Fast Facts

Ascend Learning is seeking a visionary Creative Director for the NASM brand in the fitness and wellness sector. This remote position will focus on leading creative strategy and execution to differentiate the brand in the market.

Responsibilities: The Creative Director will lead all creative work for NASM, focusing on developing unique and compelling marketing strategies, managing a high-performing team, and overseeing campaigns across various platforms.

Skills: Exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, creative storytelling, experience in design and digital media, strong understanding of UI/UX principles, and proficiency in design tools like Figma and Adobe Creative Suite.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree and 8+ years of experience in creative roles for national consumer brands, with a passion for fitness and wellness.

Location: Remote in the United States, with no specified travel requirements.

Compensation: Not provided by employer. Typical compensation ranges for this position are between $100,000 - $160,000.

We Impact Lives Through Purpose-Driven Work in A People First Culture

Ascend Learning is the connection between a powerful portfolio of brands serving students, educators, and employers with outcomes-based, data driven solutions across the lifecycle of learning.

Our values-driven culture unifies our teams and inspires a mindset of action, innovation, and collaboration, with a relentless focus on customers.

We're always looking for talented, passionate professionals to join us in our mission to help change lives. If this sounds like an environment where you'd thrive, read on to learn more.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

We are seeking a visionary Creative Director to deliver creative that commands attention based on its insight and raw creativity, strongly lands our points of competitive differentiation, and compels consumers to purchase.

At National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), our mission is to provide world-class fitness and wellness professionals with the knowledge and tools to transform lives. We help personal trainers, coaches, their clients, and fitness and wellness enthusiasts live healthier and happier lives.

Possessing exceptional leadership, creative and strategic thinking skills, the Creative Director will lead development of marketing and advertising that gets noticed and strongly differentiates. Reporting to our VP Marketing, the Creative Director will be responsible for all brand, website, digital media, product, organic social, PR, events and internal communications creative. This role will partner with our creative agency and develop and mentor a high-performing team of in-house and near shore professionals focused on reinforcing and growing our position as an industry leader.

WHERE YOU’LL WORK

This position will work remote in the United States.

HOW YOU’LL SPEND YOUR TIME

• Lead development and production of all NASM creative work, ensuring it is uniquely insightful, motivating and clearly establishes how we are different and better than competition.
• Differentiate our brand through creative storytelling, capturing prospective consumers' hearts and minds. Deliver work that commands attention based on its freshness and raw creativity.
• Partner with the VP Marketing and Director of Product and Brand Marketing to execute our new leadership brand strategy across all our marketing.
• Partner with product leadership to ensure our fitness and performance, nutrition and wellness and membership and professional enablement creative accelerates sales.
• Oversee 360-degree campaigns across paid, owned, and earned
• Lead video pre-production, production, and post-production for all work.
• Work with our brand agency to continue to elevate our creative work and brand and production standards. Ensure all NASM creative work is cohesive and follows our brand standards.
• Lead, mentor and develop a high-performance team, including a designer, creative project manager and top-level nearshore resources, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and accountability.
• Achieve a deep understanding of our business and key insights into our consumers and use this to make our work as insightful and persuasive as possible. Together with our Director of Brand and Product marketing, regularly report out progress in moving key brand and metrics.
• Partner with traffic manager and creative project manager to forecast, plan, and measure creative performance.
• Stay current with consumer and industry trends, emerging technologies and new marketing tactics to ensure our marketing remains in tune with our evolving consumer and reflects the latest best practices.
• Leverage emerging technologies including Ascend approved AI tools, to enhance creative output, streamline workflows, and push the boundaries of visual storytelling.
• Adeptly manage multiple content workflows and prioritize projects across teams..
• Develop creative roadmaps and workflows that tie to business
• Partner with product development team to produce assets to support product launches.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Bachelor's Degree required
• 8+ years’ experience as a creative for national consumer brands, including retail/ecommerce.
• Passionate about fitness and wellness. Excited about the opportunity to help trainers and coaches achieve their dreams and improve their clients’ lives.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and oversee fresh, insightful work that fuels overall company and product sales.
• An inspirational leader skilled in leading teams, securing cross-functional support and motivating others to achieve what no one thought possible.
• Demonstrated ability to passionately support the work, while being open to feedback from key marketing team members and other key stakeholders. A flexible, agile thinker, open to input to make ideas better.
• Experience partnering with top tier creative agencies.
• Strong understanding of core UI/UX principles.
• Experience with design, productivity and workflow tools (Figma, Wrike, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Teams, etc.)
• Bring connections for production resources that bring our ideas to live in a magical way.
• Must be a curious thinker who loves problem solving: asking questions, digging deeper, and getting to the why.
• Strong sense of ownership, urgency, and drive.
• A positive, “what’s possible” thinker who thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

BENEFITS

• Flexible and generous paid time off
• Competitive medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 401(k) employer matching program
• Parental leave
• Wellness resources
• Charitable matching program
• Hybrid work
• On-site workout facilities (Leawood, Gilbert, Burlington)
• Community outreach groups
• Tuition reimbursement

Fostering A Sense of Belonging

We seek out and celebrate all people and perspectives and cultivate an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued and be their authentic selves. Our culture is firmly rooted in the belief that by embracing our differences and drawing on diverse perspectives, we are a stronger, more innovative, and more successful organization where employees experience a sense of belonging.

About Ascend Learning

As a tech-enabled services company, Ascend Learning is a national leader in developing and delivering data-driven online educational content, software, assessments, analytics, and simulations serving institutions, students and employers across healthcare, fitness and wellness, public and workplace safety, skilled trades, insurance, financial services, cybersecurity, and higher education. We're committed to accelerating the learning pathways that can move people into careers where they have the knowledge and skills to have an impact and help change lives in the communities they serve. Headquartered in Burlington, MA with additional office locations and hybrid and remote workers in cities across the U.S., Ascend Learning was recognized by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group as one of America's 2023 Greatest Workplaces for Diversity.

Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S. based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

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