Creative Director

Love Ur Curls® is a Toronto-based DTC (direct-to-consumer) hair care brand backed by Y Combinator, Sound Ventures, Comcast, and other notable VCs and angel investors.

Since launching in 2017, we have shipped over 10 million bottles of our innovative hair care products to consumers with curly hair worldwide and earned thousands of 5‑star reviews. Our mission is as simple as the products we create: to encourage people to genuinely love and accept themselves so that their unique beauty can shine through. To learn more, visit loveurcurls.com

POSITION OVERVIEW

We are looking for an A‑class Creative Director to own our visual identity end to end — across digital and, increasingly, physical retail. This is a rare hybrid role: part visionary leader, part hands‑on‑key‑board maker. You'll set creative strategy and direct a small, high‑performing team, and you'll also be genuinely comfortable opening Firefly, Photoshop or Illustrator yourself — whether to push a concept over the finish line, cover a special project, or simply show the team what “great” looks like. You should be able to sit in a Senior Digital Designer seat when the moment calls for it.

As we expand from pure DTC into retail, this role will take on a growing slate of print and physical creative — packaging, product labels, retail shelf and end‑cap displays, billboards, and other out‑of‑home and print collateral — alongside the paid social, email, and ecommerce creative that has always powered our digital growth. You should also bring genuine, practical fluency with AI creative tools, using them to speed up ideation, concepting, and production without ever compromising craft or brand integrity.

Above all, we’re looking for someone who is detail‑obsessed — truly obsessed — with an uncompromising bar for flawless execution, and who has a great eye “behind the camera” for photography, videography and art direction.

• Reports to: Chief Marketing & Digital Officer
• Direct reports: 2 full‑time creatives
• Extended team: a network of independent design contractors sourced via platforms such as Behance and Upwork, engaged for overflow capacity and specialized skill sets

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the brand's visual identity and creative vision across every channel — digital and physical — ensuring consistency and a consistently elevated standard at every touchpoint.
• Lead creative strategy, concept development, and execution across a full range of deliverables: paid social and digital ad creative, email campaigns, Shopify/Amazon content, photoshoots, packaging, product labels, retail shelf and end‑cap displays, billboards, and other print collateral as we grow into retail.
• Develop big ad campaign creative, from ideation to creation: build large, memorable ad ideas that flex across out‑of‑home (OOH), TV/CTV, and performance marketing ad concepts.
• Be genuinely hands‑on: personally execute design work in Photoshop, Illustrator, and other platform tools when a project calls for it, timelines are tight, or only your eye will get it right — operating at the level of a Senior Digital Designer when needed.
• Bring a great eye behind the camera: art direct — and, when needed, personally shoot — photo and video content, ensuring every asset reflects the brand's aesthetic.
• Champion the responsible use of AI creative tools (e.g., Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, and other generative AI workflows) to accelerate ideation, concepting, and production while maintaining an uncompromising quality bar.
• Hold an obsessive, zero‑compromise standard for detail and craft: every deliverable, from a billboard to an Instagram story, should reflect flawless execution.
• Manage, mentor, and grow 2 full‑time direct reports, and oversee a roster of independent contractors (Behance, Upwork, and similar platforms) for overflow capacity and specialized needs.
• Partner closely with the Chief Marketing & Digital Officer to align creative output with brand strategy, growth goals, and upcoming digital and retail initiatives.
• Project‑manage the creative function: prioritize workload, set timelines and budgets, and build scalable systems and processes as the team and brand grow.
• Analyze creative and campaign performance and translate insights into sharper creative decisions across both digital and retail.
• Stay ahead of design trends, retail merchandising standards, and emerging creative technology (including AI) to keep LUS's visual identity current and competitive.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with marketing, ecommerce, and operations to ensure creative output supports the business as it scales from DTC into retail.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of experience in a creative role, including 5+ years in a Creative Director or equivalent creative leadership capacity, ideally in beauty, wellness, fashion or CPG.
• Proven ability to lead both digital‑first DTC creative (paid social, paid search, email, ecommerce) and physical/retail creative (packaging, labels, shelf and end‑cap displays, print, out‑of‑home).
• True hands‑on proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) — able to jump in and execute at a senior designer level, not just direct.
• Working fluency with AI creative tools (e.g., Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, and other generative AI image/video workflows), with a track record of integrating them into a creative process effectively and responsibly.
• Exceptional eye for photography and art direction, with experience directing photoshoots and video shoots.
• An obsessive, detail‑first mindset — you catch what others miss, and “good enough” isn't in your vocabulary.
• Strong people leadership: experience managing and developing full‑time direct reports, plus coordinating external and freelance talent across platforms like Behance and Upwork.
• Sharp organizational and project management skills; able to juggle multiple concurrent projects across digital and print production timelines.
• Comfortable using data and performance insights to inform and refine creative decisions.

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