CREATIVE DIRECTOR EXPERIENTIAL EVENTS

RED VELVET

$90K — $130K *
Media
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 15+ years in high-impact experiential leadership roles, not just design
  • Proficient in SketchUp, Rhino, or similar 3D design tools
  • Strong and clear vision for audacious creative work
  • Ability to balance broad vision with detailed execution
  • Commanding presence in high-stakes client interactions
  • Collaborative leadership style with minimal oversight
  • Proactive problem-solver comfortable with ambiguity

Responsibilities

  • Generate bold, innovative concepts as the agency's creative leader
  • Mentor and elevate multidisciplinary design teams
  • Present complex creative visions confidently to clients
  • Protect and represent client brands throughout project execution
  • Ensure creative solutions align with client budgets
  • Guide the design team in producing impactful 3D visualizations
  • Facilitate collaboration across teams to align creative with logistics
  • Establish effective workflows to streamline project processes
  • Direct creative execution on-site with production

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health plan with employee premiums covered
  • Monthly contributions to health savings accounts
  • Complimentary financial and retirement planning
  • 401(k) plan with matching contributions
  • Paid memberships to industry associations
  • Monthly stipends for cell phone and fuel
  • Flexible vacation policy and paid holidays
Full Job Description
OVERVIEW

We are seeking a full-time, Austin-based Creative Lead with 15+ years of experience directing high-impact, large-scale experiential events. This critical role owns our end-to-end creative process and serves as the primary visionary for complex projects. You will lead and inspire a multidisciplinary team of designers (spanning 3D environment design and graphic design) while maintaining a hands-on, collaborative approach. The ideal candidate pushes the creative envelope (and the team) with bold, innovative ideas, yet remains grounded in reality and ensures concepts are highly executable, financially viable, and meticulously representative of our clients' brands.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Creative Vision: Serve as the agency's creative north star; generating bold, culture-creating concepts and driving them end-to-end on complex projects.

Team Leadership: Inspire, mentor, and elevate a multidisciplinary design team across 3D and graphic design disciplines, with clear accountability.

Client Presentation: Confidently articulate and pitch complex experiences in compelling formats so clients can easily see the vision.

Brand Stewardship: Fiercely protect and accurately represent the client's brand identity through every stage of execution.

Budget Alignment: Partner with production to ensure creative ideas are fiscally responsible and respectful of client budgets.

3D Visual Oversight: Guide the design team in developing clear, impactful 3D renderings and spatial designs that sell the vision.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a bridge-builder across Accounts, Production, and Operations, aligning design with logistics.

Process Excellence: Establish structured creative workflows that keep projects moving effectively without overcomplicating them.

On-Site Execution: Direct the creative team onsite and support production leads to ensure the creative vision is flawlessly realized.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
  • 15+ years directing high-impact, large-scale experiential work, with real creative leadership experience (not just senior design experience).
  • Hands-on fluency in SketchUp, Rhino, or comparable 3D/spatial design tools. This is a requirement, not a preference.
  • A strong point of view and the spine to hold it. You push the work (and the people around you) toward bolder and better.
  • The range to move between big-picture vision and the precise detail that protects it, across multiple concurrent projects.
  • A clear, confident, trusted, and commanding presence in high-stakes client rooms.
  • A collaborative leadership style that builds bridges rather than working in a creative silo, with the ownership and follow-through to run with minimal oversight.
  • Curious, proactive problem-solving: you ask the right questions, anticipate challenges, and thrive under pressure or ambiguity.
  • Comfort with structured workflow tools (monday.com, Slack, Harvest, Google Workspace) without needing process to replace creative instinct.
LOGISTICS

Austin-based role. Some travel will be required, dependent on client project locations.

READY TO MOVE FORWARD?

If you feel like you've got what it takes, please apply.

Our interview process starts with an initial virtual screening, followed by interviews with key team members to discuss experience, creative philosophy, and fit. No phone calls regarding this posting, please.

Please note: This job description is designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by associates within this classification. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of associates assigned to this job.

Flexible work from home options available.

RED VELVET

BENEFITS (ONLY applies to full-time employees)

Our company benefits and culture have been recognized by numerous organizations, and we are consistently represented in the Austin Business Journal's Best Places To Work (2026, 2025, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2013) and have also been acknowledged by M&C Magazine as one of their Best Places to work. In addition to these accolades, all full-time employees will receive the following benefits:
  • Competitive health plan, with premiums for employees covered and premiums for family members subsidized by RED VELVET
  • Monthly HSA Contribution
  • Complimentary financial/retirement planning assistance
  • 401(k) Plan with Matching Contribution
  • Paid Membership to Industry Associations and Monthly Meetings
  • Monthly Cell Phone and Fuel Stipends
  • Flexible Vacation Policy and Paid Holidays

REFERRAL BONUS!

We know that the best hire is someone you enjoy working with and is a great culture fit for our fast-paced, entrepreneur-friendly, and creative environment. If you know someone who has previous experience in the agency/experiential marketing and/or meeting planning industry, we want to meet them.

What's in it for you? If a referral is hired full-time and stays at least 1 year with our team, you get $1,000 cold, hard cash on their 1st anniversary with RED VELVET. It is that simple!

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