Creative Director

Senators Sports & Entertainment brings world-class hockey and entertainment to the National Capital Region through premier events and a winning team, on and off the ice. With a sustained culture of excellence and innovation, coupled with an unwavering commitment to outstanding guest and fan experience, Senators Sports & Entertainment is a source of pride and a pillar of leadership in the Ottawa-Gatineau community.

Committed to delivering memorable entertainment experiences, building a strong community, and creating fans for life, Senators Sports & Entertainment strongly values integrity, commitment, innovation, passion and perseverance.

The organization owns and operates the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, Canadian Tire Centre, and the Belleville Senators. It also operates Ottawa Black Bears lacrosse, manages multi-use Sensplex facilities across the National Capital Region, and works in partnership with the Senators Community Foundation.

**Position Summary**:
If you have expertise in design, love great copy, inspire people around you, and have a passion for sports & entertainment, the position of Creative Director for Senators Sports & Entertainment could be for you. We are on the search for a leader who can inspire and challenge a team of highly engaged designers, creating work that will engage our fans, build our brands, and drive commercial results.

In your role you will report to the Senior Vice President, Marketing and Customer Engagement, and will interact daily with Senior Leaders and their respective departments including Ticketing, Premium Products, Corporate Partnerships, Senators Community Foundation and Building Operations.

**Responsibilities**:
As a Team Leader, you are a Creative Director who is a doer, a coach, and a cheerleader. You materially contribute to brand and campaign development that drives our business as well that of our valued corporate partners.

In addition, you will:

- Act as the Senators Sports & Entertainment primary point of contact for all creative matters, striving to deeply understand and fluently converse about our inter-department and external client needs, key challenges, and messaging
- Translate strategic creative briefs into fresh, compelling, effective creative that you ensure are delivered on brief, on time
- Lead the creative design process to support the delivery of business plans supporting the SSE brand portfolio (Ottawa Senators, Senators Community Foundation, Canadian Tire Centre and Ottawa Black Bears)
- Direct your creative team at every project phase, from kick-off through to delivery
- Contribute insights, and deliver the creative vision, for a revamped Ottawa Senators brand identity
- Effectively communicate ideas, design rationales, copy choices and feedback to internal partners and external clients
- Drive best-in-class marketing automation creative to support ticket sales and retention, leveraging customer segmentation and insight-driven communication strategies
- Liaise closely with SSE Brand team and AOR partner in the development of communication strategies, media buying, and customer acquisition efforts
- Direct ongoing building and mentoring of your team, which includes fostering an inspiring, trusting environment and ensuring that individuals have what they need to succeed in their jobs (e.g., tools, skills, equipment) and that they are being challenged creatively and strategically in their roles
- Function as a cross-platform innovator for SSE, leading ideation processes for new creative and communication strategies to better connect and interact with fans
- Be curious
- ask tough questions (where appropriate/necessary), encourage fresh perspectives and solutions

**Requirements**:

- Minimum of seven (7) years of experience as a creative leader, or in a similar role
- Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to inspire the creative team to give their best
- Award-worthy conceptual, creative, and strategic skills: Senators Sports & Entertainment is looking for someone with a deep understanding of visual creative and who understands the value of strong copy and the association to the written side of creative
- Superior administrative skills: optimize creative process ROE (return on effort) for your team
- A deep understanding of new media platforms, digital trends, and nontraditional opportunities to build brand awareness and business growth
- The ability to be a patient listener and confident communicator
- A demonstrated ability to motivate team members and create an environment in which award-winning creative work can happen
- An ability to work to tight deadlines and juggle multiple projects