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We are working with Columbia Sportswear in their search for an Interactive Creative Director. Founded in 1938, Columbia Sportswear has grown from a small family-owned hat distributorship to one of the world’s largest outerwear brands and the leading seller of skiwear in the United States.
In 2007, the company reported record net sales of nearly $1.36 billion. (I assume it’s more now.) Columbia’s product line includes a wide variety of outerwear, sportswear, rugged footwear and accessories. Columbia is renowned for developing innovative products that are comfortable, protective, functional, stylish and offer great value.
General Position Summary:
This position will drive the design, photography, copy and user experience of Columbia’s digital initiatives. Working with the company’s Marketing Department and advertising agency, this position will translate and execute the brand message and vision on the company’s web sites and other interactive initiatives. This position will be responsible for the user experience on the websites, as well as providing direction on the styling of product photography. This is a demanding role that requires someone with a world-class experience in the interactive / digital ecommerce arena.
Responsibilities:
- Columbia Sportswear Company eCommerce websites, emails, online advertising and other interactive projects
- Own and drive the online creative calendar to include the creation, maintenance and delivery of detailed creative project plans, strategic initiative launches, and internal department needs
- Partner closely with other creative groups in the company, ensuring a consistent message and look and feel in all digital consumer material
- Develop, analyze and manage all interactive creative budgets to ensure all projects launch on time within budget
- Align and coordinate daily tasks and assign the appropriate workload to web/graphic designers, html web developers, user experience developers and content/copy writers to maximize the utilization of all resources
- Must adhere strictly to deadlines, implement plans for staying on schedule, communicate with team about timelines to ensure they are met
- Oversee the copywriting efforts that will also leverage existing company messaging, and translate it for the web
- Responsible for best practice user experience and focus group testing to get feedback on interactive designs
- Create information architecture to drive good usability in the design
- Work closely with the company’s ecommerce platform provider to understand it’s templates and capabilities
- Utilize site metrics to drive decisions on messaging and design
- Utilize motion graphics and video to enhance the digital branding
- Deliver work on schedule and within budget, as agreed upon with the production team
- Drive site enhancements and ideas, based on industry best practices and emerging trends
- Maintain positive relationships with clients both inside and outside of the company
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in interactive design or other appropriate area of study
- 8+ years of experience in a similar role
- A minimum of 8+ years’ experience in an interactive design role (multi-brand experience a plus) required
- Demonstrated past experience designing or workflow modification of eCommerce and mobile sites and interactive advertising required
- Experience in leading and mentoring teams of designers and photographers, stylists required
- Very strong working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, and Illustrator
- Excellent understanding of how to slice and optimize graphics for the web
- Understanding of HTML, Action Script and eCommerce usability
- Understanding of the key steps in optimizing a site for natural search as it relates to design and copy
- Detail oriented, deadline driven and proven ability to direct multiple projects simultaneously in fast paced environment
- Thorough understanding of the social media space and its connection to eCommerce business
- Ability to understand online traffic and shopping metrics to help guide usability design experience
Applications for this position are being coordinated by Allan Seibert. To apply, CLICK HERE. Candidates, please be sure to email Allan for a packet of market research and company / competitive intel that will differentiate you in your candidacy. Due to the intensely competitive nature of this search, thorough preparation for these interviews with this proprietary material is strongly recommended.
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