you will be a strong advocate of diversity in talent. To meet the needs and changes in capacity of the agency, you will help cultivate a strong team of remote freelance artisans locally and around the world to draw on and work with for their special talents.

Internal key partnerships for the Creative Director

Chief Creative Officer (CCO)

You will work together to ensure the vision of LMNO is being brought to life through its awe-inspiring, ‘Hey, I never would have thought of that!’ work. You will seek collaboration and input on ideas from the CCO and help facilitate engagement with other creative team members at various stages through projects. You will help create a culture of engagement and innovation and ensure LMNO is producing work that is potentially award winning and generates positive results in terms of our own business objectives as well as those of the client.

Design Director

You will partner with the Design Director to support the development of work across teams and individual team members. You will help to ensure all concepts are coming from a strong visual and design perspective, recognizing the importance of simplicity. At the end of a project, you will ensure the single core idea remains clear and concise as the focus of the piece, regardless of medium.

Digital Director

You will work together to ensure a strong focus on technology and creative thinking, finding the best way to deliver an interesting idea that appeals to the audience based on where the audience is engaged (computer, mobile phone, retail store).

Client Services Director

You will work in tandem to support and champion strong ideas and business opportunities for each client.

New Business Team

You will support organic growth and take an active role in new business initiatives.

What you bring

• A degree or diploma in graphic arts or creative writing
• A strong portfolio demonstrating a wide range of experience in multiple mediums
• Three to four years of leadership experience working in a creative realm
• Demonstrated understanding and working ability of digital creative ideas
• Strong ability to conceptualize
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Ability to lead a team with decisiveness and focus while managing shifting priorities and meeting various project deadlines
• Ability to tap into and integrate specialized expertise from within the Creative Team
• Up-to-date knowledge of current advertising trends

Please submit your résumé and portfolio to Garnet Davis McElree, Chief Creative Officer, at fb638004@freshgigs.ca by Friday, June 5, 2020. Please include Creative Director in the subject line. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No phone calls please.

We can’t wait to meet you.