Creative Director, Design

Are you excited by the opportunity to lead a team of designers to elevate a brand’s visuals through creative strategy, mentorship and empowerment? Sprout Social’s Brand Creative team is looking for an experienced Creative Director to lead our team of designers to create elegant, purposeful and modern design work that sets the bar for all SaaS companies.

As a Creative Director responsible for leading our visual design discipline, you will lead your team to solve complex design problems that drive brand awareness, increase revenue and grow customer loyalty, in partnership with other creative disciplines (copy, video, web, dev and UX) and our Marketing partners.

Our people leaders strengthen our team, processes, culture and work. In concert with your peer Creative Managers and Design Leadership, you’ll help Sprout continue to be a great place to practice your craft as a designer. You’ll sharpen the skills of your direct reports, plan org-wide design education, improve rituals, bolster critiques, and influence creative strategy.

While you should be excited about working across the organization with a variety of business partners and solving challenges that require creative expertise, we want you to be equally excited about individual mentorship and career development with the skills to coach individuals through low performance and hard times and celebrate wins. You are someone that spends time building team rituals that strengthen team culture. Your impact is all about creating the conditions that make great design happen every day. Your approach is driven by highly refined visual design skills, art direction, critical thinking and expertise in visual strategy and you're hungry to share this knowledge. As a leader, you will also be laser-focused on developing your team of designers into better versions of themselves.

If you have an extensive background in digital, brand design and visual design, we’d love to talk with you.

Within 1 month, you will...

• Complete Sprout’s New Hire training program alongside other new Sprout team members.
• Meet with Creative leadership and discuss everything from team structure to goals for the organization. 
• Meet with key partners in the Marketing organization to understand current goals, challenges and areas where design can provide the most value. 
• Get exposure and build relationships with other creative disciplines (copy, video, web and UX). 
• Set up regular touchpoints with your direct reports. 
• Meet with Project Management to develop an understanding of the team’s current process and structure. 
• Familiarize yourself with Sprout’s brand (including our family of products). 
• Immerse yourself in Sprout’s brand positioning and how it relates to the story that we want to tell. 
• Soak up knowledge from every corner of the org!

Within 3 months, you will...

• Review all visual design projects, working with individuals to produce on-brand work while championing the quality of our design deliverables throughout the process. 
• Influence a strong culture of design critique and collaboration, ensuring our designers and our work are held to a high-quality standard. 
• Provide guidance to designers on a project basis to ensure creative execution aligns with the Marketing organization’s goals. 
• Provide art direction and inspire creativity amongst everyone across design disciplines. 
• Have a good understanding of the product, our industry and Sprout’s customer base.
• Collaborate with Marketing leaders to understand the roadmap of upcoming projects and required resourcing. 
• Regularly meet with your direct reports to discuss career goals and growth. 
• Weigh in on resourcing; helping align design skill sets to various areas of the business.
• Coordinate with Creative leaders to ensure we are telling compelling stories across various mediums.

Within 6 months, you will...

• Contribute to our design education program in a way that promotes design maturity. 
• Work with stakeholders throughout the organization to evangelize brand standards and design thinking. 
• Successfully implement changes in how we approach creative work and have tangible results from your impact. 
• Collaborate with Product Design to ensure visual excellence and alignment between brand and product vision.

Within 12 months, you will...

• Spend more time with executives on long-term vision for the team and organizational planning. 
• Who knows! Part of joining a company at this size and growth curve is being comfortable with some unknowns, and an evolving set of responsibilities!

Note: An online portfolio showcasing your work is required for consideration.

Of course, what is outlined above is the ideal timeline, but things may shift based on business needs and other projects and tasks could be added at the discretion of your manager.

These are the minimum qualifications that our hiring team is looking for in this role:

• 3+ years of experience managing a team of visual designers 
• 10+ years of experience in a design role, partnering with other creative disciplines 
• An online portfolio showcasing your work

Additionally, these are the preferred qualifications that would indicate a particularly strong candidate:

• Experience working in an in-house creative team 
• Experience working for a SaaS company

We’re proud to regularly be recognized for software, product and company culture achievements. Our team’s shared belief in Sprout’s mission promotes a culture of openness, empowerment and fun. We have built a benefits program to match the strength of our team. This program includes:

• Insurance and benefit options that are built for both individuals and families, including generous company contributions 
• Progressive benefit offerings like our parental leave program 
• High-quality and well-maintained equipment - your computer will never prevent you from doing your best whether you are in an office or working remotely 
• State of the art offices in cities where Sprout has physical locations (Chicago and Seattle) for those that prefer an office setting 
• Solid programs in some of the staples: medical coverage, disability and life insurance 
• Wellness initiatives to ensure both health and financial well-being of our team 
• Growing corporate social responsibility program that is driven by the involvement and passion of our team members