NBBJ | ESI Design transforms places into experiences that drive excitement and create a unique invitation for personal interaction and empathy. We experiment and collaborate to develop new ideas for high-profile, visionary clients. We are a community of makers that design, develop and construct large-scale, novel ideas. As a studio within the highly regarded NBBJ Design firm, we are uniquely positioned within the experience industry. We partner with pioneers like Sony, eBay, the Statue of Liberty Museum and WarnerMedia to create solutions for tomorrow guided by our vision: we design for life.

NBBJ is a design and architecture firm, fueled by ideas and a culture of collaboration. With offices around the globe, the diverse perspectives of your future colleagues and clients will inspire and challenge you to be extraordinary and leverage your entrepreneurial spirit. Innovation and creativity are at the heart of our work: creating spaces and experiences that better connect people to each other as they live, learn, and work in their communities.

ESI Design’s approach to experience design combines the physical, digital and behavioral to create memorablemoments. We believe the most compelling experiences are born from interdisciplinary collaboration. As a result, oureclectic team and user-first approach allows us to provide a range of experience solutions and a depth of servicethat’s unique in the world of design. We don’t do off-the-rack solutions – we create custom experiences that are tailormade for every individual client’s needs.

The Role at a Glance

The Creative Director is responsible for the day to day design of projects. They are an inspirational force, ensuringthat the project team feels creatively energized and focused throughout every step of a project and beyond. Throughthis, they steer the project teams toward achieving the design goals for each project, while adhering to its creativevision. They report to the Leader, Creative on projects and organizationally.

Expertise

The Creative Director has a wide range of expertise and experience for every stage of a project life cycle: pitch,concept, schematic, final design, production & installation. They are hands-on multidisciplinary creatives, who arecomfortable leading teams that are inclusive of all design disciplines at ESI- aka “Craft CDs”.

Concept-Construction

The CD is involved in crafting the initial concept of the project, under the creative vision of the Principal, Creative.Often, they are the daily creative point of contact for the client and lead the presentation of ideas to them. They musthave an understanding of the delicate dance of standing behind the designs and incorporating client feedback. Youalso must follow the project through to completion, negotiating real-world construction and site challenges, andensuring that the installed design does not get diluted throughout the engineering & production process.

Leadership

The CD is a leader and mentor, and is responsible for their teams and everything they produce. They work alongsidethe project manager as the day-to-day leading design voice, and must have experience in leading teams of Creativesthrough smaller scale installations to large scale, multi-faceted installations.

Design Sense

The CD must have an impeccable sense of design. They must be able to know if a project is up to ESI standards inan instant, and to help adjust if it is not. They are responsible for keeping all our clients current and on the edge ofculture and design. The CD understands they represent ESI and NBBJ in the world. They must have an eye for allaspects of the design, and understand the built environment, media, software and hardware.

In this role, you will:

• Apply your extensive knowledge of the experiential design industry to concept new site and client specific designs.
• Guide a cross-discipline team through a project creatively from concept through production, ensuring creative integrity and adapting where necessary.
• Have extensive knowledge of leading art, product/industrial, live productions, motion, architectural, UI, graphic and commercial design trends.
• Have deep experience and knowledge in creative technology. Must be able to “own” a room (explain to clients) with creative and tech explanations, without outside input. Requires a deep understanding of not only the latest tech, but an understanding of the creative tech community at large.
• Offer constructive feedback and critiques
• Concept and collaborate with our tech team to determine best direction and feasibility
• Present to clients and incorporating client feedback into the work
• Lead the team toward creating appropriate design documentation and presentations.
• Work with the Production Managers and Producers, Account Director and other team members to ensure the projects achieve design milestones.
• Have sitelines to the overall project health and ensure that the design is able to achieve the client aspirations while staying on budget and on time.

What you will need to succeed:

• A stellar portfolio of personal and professional work
• At least 8 years professional work experience in the Experiential field.
• 4 years professional experience leading multidisciplinary teams and delivering projects from concept through installation
• An Excellent sense of design- full working knowledge of current and future trends in the design industry. Knowing the difference between what makes a project good, and what makes it amazing.
• Have a “can do” attitude 24/7 especially when projects face challenges
• Be an expert at managing time for self and others, with an eye on being a team player
• Be Capable of collaborating and earning the respect of all departments
• Have an easygoing attitude, calm under pressure, client facing, and personable
• Pay exceptional attention to detail
• Be able to handle multiple creative teams and projects simultaneously
• Have excellent spoken and written communication with a heavy dose of storytelling and imagination
• Great at collaboration - both with other Senior Creatives and with partners, colleagues, project managers, production managers.
• Have Zero Ego. Must be willing to lead and trust teammates.