Responsibilities

• (50%) Mazda Brand Style Strategy and Creative Vision
• Partner with the Senior Director to define, evolve, and communicate the North American Brand Style Ideal State.
• Provide strategic creative leadership across all customer-facing touchpoints, ensuring seamless alignment with Mazda's brand strategy and visual identity and business objectives.
• Direct the development of compelling visual narratives, distinctive storytelling approaches, innovative creative frameworks that elevate and amplify Mazda's brand DNA.
• Lead the identification, analysis, and integration of emerging design, cultural, and consumer trends, translating insights into brand expression and future-facing creative strategies.
• Oversee and provide direction for photography, film, digital, experiential, environmental, and presentation-based projects, ensuring execution from concept through delivery.
• Collaborate with MC Design Brand Style Management Department and regional stakeholders to ensure cohesive, globally aligned, and local brand experience.
• Provide leadership throughout the creative development process including review, refinement, and approval of creative work to ensure exceptional design excellence, quality and craftsmanship.
• (20%) Visual Identity Stewardship
• Develop and advance scalable creative frameworks, visual references, and brand expression tools that translate Mazda's Brand Style Ideal State into clear, actionable guidance for internal teams, agency partners, and vendors.

Requirements

• 10+ years experience of progressively responsible creative, design, or art direction experience. required
• 10+ years experience collaborating with agencies, photographers, filmmakers, writers, and production partners. required
• 10+ years strong portfolio demonstrating excellence in visual design, brand development, storytelling, and creative leadership. required
• 5+ years experience leading multidisciplinary creative projects from concept through execution. required
• 5+ years experience mentoring designers and creative professionals. required
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Knowledge and skills of a sound technical understanding to ensure the smooth progress of a variety of projects from concept to delivery – Including but not limited to: typography, print, packaging, digital, web, video/film, photography, environment required (Advanced-Authority)
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Ability to lead and work on multiple projects while providing timely status reports on self/team performance, quality assurance of all creative deliverables, and cost effective and on schedule work required (Advanced-Authority)
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Strong knowledge of and proven experience in the creative development process around brand image creation required (Advanced-Authority)
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Expert ability to develop well-conceived innovative creative work that implements a brand image/strategy required (Advanced-Authority)
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Excellent conceptual and problem-solving skills required (Intermediate-Advanced)

Preferred

• - 5+ years art directing photography, video, digital, environmental, and experiential projects. preferred
• - 5+ years automotive, luxury, premium, or lifestyle brand experience preferred
• - Bachelor of Arts (BA) Graphic Design Preferred
• - Bachelor of Arts (BA) Digital Communications and Media/Multimedia Preferred
• - An equivalent mix of education, training, and/or work experience may be considered in place of a degree Required