Creative Director

Introducing Ounass: a homegrown & luxury e-commerce platform, catering to the Middle Eastern customers across a realm of categories including fine jewellery. We strive to inspire creativity and personality identity by being THE luxury technology platform in emerging markets. Ounass offers incredibly fast-delivery services without affecting the unparallel luxury offering, which makes us unique while providing a dedicated Personal Shopping service as well. Ounass falls under the Al Tayer umbrella - a renowned family-owned group in the ME with its headquarters based in the ever happening and multi-cultural Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Having a team of 300 employees spread across the globe, we're highly diverse consisting of over 34 different nationalities, ensuring inclusivity and a strong cultural foothold. Our young and vibrant team of 300 is extremely ambitious and is constantly innovating while growing the brand name and position.

Currently, we are on the lookout for a Creative Director to join our exciting and dynamic Art-Editorial-Content team. The role requires both, immense luxury fashion knowledge and creative aesthetic and the ability to strategize and conceptualize large scale campaigns.

Job Purpose

The Creative director is responsible for conceptualizing, creating, driving, and implementing the visual content and design strategy for a wide variety of fashion forward, on-brand visual campaigns across Ounass platforms including landing pages, emails, banners, video, social media, enhancements, and homepages to drive engagement and revenue growth.  The Creative Director is managing a team of creative designers, fashion editors, Videographer, production, and Art directors.

Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic Roles and Responsibilities

Conceptualizing, creating, driving, and implementing the visual content and design strategy for a wide variety of fashion forward, on-brand visual campaigns across Ounass platforms

Functional Roles and Responsibilities

• Strategizing and implementing visual design and content driven commerce strategy for Ounass, including all packaging, social pages, digital and web through partners and collaborators
• Directing the Editorial and Content team to collaborate, iterate and conceptualize creative campaigns
• Conceptualizing and design marketing initiatives, taking projects from brief to execution, with the flexibility of generating multiple comms when needed and the ability to translate designs for multiple digital devices
• Developing creative vision, guide the creative development and execution for visual identity and messaging across all aspects of the brand experience including all channels.
• Creating, update ad-maintained brand guidelines and visual tone of voice
• Leading across all aspects of creative, from developing creative concepts to producing inspirational visuals
• Guiding the editorial fashion team to bring to life commercially driven campaigns that are shot per the brand guidelines
• Conceptualizing, designing, and monitoring interactive prototypes for innovative digital campaigns and services across all digital marketing touch points (web, app, social), to engage the customer.
• Partnering on business strategy and play the critical role of bringing the strategy to life creatively across a host of marketing channels as well as on our online platforms.
• Strategizing and providing a context for the creative teams to develop aspirational brand imagery that inspires brands and customers. Leading the creation of world-class, beautiful visuals that support and reinforce the vision in keeping with the business and marketing strategy for the brand.
• Collaborating with key stakeholders to set the strategy of how design brings the brand to life and use this strategy to guide the priorities and output of the creative team.
• Working closely with CRM team, digital merchandising team, styling team, product managers, other internal departments to ensure a unified approach to providing an engaging brand experience for the customer
• Bringing essential new ideas and leading the editorial, content, social, creative and production partners, so that innovation can be executed for the company.
• Adopting performance data, and developing future creative strategy based on these insights
• Overseeing the implementation of creative ideas to ensure pixel-perfect implementation of designs
• Staying abreast of the evolving media, technology and design landscape including the emergence of new standards, protocols, and devices to create world-class marketing experiences
• Managing and lead creative reviews and presentations, while successfully presenting concepts and powerful narratives for senior management, to influence business and creative decisions.
• Leverage external relationships to bring the most exceptional freelancers and vendors to projects as needed.
• Working closely with trading, Buying, and planning to develop creative briefs that translate their objectives to high-level creative execution.
• Leading and inspire the creative team including art direction, graphic design, video & photo production.
• Understanding and strategically apply the latest platform/industry/creative trends and digital best practices, always seeking the next opportunity in this space for the brand.
• Responsible for understanding site architecture, user interfaces and navigation.
• Working on multiple projects concurrently, ensuring deliverables are achieved on time while maintaining the highest quality

People Management Roles and Responsibilities

• Building and guiding a talented in-house creative team of, Art Directors, Digital Designers, Fashion Editors, Producers, and videographers to push their limits and explore new paths that create an emotional connection with the portfolio brands and inspire demand for our products.

Education/Certification and Continued Education

Bachelors or master’s degree in fine arts/Graphic Design/Visual Communications

Years of Experience

• 10+ years of hands-on experience working on a digital native, social first direct to consumer brand.
• 5+ years of experience leading cross functional creative teams to drive breakthrough results

Knowledge and Skills

• Have experience in leading creative teams as well as building deep partnerships with their business partners, thus they must be able to fluidly shift from analytical discussions to more subjective, non-linear creative endeavors.
• Advanced knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
• Deep ecommerce experience, including editorial and UX experience.
• Effectiveness in managing the creative process from concept to completion
• Capability to translate marketing objectives into clear creative strategies
• Proficiency in overseeing profitability, deliverables, timelines and budgets
• Out-of-the-box creative thinking skills coupled with a pragmatic and realistic approach.
• High energy, positive team player who works well in a complex, fast-paced, changing environment
• Fluent in the digital and mobile space
• Must be highly organized, able to pick up things quickly, and create processes that scale in a highly dynamic, rapidly evolving environment
• Strong business acumen, with a solid understanding of how to achieve business objectives while meeting an expected brand standard and high bar for aesthetic.
• Keen ability to develop and tell stories using visual content