Creative Director DURBAN

Publicis Groupe Africa; Durban; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Publicis Groupe Africa in Durban is seeking a Creative Director to lead the RSA Impact Hub, guiding all creative output—from campaigns to influencer content and native digital assets.

You will mentor a high-performing team, collaborate with cross-functional partners, and shape strategies that meet client briefs while upholding brand standards and South Africa’s cultural context.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Creative Director in a digitally led environment.
• Strong leadership and conceptual thinking skills.
• Deep understanding of digital content creation, precision marketing, storytelling, and consumer engagement.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for the creative quality of work originating from the RSA Impact Hub, including activation campaigns, influencer content, social assets, and native digital assets.
• Provide strategic and creative input to ensure alignment with brand standards and regional relevance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative, digitally led creative solutions.
• Champion creative excellence and innovation for the South Africa market.
• Foster and mentor a high-performing creative team including art and copy talent, creators, and production partners.

Skills

Creative leadership

Digital storytelling

Brand strategy

Team mentorship

Cross-functional collaboration

Digital platforms

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Figma

Asana/Trello

Job description

Creative Director – DURBAN

Publicis Groupe is a global leader in communication. The Groupe is positioned at every step of the value chain, from consulting to execution, combining marketing transformation and digital business transformation. Since its launch at the beginning of the last century, NIVEA has held a special place in the public eye as a skincare icon. NIVEA has driven innovation in both products and marketing, always engaging people with a focus on our shared humanity. Publicis Groupe and Beiersdorf have created Publicis One Touch for their next digital transformation, a new type of agency model based on agility and interdisciplinary design. Nothing defines a workspace more than the spirit of the place. So, we’re designing Publicis One Touch with a uniquely human touch, from personnel to processes, headquarters to hubs. Our office layout is made to encourage co-working, giving talents of many disciplines the spaces they can come together in with the equipment they need to inspire innovative and creating thinking.

Overview

As a Creative Director you will help lead our passionate, multi-talented studio guiding all members to deliver exceptional, integrated concepts to exceed client briefs and expectations.

A Creative Director is a thought leader within the agency, so they can expect to be craft-led, strategically driven, and platform neutral conceptual thinkers with a desire to transform brands by creating beautiful, intuitive, and human-centred products and experiences.

The individual must be tuned into all aspects of South African popular culture and the platforms and media it plays in, as well as have a strong point of view on what it takes to win in this space.

Lead and oversee all creative output from the RSA Impact HUB, ensuring excellence in concept development and execution across all channels.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for the creative quality of work originating from the RSA Impact Hub, including:
• Activation campaigns
• Influencer content
• Social always-on assets
• Native digital assets
• Provide strategic & creative input into native digital assets, ensuring alignment with brand standards & regional relevance.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative, digitally led creative solutions.
• Champion creative excellence and innovation for the South Africa market.
• Foster and mentor, a high-performing creative team, including art and copy talent, creators, and production partners.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Creative Director in a digitally led environment, ideally within the beauty or FMCG sector.
• Strong leadership and conceptual thinking skills.
• Deep understanding of digital content creation, precision marketing, storytelling, and consumer engagement.
• Ability to manage cross-regional creative teams and workflows.
• Must be based in Durban.

OPERATIONAL KPI'S

• Must have 10+ years' experience
• Highly conceptual individual (Must demonstrate with at least 5 projects)
• Demonstrate exceptional strategic thinking (Provide 3 examples)
• Must have led the conceptualization & execution of TTL campaigns & pure digital campaigns (Show 4 examples)
• Must demonstrate an understanding of digital platforms
• Must demonstrate an ability to use multimedia programmes (Editing, recording etc.)
• Track record of winning international and local awards i.e. Cannes, One Show, Loeries, Clios, Bookmarks etc.
• Show at least 1 international and 1 local gold medals
• Demonstrate how you’ve previously dealt with conflictIn-depth working knowledge of existing and emerging technologies & platforms

BUSINESS KPI's

• Must demonstrate examples of leadership skills & problem solving
• Campaign success: performance metrics of campaigns, including engagement rates, conversions, and ROI.
• Client satisfaction: feedback and satisfaction ratings from clients and stakeholders.
• Innovation: number of new and innovative ideas successfully implemented.
• Team performance: improvement in team skills, creativity, and productivity.
• Brand consistency: adherence to and enhancement of brand guidelines across all creative outputs.
• Must be able to oversee 7-8 projects. Or work on one sizable & two small-size project at any one time with oversight.
• Have the ability to attend every review on a project with new 3 ideas.
• Oversee projects and manage and grow the team through the process.

Technical Skills

• Design software: proficiency in adobe creative suite (photoshop, illustrator, InDesign) and other relevant design tools.
• UX/UI design: understanding of user experience and user interface design principles.
• Project management tools: familiarity with project management software such as asana, Trello, or similar.
• Web design: knowledge of html, CSS, and responsive design principles.
• Prototyping tools: experience with prototyping tools like sketch, Figma, or adobe xd.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

• High-quality campaigns: consistently produce high-quality, innovative campaigns that meet or exceed business goals.
• Enhanced brand identity: strengthened and consistent brand identity across all creative outputs.
• Increased engagement: higher engagement rates with marketing campaigns due to compelling & effective creative work.
• Team development: a well-developed and motivated creative team that continuously improves and innovates.
• Client satisfaction: high levels of client satisfaction with creative work and project outcomes.

MEASURABLES

• Engagement metrics: track engagement rates (likes, comments, shares) on creative outputs.
• Conversion metrics: measure conversion rates from campaigns to assess effectiveness.
• Client feedback: collect and analyze feedback from clients and stakeholders.
• Project timeliness: monitor the percentage of projects completed on time.
• Innovation rate: track the number of new ideas generated and implemented.
• Brand sentiment: monitor the overall sentiment of brand mentions and interactions on social media & other platforms.

Additional Information

Publicis Groupe Africa is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits any forms of Discrimination or Harassment. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees in line with our Employment Equity Plan.

All appointments will be based on qualifications, experience and best fit but preference will be given to candidates from designated groups.

Company Values

Trust

Trust is the cornerstone upon which we build our relationships. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of how a partner should behave. We treat our people and our clients with respect, transparency and honesty.

Talent

This is first and foremost a people business. We are committed to ensuring Publicis Groupe is a destination for the best talent in our industry. We value people as individuals, growing ourselves as we grow our client’s business.

Transformation

True transformation comes when we stop managing change and instead initiate change. We believe in our purpose to be the admired force for business transformation. We believe that focusing on performance and results has the power to transform client business