Creative Lead

Job Title: Creative Lead

Team: Communications

Reporting into: Head of Brand and Marketing

Studio Overview:

We are Sports Interactive, the gaming studio behind Football Manager. Founded in 1994, Sports Interactive became a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA Europe in 2006. Based at the Here East technology hub in Stratford, East London, the SI team continues to expand as we bring our titles to an ever-growing audience across an increasing variety of platforms. To support our growth, we welcome the opportunity to connect with passionate people with the drive to match our ambitions and initiative to realise your individual potential.

Position Overview:

Sports Interactive are seeking a Creative Lead to join our Marketing team who will be primarily responsible for shaping the creative identity of our brand and marketing output. This role is at the heart of our brand and content projects, driving visual and conceptual creativity to ensure the brand is culturally relevant and achieving creative excellence. Reporting to the Head of Brand and Marketing, the Creative Lead will take ownership of high impact creative projects while collaborating with a talented team to execute projects across diverse mediums. The role will involve developing and maintaining alignment with key stakeholders at our parent company, SEGA, and fostering key relationships with a variety of third-party agencies and contributors.

The role will suit a visual storyteller with meaningful experience working on brand and content campaigns, with a focus on creative concept development, post-production, and execution.

Key Responsibilities:

• Concept Development & Creative Direction: Develop innovative creative concepts and oversee their execution to ensure alignment with brand strategy and objectives.
• Art Direction: Lead the creative vision for hero shoots, ensuring high-quality visuals that resonate with target audiences.
• Campaign Development: Oversee post-production processes, including editing, animation, and music development, to create compelling brand narratives.
• Content Creation: Shape visual design and copywriting to ensure cohesive and impactful messaging across platforms.
• Project Ownership: Lead the delivery of high impact brand projects, collaborating with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to bring creative visions to life.
• Creative Oversight: Provide guidance and oversight to the department leads across brand projects, social and content to ensure all projects align with the overarching creative direction.
• Strategic Collaboration: Partner with the Head of Brand and Marketing to contribute to long-term brand and content strategy.
• Team Mentorship: Mentor and inspire in-house creative team members, including graphic designers, social media creatives, and copywriters, fostering their growth and ensuring high-quality output.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with regional marketing teams at SEGA and the studio’s product design team to ensure alignment between marketing and product, share best practices, and maintain a customer-centric approach in all creative work.
• Cultural Insight: Stay immersed in emerging creative trends, youth culture, and relevant communities to identify and champion the right stories and ideas for the brand.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in relevant creative roles, or a similar position, with a proven ability to develop and execute innovative, high-impact projects.
• Strong portfolio showcasing expertise in visual storytelling, art direction, and multi-disciplinary projects across various mediums, including video, photography, animation, and design.
• Experience working on brand and content campaigns, with a focus on creative concept development, post-production, and execution.
• Demonstrated ability to lead creative teams and projects.
• Collaborative mindset, with a track record of working cross-functionally to ensure strategic alignment.
• A deep passion for football, gaming, youth culture and emerging creative trends, with an authentic connection to the communities the brand seeks to engage.

Benefits of Working at Sports Interactive:

• A flexible working policy to best suit you and your team.
• Subsidised mental health, therapy and coaching sessions are available.
• Contributory Pension Scheme (up to 7% of annual salary).
• Free onsite evening bar in the Sports Interactive London HQ.
• A well-stocked breakfast bar with cereals, fruits, teas, and coffees.
• Regular events in collaboration with our partnered football clubs.
• Access to our on-site physical and massage therapist services.
• Multiple clubs and societies to join e.g., book club and art workshops.
• Free access to games released under the SEGA Europe umbrella.
• A range of Gym Membership options through our Benefits partners.
• Fully Subsidised Healthcare and Dental Plans.
• Free Travel Insurance for yourself and your family.
• A personalized football shirt upon passing probation.

What is it like to work here?

We approach everything with passion , whether that is making our mark on the gaming and football industries or doing our bit for the world around us. We want to share that outlook with everyone who shows up to work here each day. For us, talent wins games, but teamwork wins titles. Collaboration is the key to constantly topping our best. We believe everyone matters , no matter which part of the business you are in, so we encourage and support our people in driving your own growth and realising your full potential. But, more than anything else, we are a team. A team with a down-to-earth dynamic, that has a lot of fun doing what we do.

And whether that’s technical tweaks or fine-tuning our creative process, everything is geared at producing the best game possible for our players. To do that, we need to be tenacious and move quickly, and not be afraid of switching things up. It is these principles that have enabled us to produce a game that has defined year after year, and that will continue to push us for many more to come.

Our flexible working culture gives you the opportunity to optimise your workload, with in-office, hybrid, and remote working options dependent on role. So, if you want a work/life balance, we are behind you. Because while we live to create extraordinary games, we know that is not all you have got going on. You can trust that we always keep things in perspective, fostering an environment where work can be more than just a job .

We’re also a London Living Wage employer, boast one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry and are proud to have won the ‘Best Places to Work’ award by Gamesindustry.biz in large company category in 2023.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from any relevant candidate irrespective of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion, or belief.

SI is proudly a Disability Confident Committed employer, and we are dedicated to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. Our studio has disabled access and facilities but please ensure you advise us if you require any other reasonable adjustments to be made to support you during the recruitment process.

Our Values:

• Keep collaborating: Teamwork wins titles – Here, ideas belong to everyone, whatever department you’re part of. Collaboration lets us score more as a team than we could individually.
• Be flexible: We think fast and adapt faster. The football and entertainment worlds never stand still, so we keep progressing and switching things up to stay ahead.
• Stay Tenacious: We don’t overlook the details. Everything we do is about producing the best game possible, in other words, never settle.
• Show Ambition: Let your drive lead the way – Your individual outlook can give everyone the edge. Make the studio’s purpose personal and let your drive lead the way.
• Bring the Passion: Have fun doing your thing – Don’t be fooled, what we do is not a game. Making our players’ passion come to life is our passion.
• Consider the Bigger Picture: Keep things in perspective – We want our impact to be a positive one. From built-in work/life balance to initiatives covering the most important topics of today, we have what matters in focus.

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