Executive Creative Director

In 1954, architect Eero Saarinen designed a radically modern bank branch for Irwin Union in Columbus, Indiana. With glass walls, no private offices, and a floor plan that invited openness, it embodied a new kind of transparency in finance. The building was surrounded by trees, furnished by Herman Miller, and featured rustic brick flooring. Today, that space is a conference center, and that spirit of design-forward thinking in banking feels all but extinct.

Mercury believes that level of care and craft in design has been lost in modern finance and we’re building a brand that brings it back. 

We’re building a company with the ambition to become the new standard for banking*: products that are technically excellent and extraordinary to use, with a brand to match. We’re looking for an Executive Creative Director to elevate Mercury’s brand from strong to best-in-class, and to set a bar for craft, clarity, and taste across the entire industry. This is a rare opportunity to build a category defining brand, at a company that truly values brand and design. 

As Executive Creative Director, you’ll be responsible for Mercury’s brand and creative expression across every customer touchpoint outside of the product (and you’ll collaborate with product designers to bring the brand inside the product, too)

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column, NA, Members FDIC.

Here are some of the specific things you’ll do:

• Own the creative vision behind Mercury’s brand – elegant, technically excellent, creative, and unmistakably recognizable
• Set strategy and vision for how we can establish Mercury as the new standard for design and craft in modern banking
• Oversee creative and brand work across all marketing channels, including digital ads, OOH, video, editorial and blog content, website, events & experiential marketing, physical products (like our credit cards and print magazine), and more
• Ensure a consistently high bar for craft, clarity, and creativity across all channels
• Lead a growing team of 16+ talented creatives (brand designers, writers, and people managers); as well as manage and direct external agencies and freelancers
• Foster a team culture for delivering excellent and impactful creative work
• Be comfortable getting hands-on when needed — reviewing work in detail and providing precise, actionable feedback to push work from good to excellent
• Partner closely with Product Design and Product leadership to ensure brand and product feel cohesive
• Collaborate with executive leadership to translate strategy into creative direction.

There are lots of paths that could lead you to be successful in a role like this; we think the strongest candidates will have some of this experience:

• 10+ years of experience in creative leadership roles, with both in-house and agency experience
• Experience building or evolving brands at companies known for strong design and craft
• Exceptional taste — and the ability to articulate what it will take to push work from good to great
• Ability to understand high-level strategy and translate it into clear, tactical feedback for creative teams
• Excellent leadership and ability to set a vision that the entire company can get excited by
• Comfort operating at all levels – both where are we going in 10 years? And how can we make this billboard more resonant?
• Credibility with designers, writers, and product teams alike
• Willingness to take creative risks in service of building a distinctive, durable brand
• Ability to manage complexity: evolving a brand while delivering against an ambitious roadmap

The total rewards package at Mercury includes base salary, equity (stock options), and benefits.

Our salary and equity ranges are highly competitive within the SaaS and fintech industry and are updated regularly using the most reliable compensation survey data for our industry. New hire offers are made based on a candidate’s experience, expertise, geographic location, and internal pay equity relative to peers.

Our target new hire base salary ranges for this role are the following:

• US employees in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: 255,200- $319,000
• US employees outside of New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, or the San Francisco Bay Area: $229,700- $287,100

Mercury values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Mercury are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for applicants with disabilities or special needs. If you need assistance, or an accommodation, please let your recruiter know once you are contacted about a role.

We use Covey as part of our hiring and / or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT. As part of the evaluation process we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. 

[Please see the independent bias audit report covering our use of Covey for more information.] 

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