Head of Creative Studio

Dis-Chem; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical aid

Provident fund

Staff account

Job summary

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is seeking a Head of Creative Studio to lead the internal creative agency at our Head Office. You will provide strategic creative leadership across marketing channels, drive brand-aligned campaigns, and guide a multidisciplinary team to deliver high-quality outputs across in-store, digital, social, and packaging.

You will shape the creative vision, mentor the team, and collaborate with internal stakeholders and external agencies to ensure campaigns meet business goals and ROI.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Creative Communication, Marketing, Visual Communication, or related discipline. Honours degree or postgraduate qualification advantageous.
• 8+ years’ experience in creative leadership, studio management, design, content production, or multidisciplinary creative environments within agency, publishing, media, brand, or enterprise creative environments.
• 5–8 years’ experience in a leadership or people management role within multidisciplinary creative, studio, or production environments.

Responsibilities

• Define and champion the creative vision for the studio, ensuring alignment with marketing and brand strategy.
• Conceptualize campaign ideas and guide the team to translate them into multi-channel executions
• Mentor and develop the creative team, fostering innovation, collaboration, and high-quality output.
• Ensure all creative outputs maintain brand consistency and meet strategic objectives
• Review and guide creative concepts, storyboards, visual treatments, and messaging for campaigns
• Ensure campaigns are cohesive across channels: in-store, digital, social, website, mailers, press, and PR
• Collaborate with Marketing, Promotions, Social Media, Visual Merchandising, and other teams to ensure creative supports business goals.
• Lead internal creative teams including designers, content creators, photographers, copywriters, traffic management, and QA specialists.
• Identify skill gaps and collaborate with agencies for specialized services where required
• Manage workloads, deadlines, and ensure efficient delivery of all creative projects
• Maintain effective communication with internal stakeholders on campaign concepts, progress, and approvals.
• Ensure external agency work complements internal capabilities and delivers on brief requirements
• Uphold quality standards and compliance for all creative outputs
• Strong multi-channel creative expertise: design, content, photography, video, animation, copywriting, and packaging.
• Conceptual thinking and the ability to translate marketing strategy into creative campaigns
• Knowledge of retail, in-store marketing, social, digital, and integrated marketing campaigns
• Ability to inspire, mentor, and lead a multi-disciplinary creative team
• Commercial awareness to ensure creative projects drive business objectives and ROI
• Strategic prioritization of resources, balancing creative vision with operational delivery

Skills

Creative leadership

Studio management

Brand strategy

Multi-channel campaigns

Team leadership

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Design

Honours degree or postgraduate qualification advantageous

Job description

Dis-Chem Pharmacies has an opportunity available for a Head of Creative Studio for their Head Office.The Head of Creative Studio leads Dis-Chem’s internal creative agency, providing strategic creative leadership across all marketing channels. The role ensures high-quality, brand-aligned, and commercially impactful campaigns, spanning in-store signage, promotional materials, packaging, digital content, social media, video, animation, photography, copywriting, and campaigns. The Head drives the creative vision, guides the team, and collaborates with internal stakeholders and external agencies to deliver exceptional creative outputs.

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Creative Communication, Marketing, Visual Communication, or related discipline. Honours degree or postgraduate qualification advantageous.
• 8+ years’ experience in creative leadership, studio management, design, content production, or multidisciplinary creative environments within agency, publishing, media, brand, or enterprise creative environments.
• 5–8 years’ experience in a leadership or people management role within multidisciplinary creative, studio, or production environments.
• Proven experience delivering impactful campaigns and leading high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

Creative vision and leadership

• Define and champion the creative vision for the studio, ensuring alignment with marketing and brand strategy.
• Conceptualize campaign ideas and guide the team to translate them into multi-channel executions
• Mentor and develop the creative team, fostering innovation, collaboration, and high-quality output.
• Ensure all creative outputs maintain brand consistency and meet strategic objectives

Strategic campaign oversight

• Review and guide creative concepts, storyboards, visual treatments, and messaging for campaigns
• Ensure campaigns are cohesive across channels: in-store, digital, social, website, mailers, press, and PR.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Promotions, Social Media, Visual Merchandising, and other teams to ensure creative supports business goals.

Team and resource management

• Lead internal creative teams including designers, content creators, photographers, copywriters, traffic management, and QA specialists.
• Identify skill gaps and collaborate with agencies for specialized services where required
• Manage workloads, deadlines, and ensure efficient delivery of all creative projects

Stakeholder and agency collaboration

• Maintain effective communication with internal stakeholders on campaign concepts, progress, and approvals.
• Ensure external agency work complements internal capabilities and delivers on brief requirements
• Uphold quality standards and compliance for all creative outputs
• Strong multi-channel creative expertise: design, content, photography, video, animation, copywriting, and packaging.
• Conceptual thinking and the ability to translate marketing strategy into creative campaigns
• Knowledge of retail, in-store marketing, social, digital, and integrated marketing campaigns
• Ability to inspire, mentor, and lead a multi-disciplinary creative team
• Commercial awareness to ensure creative projects drive business objectives and ROI
• Strategic prioritization of resources, balancing creative vision with operational delivery

Key Performance Indicators

• Creative Impact: Campaigns are innovative, engaging, and commercially effective
• Brand Consistency: All outputs comply with brand and messaging standards
• Team Leadership: High-performing, collaborative, and motivated creative team
• Timely Delivery: Projects delivered according to marketing campaign schedules
• Agency Integration: Efficient management of external agency resources where needed
• Stakeholder Satisfaction: Positive feedback from marketing, retail, social, and promotions teams.

Special Conditions of Employment

South African citizen

MIE, clear criminal and credit

Driver’s license and/or own reliable transport

Remuneration and benefits:

Market related salary

Medical aid

Provident fund

Staff account

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is an equal opportunity employer. Dis-Chem’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process aligned to Dis-Chem’s Employment Equity & Transformation Strategy. Dis-Chem actively supports the recruitment of People with Disabilities