Creative Director

Updated on 12/11/2023

Locations

Cambridge, MA, USA

Experience Level

Entry

Junior

Mid

Senior

Expert

Desired Skills

Branding/Brand Strategy

Marketing

UI/UX Design

PowerPoint/Keynote/Slides

CategoriesNew

Product

Growth & Marketing

Requirements

10+ years in a creative role, with 5+ years of experience managing design professionals
Visual design roots and solid UX design and video production experience preferred
Experience mentoring a high-performance team
Highly collaborative and able to partner with and support the needs of a range of internal stakeholders
Experience with and appreciation for rigorously testing & optimizing creative to deliver performance
Highly organized, with experience setting up internal processes to receive, prioritize, and deliver on creative requests
Fast paced, results-oriented and able to prioritize competing demands for multiple internal partners
Low-ego and willing to roll up sleeves on any effort, but skilled at delegating and coaching to manage team output
Easy collaborator and team player who loves pulling out feedback and responses from teammates to help make the work better, and who brings a curious and flexible mindset to challenges
Excellent creative eye and instincts, and able to inspire and demand great work from your team– whether designing a marketing campaign or a PowerPoint template
Previous in-house tech/start up experience preferred

Responsibilities

Serve as the creative leader for CarGurus, helping to refine our brand and bring it to life through a broad range of touchpoints that drive action, awareness, engagement and preference for CarGurus
Build and mentor a high-performing and engaged in-house creative team, and a curated network of freelancers and small agencies, to meet the needs of the CarGurus organization
Develop a team with a reputation for working collaboratively, delivering on commitments, and generally being a great team to work on and with
Provide leadership for the ongoing interpretation and evolution of our brand standards in support of new applications across the business
Concept and direct high quality multimedia work for both consumers and dealers, including performance creatives, email templates, banner ads, digital videos, offline collateral, content marketing design assets, social media posts, landing pages, website design, and more
Continually update best practices for CarGurus to drive response and action from our creative efforts; incorporate up-to-date research and third party expertise (eg Google, Facebook, Media agency guidelines) to inform all our efforts
Partner with UX design to evolve overall site branding where visual design/messaging support is required to build/evolve specific elements of our site experience
Own and evolve processes to ensure that creative deliverables are prioritized appropriately and delivered on time, on strategy and on budget
Partner with the Brand strategy team and our brand agency to provide input to their work, and ensure that their guidelines meet the creative team needs for future iterations and applications
Partner with marketing to extend agency-led campaigns into a broader portfolio of media assets

Desired Qualifications

Visual design roots and solid UX design and video production experience
Previous in-house tech/start up experience

Who we are
At CarGurus (NASDAQ: CARG), our mission is to give people the power to reach their destination. We started as a small team of developers determined to bring trust and transparency to car shopping. Since then, our history of innovation and go-to-market acceleration has driven industry-leading growth. In fact, we’re the largest and fastest-growing automotive marketplace, and we’ve been profitable for over 15 years.

What we do
The market is evolving, and we are too, moving the entire automotive journey online and guiding our customers through every step. That includes everything from the sale of an old car to the financing, purchase, and delivery of a new one. Today, tens of millions of consumers visit CarGurus.com each month, and ~30,000 dealerships use our products. But they’re not the only ones who love CarGurus—our employees do, too. We have a people-first culture that fosters kindness, collaboration, and innovation, and empowers our Gurus with tools to fuel their career growth. Disrupting a trillion-dollar industry requires fresh and diverse perspectives. Come join us for the ride!

Role overview

CarGurus is seeking a Creative leader to bring our brand to life, and to elevate and improve the performance of our marketing assets across all our channels. Reporting to the CMO, you will build and mentor a small in-house team, augmenting our in-house talent with a network of freelancers and smaller agencies to deliver a portfolio of creative assets that support all our Marketing efforts. As a key member of the Marketing team, you will serve as an evangelist for our brand identity and voice, ensuring that creative across our company works to represent our brand in a unified and effective way.

What You’ll Do:

Serve as the creative leader for CarGurus, helping to refine our brand and bring it to life through a broad range of touchpoints that drive action, awareness, engagement and preference for CarGurus.
Build and mentor a high-performing and engaged in-house creative team, and a curated network of freelancers and small agencies, to meet the needs of the CarGurus organization.
Develop a team with a reputation for working collaboratively, delivering on commitments, and generally being a great team to work on and with.
Provide leadership for the ongoing interpretation and evolution of our brand standards in support of new applications across the business
Concept and direct high quality multimedia work for both consumers and dealers, including performance creatives, email templates, banner ads, digital videos, offline collateral, content marketing design assets, social media posts, landing pages, website design, and more.
Continually update best practices for CarGurus to drive response and action from our creative efforts; incorporate up-to-date research and third party expertise (eg Google, Facebook, Media agency guidelines) to inform all our efforts.
Partner with UX design to evolve overall site branding where visual design/messaging support is required to build/evolve specific elements of our site experience
Own and evolve processes to ensure that creative deliverables are prioritized appropriately and delivered on time, on strategy and on budget
Partner with the Brand strategy team and our brand agency to provide input to their work, and ensure that their guidelines meet the creative team needs for future iterations and applications.
Partner with marketing to extend agency-led campaigns into a broader portfolio of media assets

Who You Are:

10+ years in a creative role, with 5+ years of experience managing design professionals. Visual design roots and solid UX design and video production experience preferred.
Highly collaborative and able to partner with and support the needs of a range of internal stakeholders
Experience mentoring a high-performance team. People leader who can identify, recruit and develop great talent to create top tier work.
Love of design; you stay current and ahead of latest design trends and digital advancements
Experience with and appreciation for rigorously testing & optimizing creative to deliver performance
Highly organized, with experience setting up internal processes to receive, prioritize, and deliver on creative requests.
Fast paced, results-oriented and able to prioritize competing demands for multiple internal partners
Low-ego and willing to roll up sleeves on any effort, but skilled at delegating and coaching to manage team output.
Easy collaborator and team player who loves pulling out feedback and responses from teammates to help make the work better, and who brings a curious and flexible mindset to challenges.
Excellent creative eye and instincts, and able to inspire and demand great work from your team– whether designing a marketing campaign or a PowerPoint template
Previous in-house tech/start up experience preferred.

Working at CarGurus
We reward our Gurus’ curiosity and passion with best-in-class benefits and compensation, including equity for all employees, both when they start and as they continue to grow with us. Our career development and corporate giving programs, as well as our employee resource groups (ERGs) and communities, help people build connections while making an impact in personally meaningful ways. A flexible hybrid model and robust time off policies encourage work-life balance and individual well-being. Thoughtful perks like daily free lunch, a new car discount, meditation and fitness apps, commuting cost coverage, and more help our people create space for what matters most in their personal and professional lives.

We welcome all
CarGurus strives to be a place to which people can bring the ultimate expression of themselves and their potential—starting with our hiring process. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We foster an inclusive environment that values people for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. That’s why we hope you’ll apply even if you don’t check every box listed in the job description. We want to know what only you can bring to CarGurus. #LI-Hybrid