Agency Creative Lead
Company Description
McDonald's is proud to be one of the most recognized brands in the world, with restaurants in over 100 countries and billions of customers served each year. As the global leader in the food service industry, we have a legacy of innovation and hard work that continues to drive us. Today, we are growing with velocity and are focused on modernizing our experiences, not to make a different McDonald’s but to build a better McDonald’s.
We are a people business just as much as we are a restaurant business. We strive to be the most inclusive brand in the world by building diverse teams who create delicious, feel good moments that are easy for everyone to enjoy. Joining McDonald's means thinking big daily and preparing for a career that can have impact around the world.
We are dedicated to using our scale for good: good for people, our industry and the planet. From ambitious recycling initiatives and sustainable sourcing efforts to our partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, we see every day as a chance to have a genuine impact on our customers, our people and our partners.
Our new, state-of-the art headquarters is located in the booming West Loop area in the heart of downtown Chicago. It is set up to be a global hub that fosters innovation: take a class at Hamburger University, sample future menu items in our Test Kitchen, and utilize the latest technology to stay in touch with your team around the globe. With monthly organized events, massive outdoor spaces, an 8000 square foot gym, and an onsite McDonald's serving international favorites, our office helps us connect with each other like never before.
Job Description
As a young In-House Agency at McDonald’s, Agency123 is now seeking to elevate our creative product and transform into the world-class agency designed to deliver on our commitment to a be a better McDonald’s!
McDonald’s has a proud design heritage, resulting in some of the most powerful visual equities in the world. However, these are often applied in an inconsistent, transactional way. As with many brands over time, inconsistent applications have caused somewhat fractured creative quality. We see the design and creative output as a critical element of the brand, and we have an opportunity to reflect that in everything we do.
Responsibilities and Duties
The Creative Lead (CL) is dedicated to a specific account team within A123. They are responsible for working directly with their Account Lead partner to oversee and deliver exceptional quality and creative work for the account partner.
You will coordinate, concept and manage execution of all creative deliverables for their account and work with the Account Lead to present the creative ideas to the client and oversee their execution and delivery.
The Creative Lead, while working closely with the Account Lead, will need to build a strong and reciprocal relationship with the account partners. Understanding the account stakeholder’s goals and objectives and work to bring strong, strategic and creative ideas to the table.
The Creative Lead is responsible for working in partnership with the Creative Director to ensure alignment and quality of creative concepts, direction and output for a variety of deliverables including: videos, experiences, activations, campaigns and a variety of aligned assets for corporate initiates and communications. This will require them to make conceptual and stylistic decisions. Creating layouts, mockups and sketches may be required to illustrate their design idea to other members of the team or management.
1. Administration and Inspiration of creative output: McDonald’s partners with agencies and creative providers – but overall creative guidance is needed. This aspect of the job will require close collaboration with these agencies to ensure the concept and strategy of ideas are executed to the highest standard and our creative output is fresh and evolving.
- Contribute to client projects, providing overall direction and advice
- Continually research design and video trends, strategies and technologies and demonstrate new ways we can bring those to our clients
2. Creative leadership: Agency123 produces internal communications, large-scale events, video and marketing materials for the McDonald’s system. These are critical in setting the tone, direction and eliciting action for the corporation. The role will involve:
- Be the creative voice and work hand-in-hand with Account to bring client’s creative needs to life
- Work directly with the Account Lead to facilitate concepts, schedule and execution of projects for clients
- Support account teams in building and cultivating client relationships
- Understands marketing, digital, and media industry trends/developments and uses this knowledge to present business-building ideas for our clients
- Able to articulate to clients and team members the rationale behind each concept
- Work with the Account teams to identify solutions through creative and marketing strategies
- Manages the creative process from inception through the review phases of the creative plan
Qualifications
Skills and Characteristics
- Able to storyboard and visualize possible future design states and articulate concepts to both internal business partners and external agency professionals.
- Ability to convince people of a point of view build coalitions and act diplomatically. Comfortable working with many different types of people across offices and borders.
- Ability to toggle between tasks, work on several projects at once, prioritize and get results.
Requirements
- Successful ability to form relationships and forge alliances that drive exceptional creative results
- Minimum of 7+ years working in design: As an agency designer, Art Director and/or Design Director for in-house or agency.
- Proven ability to work with different agencies and departments.
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing/advertising, graphic design, creative production or similar field
- Ability to communicate concepts and ideas to others through written, illustrated and verbal means, particularly design staff across disciplines and projects
- Strong creative leader with proven ability to bring abstract thoughts/ideas to fruition
- 5+ years’ experience leading and mentoring teams
Additional Information
McDonald’s is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at McDonald’s are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. McDonald’s encourages applicants of all ages.
McDonald’s is dedicated to seeking all qualified applicants. If you require an accommodation to navigate or apply to a position on our website, please send us an e-mail at [email protected] to request accommodations.