Creative Director

About the Role

Museum of Ice Cream is a visual, physical and social brand built to create joy, connection and wonder. Millions of guests have experienced our pink worlds. Our next chapter is about evolving that recognition into a culturally relevant global brand with a clear point of view and creative work people actively want to experience, talk about and share.

The Creative Director will lead that evolution. Reporting to the SVP of Brand & Marketing, this person will lead MOIC’s Creative and Social teams, set the creative vision and manage the talent and resources required to bring it to life.

We are looking for a proven people manager with a foundation in visual design or art direction, deep agency experience, exceptional taste and cultural fluency. They have built integrated campaigns and brought brands to life through physical experiences, while also leading the evolution of visual identities, brand systems and guidelines. They understand that the strongest idea can move seamlessly from an ad to a social conversation, a brand partnership, a museum experience or a scoop of ice cream. They can lead the work at every altitude without needing to personally write, design or produce every execution.

What You Will Lead

• Lead MOIC’s brand evolution, defining the visual identity, creative system and practical guidelines that make the brand unmistakable and usable across teams, markets and partners.
• Partner with the SVP of Brand & Marketing to turn brand and business strategy into focused briefs, powerful ideas and distinctive creative platforms.
• Lead the development of integrated campaign concepts and direct the team’s execution across advertising, social, content, PR, partnerships, lifecycle, digital products and physical experiences.
• Build cultural relevance by identifying the conversations, collaborators and creative opportunities where MOIC can contribute something original, rather than simply following trends.
• Partner with the VP of Experience Creative, who leads product and experience design, to ensure the brand system and the guest experience evolve as one.
• Manage and develop the Creative team and Director of Social, setting a clear creative bar, coaching direct reports and supporting their career growth. Align social’s creative direction with the broader brand while the Director of Social leads channel strategy, content planning and community management.
• Direct the brand and campaign expression of major partnerships, activations and new museum openings. Partner with Experience Design on museum experiences and with Production on fabrication and logistics, maintaining clear ownership of creative direction.
• Set the vision for photography, film, design, content and experiential work, directing internal and external specialists from concept through final delivery.
• Build the right creative ecosystem across employees, agencies, freelancers, artists, creators, directors and production partners.
• Create a focused briefing, review and approval process that improves the work, accelerates decisions and makes priorities clear.
• Partner closely with Growth, Partnerships, PR, Experience Design and Operations so creative ambition connects to audience insight, commercial opportunity and what guests actually experience.
• Present work with clarity and conviction, explaining what makes an idea right for the brand, relevant to the audience and valuable to the business.
• Partner with the SVP of Brand & Marketing, Marketing Operations and Production to prioritize work, allocate resources and deliver within approved budgets.

How Success is Measured

• MOIC becomes more distinctive, recognizable and culturally relevant.
• The brand evolution creates a clear creative system that strengthens consistency without limiting imagination.
• Integrated creative ideas travel across channels and experiences while driving brand desire, engagement and visitation.
• Major campaigns, partnerships and new museum openings launch with strong ideas and exceptional execution.
• Creative performance improves across paid media, social, website, lifecycle and other conversion channels.
• The Creative and Social teams are inspired, well led and clear on priorities, standards and decision-making.
• MOIC has the internal talent, external partners and ways of working required to create ambitious work sustainably.

The salary range for this role is between $180,000 - $210,000 USD, dependent on experience, as well as an annual bonus and options. 

*Please note: While multiple job postings may appear, this is for one open hire need. Candidates must be located in New York City or Los Angeles. 

Requirements

What You Bring

• 10+ years of progressive experience in design, art direction and creative leadership, including significant experience within leading creative or advertising agencies and leadership of multidisciplinary teams and senior creative talent.
• An exceptional, design- and art-direction-led portfolio showing original integrated campaign concepts, visual identity and brand-system work, and physical or experiential activations. Clearly explain your personal contribution, conceptual thinking and craft decisions.
• A record of leading a meaningful consumer-brand evolution, including developing or redefining the visual identity, brand expression, creative system and guidelines, then successfully bringing that work into market.
• Experience translating a central creative idea across physical experiences and digital channels, from broad awareness through conversion.
• Cultural fluency and the judgment to distinguish a meaningful brand opportunity from a passing trend.
• Demonstrated experience managing Creative and Social direct reports, including hiring, coaching, performance feedback and career development. Experience directing agencies, freelancers and production partners should complement this people-management experience.
• Strong conceptual and editorial instincts, including the ability to evaluate how visual and verbal ideas work together. Professional copywriting experience is not required.
• Excellent taste and craft judgment across art direction, design, typography, photography, film, spatial expression and storytelling.
• The ability to balance long-term brand building with urgent, highly visible commercial priorities.
• Clear, persuasive communication and the confidence to make decisions, give direct feedback, defend the work and collaborate without ego.

Nice to Have

• Experience in entertainment, hospitality, attractions, travel, fashion, food and beverage, retail or another culture- and experience-led consumer brand.
• Experience supporting multiple physical locations or launching brands and experiences in new markets.
• Experience extending a brand into products, packaging, collaborations, fashion or food and beverage.
• Experience building or evolving a creative organization during a period of growth and change.

Benefits

The Good Stuff:

• Competitive pay
• Annual bonus 
• Stock options
• 401k, with match
• PTO and sick time
• Medical, dental, vision
• Perks including Classpass, commuter discounts, employee assistance program, and, of course, unlimited ice cream 
• Employee development opportunities
• 16 free museum tickets per year for friends and family, with free entry for self 
• 50% off retail products 
• Ability to advance within the organization

Museum of Ice Cream is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company.  We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law