Associate Creative Director - Experiential Marketing Agency

As Associate Creative Director, you will be responsible for taking the creative lead on experiential projects for GPJ. Working within project teams and alongside the ECD or Creative Director, your role is to drive the creative vision to ensure the delivery of superior marketing solutions that exceed our clients' expectations, meet their budget requirements and fulfil GPJ’s business goals.

Our experiential offerings span a wide range of contexts, channels and purposes; from live events to virtual events, from screen-based content to immersive technologies. To maintain our position at the forefront of change requires us to deliver experiences which raise the bar for our industry, meeting an ever-growing client demand by championing purposeful & exciting work.

Alongside the Executive Creative Director, Exec Director Creative Innovation and members of the Experience Design team, you will play a leading role in the development of concepts and will be responsible for presenting coherently and in a compelling manner the ideas and direction for specific events to clients and others. Imagining something different, more engaging or exciting – always looking beyond the boundaries of current knowledge for new possibilities.

In doing so, our Associate Creative Director will actively approach stakeholders with more than just a mood board and design, but a compelling idea that works across channels and clearly drives business impact for the client. As Associate Creative Director, you must work well as a leading member in a team environment; getting hands-on to clearly communicate your ideas and concepts to clients, managing and inspiring a team to deliver on projects, as well as working effectively with other departments within GPJ.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead project-specific creative process, both pre and post sale.
• Deliver brilliant, inspiring concepts/ideas, including appropriate use of technology for our clients.
• Bring in the right experts and manage them to execute award-winning/critically acclaimed experiences, activations and campaigns.
• Work in collaboration with Creative Directors and account teams to develop realistic client proposals given the constraints of time and budget.
• Consider how the idea or experience can be extended to further reach and impact via social media, digital marketing and OOH.
• Drive the education of members of the GPJ creative team, making sure effectiveness is front of mind when designing experiences.
• Understand the client’s business and communication needs and their key proposition in order to deliver work that’s on brief.
• Line management of junior team members within the creative team.
• Keep abreast of innovation and industry standards and share this with the organisation.
• Collaborate with producers after the sale to ensure creative integrity.
• Support with the development of thought leadership or marketing initiatives.
• Attend industry events and exhibitions and provide feedback for the team.

About you

We seek a passionate, original thinker with proven creative expertise across a range of media. Acting as the lead on specific projects this role requires strong communication skills to team and clients at all levels. Confidence to brief effectively and work well in a team environment are as important as an ability to excite clients with our concepts.

You will be able to drive the creative vision of our face-to-face communication projects from inception right through production to completion. You communicate with clarity, conviction and persuasiveness tailored to different situations. You demonstrate 'active' listening skills in a variety of situations, seeking out others' ideas, are open to them and are able to take action where appropriate.

You are able to build effective relationships, able to understand and respond to the agenda of others and are able to help unlock future client opportunities. You think creatively to deliver ideas and solutions as well as solve problems. Proven ability to sell work to prospective and existing clients. You are interested in the latest developments in the industry and keep up to date with the latest tools. You are a collaborative, consultative team player with enthusiasm, passion and drive.

If you have a ‘roll-your-sleeves-up’ approach and a strong portfolio to show, we’d love to hear from you.

Your Background, Skills & Experience

• 8 years experience as a creative thinker and doer - conceptual thinking and ability to develop the idea through use of design tools, sketches, and AI tools.
• Broad client experience consistent with our portfolio of progressive and sector defining client brands.
• Excellent verbal, written and listening communication skills as well as creative and artistic presentation skills.
• In-depth knowledge of brand positioning, industry trends.
• Ability to convey ideas in an oral presentation in an exciting and engaging manner.
• Can convey complex concepts clearly through written presentations.
• Ability to work in collaboration with the internal departments in bringing concepts to life and finding innovative ways of achieving this within a client budget without compromising on quality.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to enthuse and motivate clients and colleagues alike.
• Experience in having day-to-day responsibility for project delivery with the knowledge that you will have a Creative Director to guide when needed.
• Experience of the live environment / experiential delivery and its specific pressures.
• Nice to have - knowledge of sports marketing industry and passionate about a wide range of sports.