SVP, Brand Creative Lead Job at Us Bank in Minneapolis

At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions and enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed. We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive at every stage of your career. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One.

Job Description

The Brand & Creative team at U.S. Bank supports growth by positioning U.S. Bank strongly in the market, increasing cultural relevancy and delivering creative solutions that drive business outcomes.

Scope of Responsibilities/Expectations

We are looking for a customer-centric, innovative creative leader who will grow awareness and demand for U.S. Bank products, services, and experiences through best-in-class storytelling and creative expressions. This leader will have the opportunity to set the vision and operationalize our in-house creative studio of designers and writers and consider how AI will extend the team’s capacity and capabilities in the future.

In this role, you will partner to determine the best way for U.S. Bank to represent our brand identity and customer promise across channels, platforms, and experiences. The role involves an equal mix of creative vision, production excellence as well as team leadership. You will be a key brand ambassador responsible for protecting and communicating U.S. Bank’s brand. You will oversee our brand’s visual and verbal “voice” internally, across our lines of business, channel partners, and externally in the marketplace.

This position is people-oriented. You will lead a creative team, invest in their development, partner with a variety of marketers, and evolve the in-house model to meet current and future demands of the business. The work will vary day to day, and you will have the opportunity both to lead and be hands-on; from the development of high-level concepts for design projects to thought leadership content for social media channels, and production of best-in-class materials.

You will be responsible for collaborating with internal clients, understanding their business and unique needs, and developing creative concepts that can deliver against quantified business goals. At times the role will require you to develop big ideas and design concepts; other times, you will be responsible for recruiting and managing third-party vendors and in-house design and copywriting resources.

Your performance will be measured by improvements in brand awareness and perceptions, engagement and revenue generation, as well as your ability to lead and partner with high-performing cross-functional teams. This position requires someone who has deep advertising and creative experience, an impressive design portfolio, a digital-first approach, growth mindset, and an approach of starting with the client and working backward. In this role, you’ll be part of developing and leading design and writing talent in an evolving environment.

• Developing creative concepts that meet the business objectives of the organization and advance our brand strategy.
• Establishing creative direction for the brand and partnering to evolve brand governance.
• Identifying emerging trends and integrating them into U.S. Bank’s creative process to maximize brand awareness, strengthen our positioning, and support demand generation.
• Driving brand consistency across all touchpoints through an ongoing focus on staff engagement, processes, and tools.
• Extending U.S. Bank’s refreshed brand strategy from brand standards to a distinct brand voice that extends across all communication channels – dotcom, social, advertising, in-branch, events, communications, internal and external communications.
• Ensuring that brand standards are consistent.
• Developing and/or maintaining a centralized brand repository that provides employees and external partners with brand guidance, best-in-class brand examples, and links to creative assets.
• Establishing a reliable creative process (concept > development > review > approval) that matches the timetable of the business.
• Partnering with marketing leaders, product development, and innovation teams on product naming frameworks and initiatives.
• Supervising and inspiring a current team of 15 internal creative professionals (designers, writers, photographers/videographers) and freelance and vendor partners.
• Working with marketing, brand strategy, brand execution, events, and sponsorship teams as well as designers and copywriters to develop concepts and present to stakeholders.
• Determining the right mix of in-house vs. outsourced creative development including photography, video, and other creative assets.
• Providing quality control and brand alignment over concepts and projects.
• Leading creative sessions for project kick-offs and ideation.
• Creative directing multiple projects from concept through completion.
• Managing the company’s digital assets (photography, videography) in the most cost-effective manner with accessible DAM tools.
• Responding to feedback in a timely manner.
• Developing compelling concepts that support positioning and messaging narratives across different channels – matching the concept to the medium and audience.
• Partnering to position U.S. Bank through campaigns that elevate the brand and support solution launches.
• Ensuring the team meets deadlines and stays within budget.

Required Skills and Experience

• 10+ years of creative leadership.
• 6+ years of team leadership experience in an in-house agency.
• Financial services experience highly preferred.
• Experience launching and/or transforming an in-house agency model.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading skills with a strong command of language.
• Expertise in brand storytelling and content strategy. Familiar with GenAI and martech applications to support a creative environment.
• Strong digital expertise – creative development expertise for video, web, digital display advertising, social channels, SEO/SEM.
• Equally skilled in strategic planning and the ability to drive creative and brand execution across a variety of initiatives.
• Knowledge of layouts, graphic fundamentals, typography, and limitations of the web; ability to storyboard or translate ideas to designers and develop motion graphic solutions.
• Strong working knowledge of UX design, brand development, and creative process.
• Ability to make evaluative judgments and rationalize creative direction.
• Outstanding client focus and critical thinking skills.
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong drive for results.
• Ability to manage and maintain multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to recruit, hire, train, and supervise employees to include organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling work assignments.
• Undergraduate degree in Fine Arts, Communication, Marketing or equivalent visual design and management experience required; graduate degree preferred.

Behavioral Characteristics

• Ability to think strategically and develop creative solutions.
• Ability to build strong relationships with internal and external partners and vendors.
• Comfortable interacting with different levels of management and leading cross-functional, cross-regional teams.
• Ability to guide decision-making with strategic insight and rationale.
• Able to effortlessly transition from visionary planner to hands-on executor, as situations demand it.
• Proactive approach to problem

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