Creative Director

On Board Experiential; Hawthorne (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance

Profit Sharing/Bonus Plan

401(k)

PTO

Hybrid schedule

Job summary

On Board Experiential, a global experiential marketing agency, seeks a Creative Director to drive transformative ideas and lead cross‑functional teams. You will shape strategic briefs, guide art direction, and inspire innovative campaigns for top brands.

You will mentor designers, writers, strategists, and technologists, elevating the agency’s creative output while staying ahead of industry trends and DEI practices. Hybrid in-office schedule with travel up to 50% is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Design or related field.
• Proven leadership and experience in experiential marketing and leading cross‑functional teams.
• Strong storytelling, strategic thinking, and ability to translate insights into creative work.
• Experience collaborating with strategists, designers, artists and technologists.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire cross‑functional teams to deliver award‑winning experiential campaigns.
• Guide strategic development of integrated experiential and virtual marketing campaigns across all project phases.
• Ensure project goals, timelines and budgets are met with high creative quality.
• Mentor and manage creative staff and freelancers; influence hiring in the department.

Skills

Leadership

Storytelling

Strategic thinking

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing/Communications/Design

Tools

MacOS

Adobe Creative Cloud

Keynote

Microsoft Office

Google Apps

Job description

About On Board Experiential (OBE)

OBE is a global marketing agency that brings brands to life through culture-shaping experiences. For more than 30 years,we’vepartnered with iconic brands - including Nike, the NFL,JPMorganChase, Meta, Sephora, Starbucks, and Converse - to build community, create cultural relevance, and drive measurable business impact. With offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and London, we activate globally. OBE is also a founding member of The ADD Collective, extending our reach and resources while staying true to our core capabilities.

We’vebeen recognized by Event Marketer as one of the best places to work in events - and wecouldn’tagree more.

The most important part of our business is our people. They are hardworking, imaginative, and make genuinely remarkable things happen. But behind every great activation is a human who deserves rest, connection, and a life outside of work.That’swhy we invest in recovery days, company offsites, happy hours, and the kind of friendly-but-competitive fitness challenges that bond teams for life.

We show up for each other - in open conversations that heal, inspire, and bring us closer. We want to hear about your lived experiences, your unconventional ideas, and theperspectives onlyyou can bring. Being unapologetically yourselfisn’tjust welcome here.It’spart of the job.

We are considering candidates for any of our office locations: San Francisco (Mill Valley) and Los Angeles

SUMMARY OF POSITION

As Creative Director, you bring big, transformative ideas to the table andmotivatecross-functional teams to realize grand visions.You examine all aspects of client problems and briefs to create thoughtful,viableand unexpected creative solutions.As an experienced creative that blendsvisionarystrategic thinking and art direction, you work to inspire game-changing ideas in collaboration with our team of experts and articulate them into clearand powerfulconcepts. You’rea true team player withexpertisein experiential marketingstrategy. Yourleadership elevatesthe agency’s creative output, resulting in award-winning work. You have the passion and creative chops to crank up brand impact for some of the world’sleading companies.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

CREATIVE LEADERSHIP

• Thoughtfully develop and present winning new business pitches thatexpandbusiness relationships and agency opportunities.
• Understand and work within project parameters,includingclient goals and requirements, internal goals, audience experience, technical constraints,budgetandtimelineto create industry-leading creative work.
• Elevate the work. Lead Creative project teamsbyconsistentlyclarifyingteam dynamics andnext steps,monitoringprogress,providinghelpful critique, and infusingbig ideasinto the work, andthusconsistentlydeliveringinspired creative workthat meets or exceedsclient expectations.
• Guideand contribute tostrategic development of integrated experientialandvirtual marketing campaigns throughout all phases of a project, overseeing planning, concept development,designand implementation.“Get your hands dirty”by producing and guiding fantastic work that solves our clients’ business challenges in unique and innovative ways.
• Be the conduit between upfront strategy development and design exploration and execution:
  • STRATEGY: Clarify and anchor the client brief, objectives and KPIs; conduct primary and secondary research on the brand, audience, and other key project elements, distill and curate ideas based on strategic insights, contribute best-in-class storytelling and copywriting, validate recommendations with clear strategic rationale, pivot and adjust with strategic excellence, etc.
  • ART DIRECTION: Coordinate with diverse design talent to bring together the best possible aesthetics that are simultaneously on-brand and forward-looking.
• Interface with internal teams, vendors, and clients for creative sell-in and review.
• Remain current with industry trends and techniques, striving for best-in-class output across allfacetsof ideation, strategy, art direction and beyond.
  • CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE: Stay up to date on current events, culturally relevant movements and happenings, DE&I best practices and terminology, and a vast range of subject matter that enhances the work, heightens your ability to collaborate with diverse talent, and creates an inclusive environment for expressing authentic and diverse perspectives.
  • AUDIENCE-CENTRICITY: Foster deep understanding and empathy for the given brand’s intended audience that enhances the work.

CREATIVE PROCESS

• Act as the catalyst that mixes and translates ideas, pushes concepts, and finds the best way to push our overall creative and design output.
• Conductandparticipateinboth internal and clientbrainstorming sessions,workshops, and idea rakesdesigned toward specific outputs and solutions that address client’s strategicand tactical business needs.
• Develop robust KPI plans per program that prove ROI for clients and further business relationships.
• Coordinate withtalent andresources, including vendors, photographers, printers, fabricators, freelancers,weband interactive contractors, to complete creative materials for eachprojectthat add value.
• Recap and reflect on all creative pitches and projectsin order toshare key learnings and elevatethe work.

AGENCY PROCESS+ IMPACT

• Collaboratewith Account,Productionand Technologyteamleads to ensure all client deliverables arebeing metona timelybasis with consistency and high quality.Stay aligned with your team to fostercamaraderieand industry-leading work that is also profitable.
• Contributetoguiding and streamliningbest practices and standard processes to drive the agency’s capabilitiesand collaborationpracticesforward.
• Be a sponge for industry trends, sharing insights and inspiration with the agency at large.

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT+ GROWTH

• Encourage curiosity, strive to continually increase the creative skill level of the department.
• Provide mentorship and direction to strategists, writers,designers,artists, and creativetechnologists,understanding their strengths and weaknesses, providing regular feedback to help them move forward along their growth path.
• Manage creative team membersor freelancersas necessary to ensure high quality work output, career satisfaction,growthand retention.
• Work with CCO and Seniorleadersincreativedepartment and OBE Leadership team to help evolve the design team and agency offering. Consistently make informed recommendations on what is best for the team.
• Contribute to hiring processes to help recruit, evaluate and secure boundary-pushing new talent whocomplementand elevate the full creative team.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’sdegree in Marketing, Communications,Designor related field.
• Fluidwork experience and technicalcapabilitieswith MacOS and standard creativesuite of programs including Adobe CC,and collaborativeKeynote,Microsoft Office, and Google products.
• A solid portfolio of 8+ years that includes unique, successful and relevant experiential marketing projects (at least 3 years at an experiential agency).
• Work samples that include strategy,copywritingand/or design personally owned and delivered as part of your role in the project/program.
• Demonstrated work,personal experience or interest in technology, lifestyle,sportsand/or entertainment industries is a plus.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE,SKILLSAND ABILITIES

• Effective communicator and storyteller with the ability to find the best approach toverbally and visually communicate an ideaAND articulately present it to other team members,clientsand agency partners.
• Excellent listener, able to get to the heart of what the client and/or team is telling you.Seeksto understand and integrate the most poignant ideas and insights into project work and agency processes.
• Experience collaborating with teams of strategists, designers,artists, technologists,producers, accountmanagersand content developers.
• Strategic and visually compelling point-of-viewdemonstratedin all creativeoutput.
• Adept at multi-tasking, withanability tocoordinatemultiple projects and resourceswhilemaintainingexcellence.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Inspirational and motivating leadership, intuitive enough to know when to push yourself and your team to make ideas better
• Ambitious self-starter.
• Adaptability tochanges and pivots.
• Ability to seamlessly integrate feedback from clients, internal teammembersand partners while staying aligned with projectobjectives.Providing justificationofdecisionsto internal and external stakeholders thatbringsthe team with you and keeps those around you inspired.

OTHER QUALITIES AND SKILLS

• Natural curiosity—the drive to always be learning and growing, professionally and personally.
• High energy and flexibility in working non-traditional hours as needed (some nights and weekends as deadlines dictate).
• Willingness toworka hybrid schedule (up to 2 days in office) and travel up to 50% of the time.

Compensation Range: $140,000 - $220,000 annually. This is the pay range OBE believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on level of experience, relevant skills, professional certifications, market pay, and demand for the role. OBE reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. For this role, Benefits include: medical/dental/vision insurance, employer paid basic life and personal accident insurance. Also included: Annual Profit Sharing/Bonus Plan based on the company’s performance and your individual performance, 401(k), Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, PTO, STD/LTD insurance benefits.

On Board Experiential is An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.