OVERVIEW
RED VELVET is a boutique full-service experiential activations and events agency calling Austin, Texas, home since 2002. We partner with brands and companies to concept, design, and produce international award-winning experiences of all shapes and sizes, ranging from immersive activations and luxury moments to conferences.
As an agency rooted in strategy, driven by creativity, and obsessed with production excellence, we believe in crafting brand-forward experiences that get it right. Every detail, every decision, every moment should honor the client’s brand, and we’re seeking a senior-level creative leader who shares that mindset and thrives in complex, high-touch environments.
We are seeking a full-time, Austin-based Creative Lead with 15+ years of experience directing high-impact, large-scale experiential events. This critical role owns our end-to-end creative process and serves as the primary visionary for complex projects. You will lead and inspire a multidisciplinary team of designers (spanning 3D environment design and graphic design) while maintaining a hands-on, collaborative approach. The ideal candidate pushes the creative envelope (and the team) with bold, innovative ideas, yet remains grounded in reality and ensures concepts are highly executable, financially viable, and meticulously representative of our clients' brands.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Creative Vision: Serve as the agency's creative north star; generating bold, culture-creating concepts and driving them end-to-end on complex projects.
Team Leadership: Inspire, mentor, and elevate a multidisciplinary design team across 3D and graphic design disciplines, with clear accountability.
Client Presentation: Confidently articulate and pitch complex experiences in compelling formats so clients can easily see the vision.
Brand Stewardship: Fiercely protect and accurately represent the client's brand identity through every stage of execution.
Budget Alignment: Partner with production to ensure creative ideas are fiscally responsible and respectful of client budgets.
3D Visual Oversight: Guide the design team in developing clear, impactful 3D renderings and spatial designs that sell the vision.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a bridge-builder across Accounts, Production, and Operations, aligning design with logistics.
Process Excellence: Establish structured creative workflows that keep projects moving effectively without overcomplicating them.
On-Site Execution: Direct the creative team onsite and support production leads to ensure the creative vision is flawlessly realized.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
- 15+ years directing high-impact, large-scale experiential work, with real creative leadership experience (not just senior design experience).
- Hands-on fluency in SketchUp, Rhino, or comparable 3D/spatial design tools. This is a requirement, not a preference.
- A strong point of view and the spine to hold it. You push the work (and the people around you) toward bolder and better.
- The range to move between big-picture vision and the precise detail that protects it, across multiple concurrent projects.
- A clear, confident, trusted, and commanding presence in high-stakes client rooms.
- A collaborative leadership style that builds bridges rather than working in a creative silo, with the ownership and follow-through to run with minimal oversight.
- Curious, proactive problem-solving: you ask the right questions, anticipate challenges, and thrive under pressure or ambiguity.
- Comfort with structured workflow tools (monday.com, Slack, Harvest, Google Workspace) without needing process to replace creative instinct.
LOGISTICS
Austin-based role. Some travel will be required, dependent on client project locations.
READY TO MOVE FORWARD?
If you feel like you’ve got what it takes, please apply.
Our interview process starts with an initial virtual screening, followed by interviews with key team members to discuss experience, creative philosophy, and fit. No phone calls regarding this posting, please.
Please note: This job description is designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by associates within this classification. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of associates assigned to this job.
RED VELVET is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Flexible work from home options available.
