Creative Lead

The Sage Group; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Sage Group’s US Partner Marketing Studio seeks a Creative Lead to steer creative direction and brand stewardship for Home and Health across 3P retail and B2B partners.

You will collaborate with Global Design, Brand, PMMs, GTMs, and external agencies, translating global toolkits into retail-ready executions while upholding strict quality standards. This role requires leadership, diplomacy, and hardware-brand experience.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Fine Arts, Art Direction, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience: 6+ years in art direction, visual design, or creative production in a design studio, agency, or corporate brand marketing team.
• Retail & Channel: Designing for major consumer electronics/tech retail channels (Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes).
• Software mastery: Expert-level proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects) and Google Workspace.
• Print & Mechanical Production: Pre-press, color proofing, large-format signage, and retail fixtures.
• Agency Management: Experience as creative lead or POC directing external partners.
• Diplomatic Communication: Poised and solutions-oriented with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Hardware & Tech Background: Experience with consumer electronics or high-profile tech brands.

Responsibilities

• Provide creative direction and brand stewardship for Home and Health across 3P retail and B2B partners.
• Lead creative reviews to ensure brand standards and project quality.
• Collaborate with Global Design/Brand, PMMs, GTM leads, and external agencies to align on POR changes and launches.
• Translate global toolkits into retail-ready executions while enforcing tooling and quality standards.
• Oversee agency partnerships, briefs, approvals, and velocity across multi-retailer campaigns.
• Enforce studio SOPs, asset handoffs, and centralized asset management.

Skills

Art direction

Visual design

Creative production

Retail design

Cross-functional collaboration

Diplomatic communication

Hardware background

Project management

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design

Tools

Figma

Adobe Creative Suite

Google Workspace

InDesign

Illustrator

Job description

Key Responsibilities

The Sage Groups’ Client is seeking a Creative Lead for the US Partner Marketing Studio (USPMS), you will lead creative direction, visual design integrity, and agency production for hardware and services Home and Health product area across third-party (3P) retail and B2B partners (print and digital assets).

You will act as the principal creative bridge between Global Design/Brand teams, Partner Marketing Managers, GTM leads, and external creative production agencies. You will steer creative concepting, adapt first-party global toolkits into retail-ready executions, enforce rigorous brand and technical quality standards, and guide agency partners through fast-paced, multi-retailer launch cycles.

1. Creative Direction & Brand Stewardship

• Uphold Global Brand Standards: Translate Global Hardware and Retail Design toolkits into channel-specific retail marketing collateral across print, in-store fixtures, and digital surfaces, ensuring strict brand compliance (e.g., typography, photography guidelines, Gemini AI feature lockups, legal dis…)
• Lead Creative Reviews: Review partner-led creative assets to ensure that creative brand standards are upheld.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Partner Marketing Operations, Product Marketing Managers (PMM), Go-To-Market (GTM) leads, and Production PgMs to navigate Plan of Record (POR) changes, disclaimer updates, and tight turnarounds diplomatically and efficiently.
• Develop and Maintain Seamless Creative Partnership: Foster strong creative connection and collaborative partnership with the Global Creative team to ensure that you are able to communicate and guide execution of their vision to cross-functional partners.
• Executive Communication: Thoughtfully present concept decks, adaptations, and retail solutions in executive forums, effectively communicating how you bridge the gap between our Brand vs. Partner’s creative requirements.

2. External Agency Governance & Creative POC

• Creative POC for Agency Partners: Serve as the primary creative lead with agency partners - managing daily creative briefing, critique, unblocking, and art direction.
• Agency Throughput & Quality Control: Review and approve mechanical builds, multi-asset digital banner suites, animated retail screens, and video end cards. Ensure delivery meets launch deadlines without compromising aesthetic quality.
• Co-Lead Office Hours: Co-host structured briefing and creative review office hours with agency teams to resolve scope ambiguities, streamline revisions, and maintain project velocity.

4. Creative Operations & Process Evolution

• Enforce Studio SOPs: Champion studio SOPs, adhering strictly to structured delivery protocols and established ways of working (e.g., centralized repository tracking, formal asset handoffs with verified drive links, and eliminating fragmented chat requests) with ongoing openness to adapt.
• File Integrity & Tooling Standards: Oversee asset transitions across design platforms (Figma, Adobe Creative Suite / Photoshop / Illustrator / After Effects) to ensure production vendors receive native, uncompromised layered mechanicals.

Qualifications & Competencies

Minimum Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Fine Arts, Art Direction, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience: 6+ years of art direction, visual design, or creative production experience within a design studio, creative agency, or corporate brand marketing team.
• Retail & Channel Expertise: Demonstrated track record designing for major consumer electronics/tech retail channels (Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes).
• Software Mastery: Expert-level proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects) and Google Workspace.
• Print & Mechanical Production: Deep understanding of pre-press print production, mechanical file preparation, color proofing, large-format in-store signage, and structural retail fixtures.
• Agency Management: Proven experience acting as the creative lead or creative POC directing external creative/production agency partners.
• Diplomatic Communication & Professional Maturity: Demonstrated ability to remain poised, constructive, and solutions-oriented when creative work is challenged by cross-functional stakeholders or shifting commercial requirements.
• Hardware & Tech Background: Prior experience supporting consumer electronics, hardware ecosystems (smartphones, smart home, wearables), or high-profile tech brands (e.g., Google, Apple, or similar).
• Agility & Ambiguity Management: Proven success in navigating fluctuating launch timelines, late-breaking copy/legal revisions, and multi-stakeholder approval matrices.
• Detail Oriented and Organized: Proven track record of being able to manage multiple projects in parallel and balance between high level guidance and reviewing for meticulous detail (i.e. superscripts in dis…)

Project: Retail Creative Lead - Home and Health

Project Duration: 12 months and ongoing - Tenure: 1/1/27 Start Date (at the latest) - 12/31/27

Required: Portfolio of work

Location: Remote - SF Bay Area (this is required because there may be times you’ll need to attend fixture tests in Mountain View)