Staff work a hybrid schedule with 2 days/week in the office
Are you passionate about animals, people and the place we call home? IFAW is looking for a Brand & Art Director to help grow the IFAW brand and make IFAW a household name around the world, creating innovative brand campaigns and impactful creative.
The Brand & Art Director will be the steward or IFAW's brand, visual system, and creative execution. They will have strong creative vision and a talent for brand campaign ideation and execution, as well as experience establishing a brand with new audiences and growing overall brand awareness. They will oversee several multi-channel, major campaigns-from big-picture conception to detailed execution-in priority markets each year, and act as a consultant for other initiatives. They will have experience managing people and a design function, and recoginize that every piece of creative is an important opportunity for IFAW to solidify our brand and build a brand connection with our audience. The Brand & Art Director will understand that our own employees are our best brand ambassadors, and will provide support to safeguard the integrity of the brand while enabling the team to move forward and get critical work done. As part of the Content Marketing team, the Brand & Art Director will collaborate closely with asset management, editorial, social, and video functions, as well as the broader Communications team. They will also liaise across the organization to bring other departments in line with our brand visual system.
Role and Responsibilities
- Drive the development of brand campaign strategies in partnership with the Deputy Vice President of Content Marketing.
- Collaborate across the organization and with external agencies to conceive and deliver best-in-class brand marketing, multi-channel campaigns.
- Serve as the brand strategic advisor to leaders and stakeholders across the organization, advocating for brand consistency with a collaborative but firm approach.
- Own the campaign briefs for brand initiatives, and contribute brand feedback to a broad array of Communications campaigns.
- Oversee our annual Animal Action Awards campaign, from strategic planning to detailed execution.
- Think creatively about the best way to drive awareness on a lean brand budget, and manage that budget to maximize returns.
- Experiment with ways to share the IFAW brand with new audiences to help us fulfill our goal of making IFAW a household name.
- Oversee design execution, managing all design resources to ensure that each job represents our brand and reflects our best work.
- Collaborate closely with asset management and editorial functions, recognizing that effectively pairing imagery and copy with creative is essential to IFAW's brand.
- Help establish and communicate SLAs for all design work that flows through the team.
- Review and approve brand and design collateral, conducting quality assurance and signing off on final work.
- Manage the strategic relationship with Superside, our subscription design service.
- Manage the Brand Campaign and Design Project Manager to ensure that all design jobs and campaign work follow a clear process and are completed on time.
- Manage the design budget.
- Oversee the IFAW shop, working with the Brand Campaign and Design Project Manager, evolving it to drive both revenue and brand awareness.
- Monitor proper brand execution in local markets, providing feedback to local managers as necessary to safeguard brand integrity.
- Be a champion and ambassador for the brand, ensuring that it remains relevant for our audiences and developing new directions and/or assets to ensure continued relevance and impact.
- Develop, track, and measure KPIs to track success and identify areas for improvement and opportunities.
- Have the graphic design chops to jump and execute a job if necessary, understanding that we're a small, lean team where people play many roles.
Qualifications and Education Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in graphic design or a similar discipline preferred
- 8 plus years of relevant experience, including time in graphic design and Art Director roles, and at least a few years experience managing staff, freelancers, and/or agencies
- Strong experience and demonstrated leadership in brand campaign ideation and execution, and a knack for compelling storytelling
- An ability to learn, dissect and distil highly-complex subject matter
- Demonstrated track record of success in developing, prioritising and managing integrated, multi-channel ROI-oriented marketing strategies
- Ability to think big picture but also keep on top of the details of execution
- Experience providing counsel to senior leaders
- Experience managing both direct reports and external resources
- Energy, initiative and "roll up your sleeves" attitude
- Excellent teamwork and communication skills
- Ability to manage pressure, meet deadlines and monitor and evaluate results
- Extremely well organised; able to effectively multitask while maintaining professionalism and composure
- Able to prioritise and manage time effectively, and to balance competing demands and priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Flexible, diplomatic, detail-orientated style with professional, positive manner
At IFAW, we aim to create and foster a workforce that reflects and contributes to the diverse, global community in which we work to improve the lives of both animals and people. We are dedicated to fostering justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion so we actively encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds.