Creative Director

Role Overview

TYR is hiring a Creative Director to lead and execute the brand’s creative vision across campaigns, product storytelling, content, and digital experiences. This is a hands-on, builder-leader role for a creative who combines taste, execution, strategic thinking, and a strong understanding of how brand building and commerce work together to drive long-term growth.

This is not a purely managerial role. You will be expected to create, direct, and ship, while also thinking systemically about how creative scales across brand, product, and commercial channels—supported by modern tools, platforms, and emerging technologies.

In the near term, success means raising creative quality, clarity, and consistency across all channels. Longer term, success means building the creative operating model, systems, and standards that allow TYR’s creative function to scale without sacrificing performance credibility or commercial impact.

Creative Vision, Brand Strategy & Commercial Alignment

• Own and evolve TYR’s creative vision across campaigns, product storytelling, social, eCommerce, retail, and brand moments.
• Translate brand and business strategy into clear creative systems that support both brand equity and commercial growth.
• Ensure creative supports key commercial objectives including product launches, category expansion, and channel performance.
• Protect and advance TYR’s visual and narrative standards across footwear, apparel, swim, and training categories.
• Ensure all creative ladders back to TYR’s core principles: performance, discipline, and earned credibility.

Hands-On Creative Leadership (Non-Negotiable)

This is a player-coach role. You will personally contribute to the work and set the creative bar through example.

• Photography (product, athlete, editorial, location)
• Videography (short-form, long-form, documentary-style)
• Writing (campaign copy, scripts, VO, narrative framing, brand manifestos)
• Directing (athletes, creators, editors, photographers)
• Editing (video and/or photo — not necessarily full-time, but capable when needed)
• Step in to execute when timelines are tight or resources are constrained
• Be deeply involved in hero campaigns, launches, and defining brand moments

Campaign, Product & Commerce-Driven Storytelling

• Lead creative development for major footwear, apparel, and swim launches with a clear understanding of how storytelling drives demand and conversion.
• Partner closely with Product, Athlete, and E-Commerce teams to build narratives that move seamlessly from brand inspiration to purchase.
• Ensure product storytelling is technical, credible, and athlete-driven — never hype-led.
• Design campaign systems that scale across hero content, social, PDPs, performance media, and retail environments.
• Balance long-term brand building with short-term commercial impact and sell-through.

Strategic Use of AI, Technology & Data-Informed Creative

• Leverage AI-enabled tools to improve creative velocity, iteration, testing, and personalization without compromising brand integrity.
• Partner with Marketing, E-Commerce, and Analytics teams to align creative with performance data, CRO insights, and consumer behavior.
• Help define how emerging technologies (AI-assisted ideation, asset versioning, testing frameworks, content automation) fit into TYR’s creative workflow.
• Ensure creative teams are equipped with modern tools and processes that support speed, scale, and consistency.
• Stay current on evolving platforms, formats, and digital commerce trends relevant to performance athletes.

Team Leadership, Creative Operations & Scale

• Lead, mentor, and develop the creative team with clear expectations and accountability.
• Raise quality, speed, and strategic clarity of output.
• Identify gaps in skills, tools, or workflows that limit creative and commercial effectiveness — and solve for them.
• Help design the creative org structure, production model, and operating cadence as the business grows.
• Foster a culture that values craft, discipline, experimentation, and measurable impact.

Cross-Functional & Executive Collaboration

• Work in close partnership with Product, Athlete Partnerships, E-Commerce, Sales, and Marketing.
• Collaborate with the CEO and Head of Marketing on vision-level creative and brand decisions.
• Own day-to-day creative execution while contributing to broader strategic and commercial conversations.
• Manage and collaborate with external agencies, production partners, and freelancers selectively and effectively.

What Success Looks Like (First 90 Days)

• Clear lift in creative quality, consistency, and confidence across all brand and commerce channels.
• TYR campaigns feel unmistakably TYR — disciplined, cinematic, performance-led.
• Creative decisions reflect a strong understanding of both brand equity and conversion impact.
• Improved alignment between campaigns, PDPs, and performance media.
• A creative function that is proactive, commercially fluent, and strategically aligned.

Ideal Background & Experience

• 8–12+ years in creative leadership roles within performance sport, athletic apparel, or footwear.
• Experience operating inside a brand with close proximity to eCommerce and retail channels.
• Strong understanding of how creative influences demand generation, conversion, and brand equity.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically across brand, product, and commerce.
• Proven ability to ship high-quality work under real-world constraints.
• Deep understanding of athlete culture and performance categories.

Required Skills & Capabilities

• High-level creative taste grounded in performance and authenticity.
• Hands-on experience across photography, video, writing, and directing.
• Strategic thinker who understands creative’s role in driving commercial outcomes.
• Comfort integrating data, AI tools, and technology into creative workflows.
• Strong communicator able to align creative, commercial, and technical stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, InDesign).

Nice-to-Have (But Important)

• Experience building content systems for eCommerce (PDPs, CRO, performance assets).
• Experience with AI-assisted creative or automated content workflows.
• Documentary or long-form athlete storytelling experience.
• Footwear or product-heavy campaign leadership.
• Experience building or restructuring creative teams.
• Experience working with elite athletes or performance institutions.