At AKQA, we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and applications that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients.
Creatives at AKQA apply artistry and craftsmanship to strategic insight to create and bring to life beautiful ideas that move the world. Skilled storytellers and conceptors, they work in a multidisciplinary environment to develop labors of love that delight customers and deliver results for clients.
The Group Director, Design for AKQA San Francisco will approach every brief with fresh eyes. Avoiding familiar solutions, you will create and inspire work that is distinctive, effective and truly remarkable. As part of the leadership team within the San Francisco studio of AKQA, you will be looked to for mentorship, guidance and management by your design team and the agency as a whole. Collaborating across departments, your thought leadership will be relied upon both internally and externally, while acting as a trusted partner with multiple clients to create exceptional work for a range of products, services and experiences.
From our location in San Francisco’s SOMA district - the epicenter of the bay area’s technology industry - AKQA offers our staff the opportunity to produce meaningful work for world-class companies in one of the world’s most vibrant and beautiful cities.
ROLE REQUIREMENTS
- 15+ years of design leadership experience within an ad agency, design studio or in-house creative marketing group
- A hands-on approach to the work
- Experience delivering branding (identity, systems), platform (websites, product) and experiential (activations, retail)
- Experience overseeing the creation, design and production of big, complex, websites, e-commerce and technology driven digital experiences
- A portfolio of award-winning work for a variety of clients, projects and mediums; that demonstrates experience designing and creating beautiful things across the full spectrum of digital, integrated media, OOH, experiential, posters, mobile, print, retail, logos, branding, etc.
- The ability to lead, coach, inspire and motivate a team to create and deliver truly remarkable, influential, and impactful work
- The ability to attract and recruit exceptional talent
- Ensure a collaborative “one team” approach comprising both client and agency representatives
- Encourage progressive thinking and the pushing of boundaries
- Encourage state-of-the-art techniques and thought leadership activities to stimulate professional development and inspiration within the team
- Experience and ability to succeed in a deadline-oriented, fast-paced environment
- Does not need to live in San Francisco Bay area, but must be West Coast based and able to travel to the office as needed when our studio re-opens
QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS
- A compelling portfolio of distinctive work that spans product/service design and storytelling
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills
- Broad cultural reference points
- Fearlessly, boundlessly creative and relentlessly attentive to detail
AKQA is an Equal Opportunities Employer, we believe that diversity is vital to AKQA’s ability to provide our clients with the best recommendations and are committed to fostering a varied and inclusive work environment. Your race, color, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or veteran status have no bearing on our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.