Creative Director

The Creative Director position involves the supervision of the Creative, Display, Packaging Design Teams, and prototyping center at our Shakopee location. Tasked with leading creative design discussions with clients, the individual focuses on innovative solutions and fostering long-term partnerships. Collaborating closely with Imagine Studio, leadership, sales, and R&D, the Creative Director ensures the production of visually impactful products and displays. This role demands a can-do attitude, strong problem-solving skills, innovative thinking, and effective cross-team collaboration to achieve efficient outcomes within tight timelines and budgets. The Creative Director takes the lead in strategic design conversations, emphasizing innovation and cultivating enduring client relationships.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide effective leadership to the TC based design team and prototyping center 
• Build capability to meet prototyping needs for Imagine Studio rapid prototyping needs. 
• Build trusted advisor relationships with sales and meet design needs for prioritized opportunities. 
• Build a working knowledge of Imagine enterprise capabilities to ensure designs can be brought to implementation for our clients. 
• Recommend creative approaches to meet client needs for timeline and budget and position them for market success. 
• Raise the bar on innovative, creative solutions, motivating and challenging design teams to produce industry leading work. 
• Proactively bring new ideas, creative concepts and design solutions to client work. 
• Present ideas and recommendations effectively, in an engaging, confidence-building manner, both in prepared presentations and extemporaneously in client meetings. 
• Create, design, and output multi-dimensional POP displays and documentation utilizing ArtiosCAD software and Adobe suite. 
• Design & output drawings, die lines, and samples. 
• Coach and mentor team and provide ongoing feedback to strengthen techniques, strategies, and client growth. 
• Create training and development plans that help team members grow and evolve with the business. 
• Focuses own and the team’s efforts on achieving SMART objectives aligned to the company’s strategic imperatives 
• Participate in implementation of process improvement for internal/external customers through data collection, standardized procedures, and teamwork. 
• Identify and streamline processes and factors to improve customer standards, reduce process variation overhead, and improve capabilities. 
• Travel both locally and nationally as required. 
• Work safely and abide by established safety policies and procedures. 
• Identify and follow-up on unsafe conditions.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Will supervise a team of Creative, Graphic Display, Packaging Designers and the prototyping center 
• Work with Sales, Operations, and other Creative Leaders across the Imagine sites.

Mandatory Qualifications:

• Minimum of bachelor’s degree in advertising, design, or related field 
• 10+ years management experience 
• 7+ years design experience with a display/fixture company, packaging, or equivalent. 
• Ability to work fully onsite at our facility in Shakopee, MN

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong experience with Artios CAD software 
• Ability to think outside the box and deliver “big ideas” that help our clients 
• Experience with strategy planning, and messaging frameworks for large-scale print campaigns 
• Experience with managing creative and or design teams 
• Evidence of strong leadership skills and creativity 
• Keen eye for details 
• Preferred experience with 3D rendering/visualization software In depth experience with manufacturing of printed materials (including inks, substrates, and coatings)

Knowledge and Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 
• Proven experience in technology and digital product development, including relevant tools
• Strong knowledge of print and marketing KPIs 
• Excellent sense of design. 
• Ability to assess costs and quote prices for prospective clients. 
• Experience in Microsoft Office Suite or related software (PowerPoint) and presentation skills 
• Graphic design software such as Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator/Photoshop) 
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail 
• Understanding of, or ability to learn, art and print methods that relate to the organization’s product and packaging needs