Creative Director - Apex Service Partners

Company Overview:

Founded in 2019, Apex Service Partners, LLC (“Apex” or the “Company”) is the industry and nationwide leader in residential home services. Apex focuses on serving the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical needs of homeowners in over forty states across the country.  Apex has grown to +150 locations with +9,000 team members and +$2 billion in annual revenue.

In this fragmented industry dominated by small and founder-owned businesses, the Company has a dual strategy of growing via high-frequency acquisitions (over 200 closed by the Company to date) and aggressive organic growth initiatives, including sophisticated marketing, differentiated talent acquisition and green-fielding new trades and locations.  From the onset, the Company’s leaders have focused on building out a robust internal infrastructure to ensure scalability and better win in local markets around the country with the strongest brands and tactics.  The team at “Partner Services”, the centralized support team for the Company, comprises 60+ hard-working, collegial team members who are focused on the success of operations across the country. Despite being the largest player in this incredible industry, Apex has less than 2% market share, and ~85% of the market is still fragmented. The Company recently received a new round of equity investment totaling $3.4B and recently closed a debt refinance in excess of $3.0B.

Job Description – Creative Director

Mission of the Role:

This position is the strategic and management lead for the in-house Creative and Video functions which support Marketing, Operations and all company related creative. This hands-on, creative position leads the planning and oversees creative development and production of branding, marketing and communications to increase customer and operator engagement. The Creative Director plays a vital role in raising the quality of brand’s creative and managing the process of creative development and execution across all creative channels. This leader builds strong, trusting relationships with a broad range of constituents including external agencies, brand leadership, company leadership and operations to consistently deliver brilliant creative ideas that support the implementation of creative that support the business, marketing and communication strategies.

The day-to-day responsibilities of this position will consist of:

• Build a support team of highly talented creative solutions oriented graphic artists to support multiple brand marketing and creative needs.
• Support various strategic programs at the brand level and company level which require omni channel marketing assets across email, direct mail, print, social, website, TV and Radio.
• Work to formalize and systematically organize creative standards/resources by brand through style guides, photography and messaging.
• Provide thought leadership and strategic problem solving for creative projects and translate this through the creative and video creation process.
• Manage and execute an effective request management and trafficking system to support our brands and internal customers.
• Relentlessly apply and filter all communications through consumer behavior best practices for retail response and industry messaging/compliance.
• Support brand directors and managers on creative input requests in a timely manner while juggling internal staff execution to support the field.
• Support retail creative program (Lowes, Home Depot, Costco) through omni channel marketing assets.
• Lead and direct the channel management and processes for the creation and distribution of brand campaign assets, logos, signage, photography, video, digital brochures, and vehicle wraps.
• Constantly look for new ways to improve overall programs through new technology, tools, partners, trends, and best practices.
• Manage to departmental KPI’s around job timing, volume, revisions and quality scores
• Other creative related tasks as needed.

Role Requirements:

• Strong working knowledge of design, brand development, project management, interactive commerce, and all forms of creative production (digital, web, video, print and collateral).
• Ability to lead projects and creative teams from concept to completion.
• Digital, web and print design capabilities with ability to work and design in and across multiple media for integrated campaigns.
• Highly proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Creative Cloud).
• Experience with some form of digital project management/approval software
• Strong problem solving and creative concepting skills.
• Ability to work well as a leader and as a designer.
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks and to establish, manage and meet deadlines.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with colleagues, vendors, and partners.
• Ability to create and manage production timelines.
• Self-starter comfortable with creating processes and structures.
• Effective communication skills, both orally and in writing.
• Thorough understanding of the marketing and communications creative processes, delivery systems, production processes as well as industry best practices for producing high quality work, on-time and within budget.
• Creative, diplomatic, cool under pressure and exemplary interpersonal and presentation skills.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of management/leadership experience working in a high-performance marketing or creative department or for a multi brand marketing/branding/creative agency.
• Proven track record of supervising and training a team, to include organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling work assignments.
• Proven background in remaining open to different perspectives from multiple sources.
• History of continually refreshing creative vision and drive for fresh, relevant and purposeful creative work.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills including the ability to interact with all levels of employees and executives throughout the organization
• Adept at incorporating logic and emotion into thinking.
• Proven presentation skills
• Comfortable with change and thinking beyond today’s reality.
• Undergraduate degree in Design, Advertising, Fine Arts or related creative field.

Personal Characteristics:

• Excellent communicator – written and oral – who can align an organization around a vision and provide support to enable operations and drive the business forward.
• Resourceful – figures out how to drive action and achieve results creatively with finite resources.
• Stellar time management and organizational skills.
• Critical thinker and Learner; Intellectually Curious– Picks things up quickly and strives to ask “why not” as opposed to taking “yes/no” for an answers.
• Works collaboratively and energetically
• “Run through walls” mentality
• Impeccable integrity and ethical standards
• Self-aware, craves/celebrates/seeks out feedback, open, team player and respectful of others.

Other:

Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas – Hybrid office environment – 3 days/wk in office.

Compensation: Competitive

Other Benefits: medical, dental and vision coverage, unlimited PTO, sick days, and holidays, 401k matching