VP, Executive Creative Director - Experience Design Lead

Job Description:

Group Creative Director - North American Experience Design Lead

The Business Mission

At Merkle, we partner with many of the world’s most progressive brands to help them unlock the power of technology, data and experience design to transform their relationships with their customers.  In short, the digital products, services and experiences we design for these companies help them win in the experience economy.

To do this work requires an incredible community of experience designers, UI designers, content authors, graphic designers, creative technologists, motion designers, product designers, service designers and innovation consultants – working together in studios across North America, Brazil and India.  It also requires world-class experience leadership to inspire our people, build collaboration between our teams, elevate our craft skills, and drive innovation in our tools and approaches – all in the service of winning the confidence of new clients, over-delivering for existing clients, and growing the scale of our global experience creative business.

The Role

The role of North American Experience Design Lead is one of the most senior creative leadership roles in Merkle Americas. We are looking for a digital experience creative with strong sales skills, with strong sales skills. You will travel frequently in this role to meet with our clients and lead large global pitches focused on digital experience transformation projects. You will work closely with creative directors and strategy leads. You understand how to set up teams that are global delivery teams and know how to work with distributed teams in different time zones. You are an entreprenurially minded experience creative.

Responsibilities include:

Creative Leadership

• Inspire and elevate our creative approach through hand-on direction and personal participation in creative exercises for larger clients, acting at times as a player/coach

• Help define, “productize” repeatable creative project types, staffing plans, approaches

• Always be on the lookout for ways to improve design processes and enhance solution frameworks to make them more effective and efficient. When these improvements are made, share them with the entire (MAXC) Merkle Americas Experience Creative community

• Help elevate the overall craft skill level of the creative people on our teams

• Champion the adoption and integration of Generative AI and modern digital design tools and approaches into our everyday creative approaches

• Partner closely with our Strategy, Data and Technology capabilities to create exceptional personalized digital experiences

• Provide guidance to GCDs/Studio Leads

• Through weekly GCD group meetings and regular one-on-one meetings

• Through regular one-on-one GCD meetings and coaching sessions

Commercial Leadership

• Help represent Experience Design community at CX&C leadership level
• Build internal relationships with Merkle vertical leads, growth leads, other capability leaders, and partners to drive offering development and opportunities
• Build external relationships with key Merkle clients
• Support deal pricing team and participate in deal negotiation

Growth Leadership

• The success of this role is heavily judged on the overall new business growth and business profitability of the studios under this leader’s care.
  • Sales – grow creative business 10% YOY
  • Margin – manage overall population to low 80% business utilization
• Review new business pipeline, triage opportunities, drive pitches to close
  • Personally lead large Experience, Service Design, Digital Business Transformation pitches
  • Personally participate in large cross-Dentsu pitches
  • Advise and guide smaller pitches led by individual studio leads

Creative Community Leadership

• Help grow next generation of creative leadership
• Help architect the structure of creative studios
• Help lead MAXC Creative Showcase, Creative Leadership meetings
• Participate in global CXM Experience Creative Leadership council
• Create thought leadership content for Merkle marketing
• Potentially speak at conferences for Merkle marketing

Travel Requirements

• Role requires regular NA travel to client meetings, studio meetings
• Some international travel may be required

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $163,000 - 263,350. Salary is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge and other factors