Creative Director

About Mawj: Mawj is a Riyadh-based marketing group working across education, hospitality, real estate and technology. Our portfolio includes brands such as Reigate Grammar School Riyadh and Nobles. We are building a full in-house team across account management, media, creative and production. Our marketing is judged by enrolments, bookings, sales, qualified leads and conversions — not views and likes alone. Creative must fit the Saudi market, strengthen the brand and contribute to performance. The Role: You will build and lead Mawj's in-house creative department across art direction, design, copy, video, motion and production. You will own each brand's creative direction, design system, output quality and performance creative. This is a hands-on leadership role. You must turn business objectives into strong ideas, lead execution and explain why the work should perform, working closely with Marketing, Media, Accounts and senior management. What You Will Do: Creative Strategy & Brand Systems • Define the creative platform, visual language, tone and design system for each brand. • Translate business strategy into clear creative territories. • Build consistent systems across campaigns, social, paid media, presentations and print. • Treat Arabic as a primary design language, not text added after English. • Build bilingual templates that enable speed without lowering quality. Campaign Concepts & Art Direction • Lead campaign concepts from idea to final execution. • Turn briefs into clear ideas with strong messages and visual logic. • Develop key visuals, scripts, storyboards, references and production approaches. • Challenge weak briefs and distinguish attractive work from ideas people remember or act on. Video, Motion & Production • Lead hero films and major video campaigns from concept to delivery. • Develop scripts, shot lists, references and cutdown plans. • Direct photographers, filmmakers, editors, motion designers and production partners. • Plan shoots for hero films, Reels, Stories, paid ads and cutdowns. • Review editing, pacing, motion, grading, sound, captions and final exports. Performance Creative • Partner with the Marketing Manager and media team to connect creative with performance. • Build 8–15 meaningful variations where campaign scale requires it. • Develop strong hooks and test messages, visuals, formats, offers and creative angles. • Review data, identify what drives qualified leads, bookings or sales, and apply those learnings. • Know when poor performance is caused by creative and when the problem is elsewhere in the funnel. AI & Creative Technology Strong practical AI experience is a core requirement. AI should already be part of how you research, concept, produce and manage creative work. You will be expected to: • Use AI for research, moodboarding, concept development, visual exploration and prototyping. • Use current AI image and video tools professionally and understand their limits. • Integrate AI into copy, design, storyboarding, pre-visualisation and post-production. • Build AI-assisted workflows that improve speed without lowering quality. • Automate repetitive tasks, evaluate tools by business value and train the team to use AI professionally. • Maintain quality control, brand consistency and human judgement. You should demonstrate where AI improved quality, speed, cost or creative possibilities. Saudi Market & Cultural Understanding You must understand Saudi audience behaviour, visual preferences, cultural sensitivities, local references, seasonality and audience segments. You must know the difference between translating international creative and creating work for Saudi audiences. Creative should feel locally intelligent, not simply localised. Creative Quality & Standards • Own the final quality of everything produced by the department. • Set standards for concept, brand consistency, art direction, bilingual typography/layout, copy, photography, video, motion, platform specs, consent and file organisation. • Know when to reject weak work and when work is commercially ready. Creative Team Leadership • Build and lead Mawj's creative department. • Hire and develop art directors, designers, writers, editors and other specialists. • Allocate work by skill, priority and deadline; review briefs and give actionable feedback. • Build clear processes for briefing, concepting, reviews, approvals and delivery. • Develop talent and build a team that can scale without losing quality or speed. Client & Management Communication • Present concepts and campaigns to brand owners and senior management in Arabic and English. • Explain decisions clearly, defend strong ideas professionally and turn feedback into actionable direction. • Explain when a request conflicts with the brand, strategy or campaign objective. • Use audience and campaign data to support creative decisions where appropriate. Vendors & Production Partners • Select and manage photographers, filmmakers, studios, freelancers and post-production partners. • Evaluate partners on quality, capability, cost and reliability. • Write clear briefs, control budgets and timelines, and maintain Mawj's quality standard. What You Bring: • 8+ years of professional creative experience. • 3+ years leading a creative team at an agency, studio or strong in-house department. • Agency or multi-brand experience. • A portfolio showing brand-building and performance creative. • Deep professional experience in the Saudi market, with proven understanding of Saudi culture, audiences, visual preferences and communication styles. • Advanced practical experience using AI in creative workflows and production. • Strong concept development and art-direction ability. • Strong Arabic typography and bilingual-layout expertise; able to design Arabic-first rather than translate English work. • Strong video and motion direction experience from concept through production, edit and cutdowns. • Strong understanding of paid-social creative and performance testing. • Strong judgement across design, copy, photography, video and motion. • Experience managing production budgets and external partners. • Ability to write clear briefs and give effective feedback. • Fluent Arabic and English, written and spoken. • Strong presentation skills with owners, CEOs and senior management. • Highly organised, decisive, collaborative and accountable. You must currently live in Riyadh and have lived and worked here long enough to demonstrate genuine understanding of the local market. We are looking for someone who can start as soon as possible. The Person We Are Looking For: We want someone who asks: Is there actually an idea here? What should the audience understand? Would a Saudi audience respond naturally? Does the Arabic work as well as

8+ years of professional creative experience; 3+ years leading a creative team at an agency, studio or strong in-house department; Portfolio showing brand-building and performance creative.

Creative Strategy & Brand Systems: Define the creative platform, visual language, tone and design system for each brand; Translate business strategy into clear creative territories; Build consistent systems across campaigns, social, paid media, presentations and print; Treat Arabic as a primary design language; Build bilingual templates. Campaign Concepts & Art Direction: Lead campaign concepts from idea to final execution; Turn briefs into clear ideas with strong messages and visual logic; Develop key visuals, scripts, storyboards, references and production approaches; Challenge weak briefs. Video, Motion & Production: Lead hero films and major video campaigns from concept to delivery; Develop scripts, shot lists, references and cutdown plans; Direct photographers, filmmakers, editors, motion designers and production partners; Plan shoots for hero films and cutdowns; Review editing and final outputs. Performance Creative: Partner with Marketing Manager and media team to connect creative with performance; Build 8–15 meaningful variations; Develop strong hooks and test messages; Review data to identify what drives qualified leads, bookings or sales. AI & Creative Technology: Use AI for research, moodboarding, concept development, visual exploration and prototyping; Integrate AI into copy, design, storyboarding, pre-visualisation and post-production; Build AI-assisted workflows that improve speed without lowering quality. Saudi Market & Cultural Understanding: Understand Saudi audience behaviour, visual preferences, cultural sensitivities, local references and segments; Create work that feels locally intelligent and appropriate. Creative Quality & Standards: Own final quality of all outputs; Set standards for concept, brand consistency, typography/layout, copy, photography, video, motion, specs and file organisation. Creative Team Leadership: Build and lead the creative department; Hire and develop talent; Allocate work and provide actionable feedback; Build scalable processes. Client & Management Communication: Present concepts in Arabic and English; Explain decisions clearly and turn feedback into direction; Use data to support creative decisions. Vendors & Production Partners: Select and manage photographers, filmmakers, studios and post-production partners; Write briefs, control budgets and timelines; Maintain quality standards.