Creative Director
Job title: Creative Director
Department: Marketing
Location: Houston, Texas
Position type: Full-time / exempt
Please type “Creative Director” in the Reference # field of your application.
Creative Director Overview
The Creative Director at Us Living will oversee all processes and decisions within the company pertaining to aesthetics, style, and presentation. The creative aspects of the brand for which the Creative Director is responsible span multiple departments and functions, including broadly, the following:
- Design & Architecture
- Branding & Marketing
- Hospitality Approach (operational functions which are member-facing reflections of the brand, such as tech platforms, programming, F&B offering, staff presentation, etc.)
Organizational Structure
The Creative Director at Us Living will report to CEO & Founder Yoni Sade. In the immediate term, the following Us Living teams and departments will report to the Creative Director:
- Interior Design (Us Living in-house)
- Preston Group architecture & design
- Marketing (future hires Director of Marketing & Graphic Designer, and 3rd party 1 Trick Pony)
- Programming (future hires Director of Health & Wellness, Programming Manager, F&B Manager)
In the long term once the Us Living brand is fully formed and launched (+/- 12 months), reporting structure may evolve. For instance, it is anticipated that eventually there will be a Chief Commercial Officer who oversees Marketing; and a Director of Hospitality who oversees Programming, Health & Wellness, and F&B. In that case, the creative aspects of these functions will still run through the Creative Director, in the form of a dotted line structure.
Creative Director Detailed Role Description
The Creative Director at Us Living will be responsible for company-wide creative content including the Us Living multifamily concept as well as Black & Grey single-family development. Below are additional details regarding the Creative Director’s involvement with various departments and functions.
Design & Architecture.
The Creative Director’s management, review and approval are core to following Design & Architecture functions and processes:
- Overall building massing
- Project mood boards for look & feel
- Hospitality spaces floor plans & layouts
- Site plans and landscape schematics
- Building exterior elevations & materials
- Decorative finishes, materials and fixtures
- All furniture
- All materials and fixtures purchased in bulk by Procurement team
- Signage
There are also Design & Architecture related functions which are tangential to the Creative Director’s primary responsibilities – ie, not core. The following functions will be coordinated more directly with other leaders within the company:
- Project schedules
- Due diligence for new deals
- Budgeting & cost estimates
- Engineering coordination (MEP, FP, structural, and civil)
- Architectural code
- Permitting & entitlements
- Specialty trades such as acoustics, AV, security, lighting design (non-decorative), etc.
- Construction administration and regular site visits
The Design & Architecture teams will have dotted line reports to key leaders within the Us Living Development department to coordinate and obtain approval for the above tangential functions. (For instance, Regional Development Managers & VP’s, CIO, & COO.) Therefore, when necessary and to the extent possible, the above processes and functions should be prioritized in a way that aims to maintain target project schedules and milestones.
Branding & Marketing
The Creative Director will personally oversee all creative aspects of brand formation primarily through leading third party branding firm 1 Trick Pony. The following functions and processes will be responsible for the following Branding and Marketing elements:
- Us Living concept, mission, and core values
- Brand presentation: style, look, feel, voice, etc.
- Art direction for graphic design and visual expression (logos, fonts, colors, etc.)
- Social media approach oversight (full strategy eventually under Director of Marketing)
- Website and online communications oversight (full execution & strategy by outside firms and future Director of Marketing)
- Editorial oversight of investor decks
Hospitality Approach
The Creative Director will oversee certain operational functions which are key reflections of the Us Living brand. As noted above in the Organizational Structure section, eventually most operational team members will have a dotted line report (ie indirect report) to the Creative Director; but during brand formation and establishment over the next year, the Creative Director will directly oversee the following dimensions related to Us Living’s approach to hospitality:
- Member programming o Entertainment (live music, screenings, DJ’s, parties, etc.)
- Social (interest groups, committees, game nights, etc.)
- Personal enrichment (professional networking, arts & culture, etc.)
- F&B related (dinners, chef demonstrations, etc.)
- Social impact & volunteer opportunities
- F&B offering at the full service bar & cafe
- Fitness & wellness offering
- Group fitness class curation
- Approach to personal training
- Outdoor fitness and wellness opportunities
- Relaxation and meditation type programming
- Member-facing tech platforms (app, etc. developed through third party tech consultant)
- Approach to staff training in terms of vibe and presentation and style of interaction with members
- Overall property vibe and atmosphere creation including
- Music
- Lighting levels
- Art selection
- Staff uniforms & presentation
Please type “Creative Director” in the Reference # field of your application.