Job Description

Company Summary The DNA of our company is based on integrity, social responsibility, and commitment to delivering the best consumer experience possible through the items that we bring to market. It is this foundation that drives our passion to make life more comfortable with innovative and outstanding design in all our products. Our corporate culture is created by the strong bond between our teams located throughout the world. We continuously push ourselves to challenge our processes, to inspire our customers, and to offer only the very best products and services through premium brands. Job Description Our Creative Design Director will be required to coordinate all Design related needs across the entire company. The Creative Design Director will not only will handle the requests of all design related challenges but also ensure to hit all timelines and deliverable dates set by each team. His or Her focus will be to bring their creative solutions to an ever evolving, dynamic environment that depends on visual engagement. Your mission will be to lead development of trend forward and relevant creative assets that embody our brand values, offer a world class brand experience to our consumers, and meet commercial expectations. In this role, we are looking for a true partner and collaborator on design and art direct style guides as well as develop creative tools across a variety of consumer product categories, complementary to AQI’s multi-faceted business. These categories include Plush, Stationery, Toys, Fashion, Home, Cosmetics and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and more! This is a great position to join a growing and euthanasic team where you will be a driver in the growth and creative direction while collaborating with other Designers, Product Managers, Marketing teams, Planners, and others within AQI family. Specific Duties And Responsibilities Budget Management: Manage creative budgets, allocating resources effectively and tracking expenses. Brand Consistency: Ensure that all creative output is consistent with the brand’s identity and messaging. Client Collaboration: Work closely with clients, licensors, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to understand project requirements, gather feedback, and ensure client satisfaction. Concept Development: Work with the team to generate innovative concepts and ideas that resonate with the target audience. Creative Direction: Provide creative direction and guidance to all designers, offering constructive feedback to enhance their work. Creative Vision: Develop and communicate a clear creative vision for projects, campaigns, or brands. Design Leadership: Provide visionary leadership to the growing 10+ design team members, setting the creative direction, and inspiring designers to achieve their best work while providing mentorship. Design Strategy: Develop and implement design strategies that align with the organization’s goals, brand identity, and market positioning. Design Presentations: Present design concepts and strategies to clients, executives, or stakeholders, effectively communicating the vision and rationale behind design decisions. Design Quality Control: Maintain high design standards and review design work to ensure it meets these standards and adheres to brand guidelines. Must have package design experience with hands-on skills, knowledge of packaging structures. Market Research: Stay updated on industry trends, consumer behavior, and competitor activities to inform creative strategies. Presentation Skills: Present and pitch creative ideas and concepts to clients or stakeholders effectively. Project Management: Oversee the execution of design projects from concept to completion, ensuring they meet quality standards, timelines, and budget constraints. Project Oversight: Oversee the entire creative process, from brainstorming to execution, ensuring projects from all designers are on-brand and on-time. Leading creative sessions with Sales and R&D Departments to generate ideas. Resource Management: Allocate and manage design resources, including designers, freelancers, and agencies, to meet project demands. Trend and Technology Awareness: Stay updated on design trends, emerging technologies, and industry best practices to incorporate innovative design solutions. Team Leadership: Lead and inspire creative teams, including designers, writers, art directors, and other professionals. Work within parameters set by senior execs, licensors, product, marketing, and engineering to keep projects on time and within budget. Creative: Create or maintain existing branding and style guides to fit various packaging structures. Design logos, displays, advertising, websites and other related marketing and sales materials. Approve all packaging artwork prior to production. Art direct and cast photo shoots. Responsible for trade show showroom design and set up (on and offsite). Position reports into CEO. Preferred Skills & Experience 10+ years’ experience in CPG, preferably plush, collectables, novelties, stationery, toys, cosmetics. Management experience of a team 10+ people. Degree in related field; graphic art, illustration, and packaging. Expert latest Adobe Software (Illustrator and Photoshop). Well organized and have excellent communication skills. Good mechanical/production skills with excellent use of typography, layout, and design. Experience in Lifestyle / Toy packaging preferable; girls and/or preschool branded packaging a plus. Web design and development a plus. Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and multitask. Lead the development of big ideas that are on-brand, on trend and can translate across marketing communications- including print, web, and social media. Prioritize multiple projects at any given time and efficiently deliver on time. Art Direct, lead creative, manage, and inspire resources inside and outside the company. Knowledge and fluency of social platforms, a passion for what’s happening in culture. Maintain ownership of work from concept through final delivery while appropriately communicating with supervisor to ensure alignment. Excellent and persuasive presentation skills to gain buy-in from key stakeholders across the organization is required. Versed and on-top of current trends (art, pop culture, design & typography, advertising, social media, digital, entertainment, etc.) Excellent computer skills: Adobe Suite, and all relevant software tied to graphic design, and content creation. Demonstrate ability to translate core branding equities and tone through a variety marketing activation. Demonstrate ability to lead and inspire, with an openness to learn from others. Ability to see large picture while not losing focus of details. Ability to mentor and train new designers. Tapped into global youth-oriented design, marketing campaigns and trends. Talent recruitment for company expansion. #J-18808-Ljbffr

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