Creative Direction Manager - Digital

Job Introduction

Selfridges has always been much more than a shop. We’re a social space where everyone is welcome and feels a sense of belonging, a creative playground where culture and commerce collide, and an experimental hub where you can discover the most innovative and sustainable ideas in retail. We’re here to help make the world brighter. And you can be an important part of this. We’ll talk more about the role below, but before we get to that, let’s share with you the good stuff…  

Rewards and benefits 

Life at Selfridges is dynamic, exciting, and always evolving. As well as working with some of the most cutting-edge, iconic and boundary-pushing brands, designers and creatives, we also offer our team members opportunities to help make a positive difference through our network of communities, both within and outside Selfridges. Here are just a few of our rewards and benefits that help make our team experience that bit more extraordinary. 

• Flexible working options to benefit you, your family and your wellbeing that can include part-time, flexi-time, job sharing or working remotely 

• Generous annual leave that increases with length of service 

• Up to five paid volunteering days – from beach cleans to co-ordinating food and clothing donations 

• Family leave that suits your set up including Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental leave policies 

• Defined pension contribution scheme  

• Generous bonus and/or commission scheme  

• Enviable team member discount including sale previews and double discount days 

• Exclusive local discounts on a range of restaurants, bars, beauticians and entertainment 

• Subsidised gym memberships  

• Annual travel pass and cycle-to-work schemes  

• A sustainable car salary sacrifice scheme 

• Several internal communities to get involved in from our Diversity Board and Green Warriors who are leading the charge on D,E&I and sustainability, to the Wellbeings who are always thinking of new ways to champion healthy minds, bodies and routines for our team members 

• Workplace Options, our confidential team member assistance programme for when life gets tricky or you need a little guidance 

• Access to a wide range of training programmes to help your career development 

Read on to find out how you can play your part in Reinventing Retail… 

Role Responsibility

The Creative Direction team operates as Selfridges’ in-house creative agency. We provide the business with creative concepts and future-thinking research material spanning creative schemes, advertising campaigns, architecture and retail spaces, customer experience, brand guardianship, customer behaviour, business culture, alternative business models, and future opportunities and risks. Our key objective is to provide exceptional creative direction that pushes the brand and business forward in a way that is consistent with our brand’s values and identity.

Role Purpose:

As a Creative Direction Manager your specialism in the team will be to craft original digital opportunities that help shape Selfridges’ future experience. You will approach your research, ideas and storytelling through a digital lens. Using your expertise in these areas to keep the brand and business at the forefront of culture, retail and innovation.

Your power of creative storytelling, problem solving and passion for technology will act as a catalyst for original ideas that challenge the status quo. The work will be far beyond our current online touch points, you will be creating innovative digital concepts that span architecture, retail spaces, customer experience, brand strategy and other future opportunities for the business.

You will articulate these ideas through visionary briefs that are imaginative and stretch ambition. These will give clear direction and guidance for multiple stakeholders to create innovative digital outputs.

You will be required to lead some projects independently, using your initiative as well as collaborating with team members.

Key responsibilities

• Designing concepts that bridge business ambition and forward-thinking creativity. You will use creative thinking, and trend based research to highlight digital opportunities for innovation.
• Ensuring business wide strategies, the brand spirit and sustainability are at the heart of every concept.
• Examine the emergence of new technologies for telling stories, such as VR, AR and mobile platforms
• Presenting concepts to internal and external teams on a regular basis
• Engaging in relevant research to inform your projects and points of view - both online and in-house as well as out in the field, visiting relevant competitors, benchmarks, seminars, exhibitions and events.
• Researching and demonstrating awareness of current creative, cultural, technical and consumer movements.
• Building relationships with key stakeholders throughout the business to help steer concepts and champion the need to approach projects digitally
• Networking with individuals, brands and businesses that are at the forefront of the zeitgeist.
• Attending relevant project and steering meetings to communicate creative direction ideas and guide delivery teams to ensure briefs stay true to concept and brand
• Ensuring the department maintains high standards regarding operating in an environmentally sustainable and ethical manner
• Designing, and/or briefing presentation layouts and graphic identities for high quality presentations.

The Ideal Candidate

• BA / MA graduate in art, design, architecture or related creative fields
• Experience within a creative business environment ideally working within digital design.
• Ability to work in a high-paced environment to tight deadlines, as well as manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• An advanced understanding of current and emerging technologies
• Ability to understand the opportunities and risks of tech solutions for projects
• Experience working in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team including front and backend software developers
• Enthusiasm for your practice and a strong sense of personal responsibility for your own learning and development.
• A creatively driven and passionate person with a professional and confident manner
• A strong visual eye and attention to detail
• Intellectual curiosity and open-mindedness
• Ability to present to a larger groups and externals in a confident and appropriate manner
• Ability to articulate the intentions of the work
• Confidence to express opinion and provide direction and guidance within meetings and other teams
• A great portfolio of work that showcases your skills and experience in digital design and creative thinking; as well as any complementary technical or creative skills
• Highlight organised with an ability develop and work to processes and deadlines
• Team player with ability work under own initiative
• Very strong visual, verbal and written communication skills
• Familiarity with front-end development languages or frameworks (such as HTML/CSS/JS, React, Django)

About the Company

Everyone is welcome 

Selfridges is a place where we want everyone to feel a sense of belonging. We embrace every self and are committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive working culture. We are leading with purpose to not only increase the visibility and recognition of under-represented talent within our organisation, but the wider industry too. Here at Selfridges, everyone is welcome – irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age or disability, we stand by equal opportunities for all.   

Our awards cabinet  

We’re not ones to brag, but since you asked...Selfridges has won the award for The World’s Best Department Store an unprecedented four times at the IGDS awards, with an additional award for the Best Sustainability Campaign. We were also recognised as a ‘Best 25 Big Company to Work For 2020’ as awarded by The Sunday Times. 

Selfridges