Director, Art Direction, Digital Brand Content

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles.
Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio - a global house of brands committed to stretching what's possible.
A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry's commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.
Primary purpose: The Director will concept, create, design, curate and produce compelling original digital content that expresses the brand vision and aesthetic. In collaboration with key cross functional partners throughout the marketing team, they will play an important role in driving traffic and sales to our retail shops and websites through content that inspires and converts.
The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Art Direction to...

• Build a powerful, unique and cohesive brand identity through creative across consumer touchpoints
• Translate strategic ideas into compelling and innovative creative concepts that engage the customer and promotes brand's relevance and desirability across multiple channels
• Leads the adaptation of brand campaign assets created by external agency partners to be fit for use across digital touchpoints
• Leads the seasonal / new arrivals content. Works closely with cross-functional partners to build understanding of seasonal messaging strategies to develop concepts, designs and art direction, and sees through execution.
• Leads product photography and video assets for eCommerce
• Works closely with production team and styling on all shoot preparation. Ensures execution aligns with concept, and oversees completion of assets.
• Leverage customer data and consumer insights to inform creative approach.
• Incorporate kate spade brand DNA to embed storytelling throughout content.
• Conduct ongoing and in-depth image research from past through present, with keen eye for evolving fashion and cultural trends.
• Leverage cultural and market insights to inform concept and ideation.

The accomplished individual will possess...

• Bachelor's Degree is a plus
• Vast knowledge in digital content creation- a must
• Minimum 10 years of experience in a related field
• Extensive knowledge in culture including Music, Art, fashion and film
• Exceptional concept art direction skills for stills and motion
• Experience working for a retail/fashion brand or ad agency is a plus
• Drawing/illustration and film experience skills a plus

An outstanding professional will have...

• The cultural reference points and creative instinct and ability to carry out in-depth image research.
• In depth knowledge of new and old/archival fashion campaigns.
• A proven instinct for spotting and discovering up-and-coming content creators.
• Knowledge of creative trends.
• Proficient in: Photoshop, Illustrator, Keynote and Acrobat.
• A strong and instinctive 'eye', with expert design and typography skills.
• Experience with photography direction and styling.
• Ability to concept design solutions with limited direction.
• Ability to think outside the box and innovate.
• Extremely detail oriented, well-organized, strong problem solving skills.
• Team player with positive "can-do" attitude.
• An inclusive and authentic working style.
• Ability to take direction from senior designers and provide multiple solutions.
• Strong verbal and written communication.
• Ability to prioritize (quickly and efficiently) with tight deadlines and follow through.
• An understanding of customer priorities and ability to strive to exceed expectations.

Our Competencies for All Employees

• Courage: Doesn't hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and "actionable" positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
• Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
• Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn't upset when things are up in the air; doesn't have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
• Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
• Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Our Competencies for All People Managers

• Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
• Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Kate Spade is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant's or employee's qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under the consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law. Visit Kate Spade at www.katespade.com .
General Description of All Benefits: Our company offers a number of benefits to eligible employees, including health benefits (medical, dental, vision), life insurance and disability insurance. Eligible employees are also able to enroll in our company's 401(k) savings plan and take paid time off for wellness needs and vacations. For additional information about our benefits Click Here - U.S Store Compensation & Benefits
General Description of Other Compensation: Eligible employees will be able to receive discounts on certain products and incentive compensation.