Senior Director, Global Brand & Creative (Exclusive Collective)

Position Summary:

Great luxury brands are remembered less for what they say than for how they make people feel. The Senior Director, Global Brand & Creative serves as the senior creative steward and art director for The Exclusive Collective and its portfolio of luxury travel brands, including Exclusive Resorts, Inspirato, onefinestay, and future portfolio brands. Responsible for defining the visual language of the organization, this leader shapes how each brand is experienced through design, photography, film, social media, digital experiences, campaigns, and branded environments. Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, the Senior Director leads the Creative and Social Media organizations, establishing the creative vision, art direction, visual standards, and operating model that elevate every customer-facing touchpoint. Working in close partnership with the VP of Brand Experience & Partnerships, the Senior Director of Brand Strategy & Insights, and the Content & Communications team, this role transforms established brand strategy, messaging, and experience concepts into work that is visually distinctive, emotionally resonant, and unmistakably premium. This role owns how the brands look and feel—not what they say or how experiences are programmed.

Key Responsibilities:

Define the Visual Language

• Define and continuously evolve the visual language of each portfolio brand.
• Establish the creative vision and art direction across design, photography, motion, video, digital, and social media.
• Ensure every customer-facing touchpoint reflects the sophistication, restraint, and emotional resonance expected of a luxury brand.
• Champion exceptional design, typography, imagery, composition, motion, and visual storytelling.
• Balance consistency across the portfolio while preserving the distinct identity of each brand.
• Raise the creative standard across the organization through thoughtful critique, mentorship, and clear creative direction.

Lead the Creative Organization

• Directly lead the Creative Director and broader Creative team.
• Establish the department's vision, annual priorities, staffing plans, and performance objectives.
• Provide creative and art direction on major campaigns, launches, executive initiatives, and brand moments.
• Oversee creative workflows, prioritization, quality assurance, and production planning.
• Build scalable creative systems that improve quality, efficiency, and consistency.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop exceptional creative talent.
• Foster a culture of craftsmanship, curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Manage creative budgets, agency relationships, freelancers, and production partners.

Lead the Social Media Organization

• Lead and develop the Senior Director of Social Media and broader social team.
• Establish the visual art direction for each portfolio brand across social platforms.
• Guide photography, video, design, creator partnerships, and platform-specific visual storytelling.
• Ensure every post, campaign, reel, and visual asset reflects the standards of the portfolio.
• Partner with Growth Marketing to support acquisition, engagement, and lifecycle initiatives through exceptional creative.
• Oversee creator relationships, social production planning, and agency partnerships.
• Encourage experimentation while maintaining premium brand standards.

Art Direction, Photography & Visual Storytelling

• Establish the artistic direction for campaign, editorial, residence, destination, lifestyle, and event photography.
• Develop creative concepts and visual treatments that reinforce each brand's positioning.
• Select and direct photographers, filmmakers, stylists, producers, and creative partners.
• Review creative treatments, mood boards, shot lists, casting, styling, locations, and post-production.
• Build and continuously evolve the organization's visual library.
• Ensure imagery consistently reflects the aspiration, quality, and authenticity of the brands.

Creative Systems & Brand Standards

• Develop and maintain visual identity standards across all brands.
• Establish design systems, templates, creative governance, and review processes.
• Ensure consistency across typography, color, layout, photography, illustration, motion, and environmental design.
• Review major creative work and provide final creative approval where appropriate.
• Continuously improve creative operations to enable high-quality work at scale.

Agency & Creative Partner Leadership

• Build and lead relationships with creative agencies, photographers, filmmakers, production companies, designers, illustrators, and freelance partners.
• Develop creative briefs, production plans, scopes of work, budgets, and timelines.
• Continuously evaluate new creative partners, technologies, and production capabilities that strengthen the organization's creative output.
• Ensure every external partner contributes to a cohesive creative vision.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Fine Arts, Visual Communications, Marketing, or a related discipline.
• 12+ years of experience leading creative organizations for luxury hospitality, travel, fashion, lifestyle, editorial, or premium consumer brands.
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary creative and social organizations.
• Exceptional portfolio demonstrating world-class art direction, photography, visual identity, integrated campaigns, and digital experiences.
• Strong understanding of luxury branding, visual storytelling, and design systems.
• Experience leading agencies, production teams, and large-scale creative initiatives.
• Outstanding leadership, communication, presentation, and collaboration skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build creative organizations while maintaining exceptional standards of craft.