Director of Creative

Role Overview

• Defines and drives the creative vision for proposal development, ensuring every deliverable reflects Access’s brand voice, business goals, and commitment to innovation.
• Aligns creative systems, tools, and processes with departmental and organizational priorities to enhance storytelling, strengthen sales performance, and support scalable growth.
• Serves as the creative brand steward—guiding visual identity, messaging consistency, and trend positioning across all destinations and client touchpoints.
• Leads forward-looking design strategies by translating cultural shifts, audience behaviors, and industry innovations into compelling creative direction and actionable concepts.
• Facilitates national trend workshops and cross-functional inspiration sessions that spark ideation, elevate brand expression, and unify the creative voice across teams.
• Oversees financial stewardship within creative development—leading budget planning, aligning costing strategies with leadership targets, and coaching teams to balance innovation with profitability.
• Defines creative data priorities and Salesforce reporting standards to enhance forecasting accuracy, performance visibility, and vendor alignment across all markets.
• Utilizes Salesforce to monitor team goals, Hustle activities, and overall territory health—partnering with the director team to drive data-informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Oversees creative asset management, ensuring efficient organization, retrieval, and ROI tracking to maximize value and streamline proposal workflows.
• Leads the national creative sourcing strategy, balancing innovation, sustainability, DEI, and operational efficiency to strengthen the creative supply chain.
• Establishes scalable vendor initiatives that promote speed-to-market, exclusivity, and brand-aligned customization while maintaining ethical and financial integrity.
• Partners with Procurement and Finance to refine contract structures, pricing models, and vendor performance metrics, ensuring accountability through scorecards, audits, and escalation pathways.
• Represents creative sourcing in senior leadership forums—advocating for supplier innovation, strategic partnerships, and relationships that reflect and elevate Access’s brand standards and market leadership.
• Leads the long-term creative strategy across all markets, ensuring proposals consistently drive client retention, revenue growth, and brand positioning while elevating Access’s industry presence.
• Aligns every major creative output with broader company objectives—delivering measurable business impact through strategic storytelling, brand integrity, and operational feasibility.
• Serves as a strategic thought partner to Sales and Executive Leadership, shaping how Access is positioned as the destination industry leader in creativity and innovation.
• Provides national vision and strategic counsel across regions to ensure cohesion, innovation, and elevated creative storytelling company-wide.
• Champions creative innovation that both meets and redefines client expectations—leveraging Access’s brand authority to push boundaries while staying grounded in financial and operational realities.
• Mentors senior creative leaders to think beyond the proposal—to pitch, position, and partner with strategic intent—and embeds this mindset across the team through systems, frameworks, and training.
• Serves as the primary liaison between Creative, Sales, Events, and Executive Leadership—driving alignment on vision, priorities, and execution while strengthening cross-functional collaboration.
• Models trust, transparency, and accountability across teams, fostering a culture grounded in clarity, communication, and shared success.
• Leads team summits, Creative town halls, and milestone celebrations that communicate direction, reinforce culture, and unify the department under common goals.
• Champions a culture of creative excellence through department-wide coaching systems, consistent feedback loops, and alignment sessions designed to elevate both people and process.
• Mentors Associate Directors and senior leaders through strategic guidance, trust-based delegation, and individualized development plans—building a strong pipeline of executive-ready talent.
• Drives performance tracking and growth planning through KPIs such as win rate, client retention, and creative influence; translates organizational goals into actionable creative strategies tailored to client complexity and regional needs.
• Leads department-wide time and capacity planning through strategic forecasting, prioritization frameworks, and cross-functional resource alignment to ensure balanced workloads and optimized
• Establishes scalable processes, tools, and systems that streamline workflows, reduce inefficiencies, and increase creative throughput across markets and teams.
• Anticipates creative and operational challenges tied to market shifts, client demand, or team dynamics, proactively developing scalable, future-ready solutions.
• Serves as a stabilizing force during uncertainty—guiding the team with transparency, humor, and strategic clarity while maintaining focus on outcomes.
• Drives a culture of sustainable performance by setting clear expectations, monitoring KPIs, and empowering leaders to manage capacity and adapt to evolving business priorities.
• Champions process standardization and continuous improvement, turning obstacles into opportunities to enhance collaboration, strengthen brand consistency, and fuel long-term growth

Requirements

• 7+ years of creative experience in a DMC or a related industry such as hospitality or events.
• Comfort with Salesforce with an understanding of the platform’s feature's ability to understand and analyze reports to share insights and identify trends.
• Verifiable knowledge and relationships in the specific, local destination.
• Successful negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• At least 3 years experience leading high-performing sales teams and achieving KPI targets.
• Strong experience with Social Tables, Canva, AI products and diagramming.
• Solution-Oriented Mindset: Proactive and the tendency to take initiative to contribute to the success of self and team.
• Customer Service: Obsession with providing excellent customer service and a passion for the hospitality and special events industry.
• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to communicate effectively and build positive relationships, both internally and externally.
• Flexibility: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, changing environment while meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations.

Tech Stack

• Spark

Benefits

• Certified as a Great Place to Work – 3 years in a row!
• 55+ years in the industry!
• Women-owned and women-led
• Fun, creative, and supportive culture
• Focus on recognition and employee value – including annual and quarterly awards
• Paid day off to serve your local community
• Annual all-company retreat to connect, learn, and have fun together
• Annual qualifier-based incentive trip for top performers (certain departments eligible)
• Regional team outings
• Monthly companywide meetings to connect, learn, and celebrate wins
• Highly competitive total compensation, including strong base salary and quarterly bonuses
• Very strong performance-based quarterly commission plans
• 401k with company match (eligible after 1 year – up to 4% of salary matched, vested immediately
• Monthly cell phone stipend
• Work from home opportunities and flexibility (including full home office setup)
• Flexible schedule opportunities
• Generous PTO
• Sick days
• 9 full holidays
• 5 half days off prior to holidays to unplug early
• 2 floating holidays off to be used on holidays of your choice
• ½ day Fridays in July & August (based on achievement of goals)
• Extensive menu of health plans to choose from
• Paid parental leave
• Pet insurance program
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)
• Mentorship program
• “Masterclasses” in industry/department-specific topics
• State-of-the-art technology platforms and tools – including training
• Annual and monthly meeting content that focuses on professional development