Creative Director (Full-time w/ benefits)
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Full-time
On-site
San Francisco, California, United States
Compensation and Benefits
Creative Director
Organization Description:
Since 1981, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (Parks Conservancy) has served as the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, collaborating with the Presidio Trust, partners, donors, and the community to support the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). The GGNRA stretches across three Bay Area counties, north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge, and includes iconic places such as Muir Woods National Monument, Fort Point National Historic Site, Alcatraz Island, Crissy Field, Mori Point, Lands End, and the Presidio of San Francisco.
The Parks Conservancy engages at the intersection of national park sites, local communities, social justice, and climate resilience. Collaborating with partners, our staff are dedicated to enhancing public awareness and providing volunteer and educational opportunities in the parks. We are park builders, caretakers, ambassadors, and educators, all working to connect people to parks, in support of our vision Parks for All Forever. Join us.
Position Overview:
The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy seeks a Creative Director to lead the organization’s design direction during an exciting period of transformation. This individual will serve as both a strategic design leader and a hands-on creative director, shaping the Conservancy’s overall look and feel and elevating the artistic expression of our work across all channels—including digital, print, marketing, environmental, and experiential platforms.
The Creative Director will bring expertise in guiding the brand journey through design—ensuring that every visual and creative expression is cohesive, impactful, and reflective of the Conservancy’s mission. This position reports to the Chief Communications Officer. As the Creative Director, this person will be responsible for managing two staff designers and a pool of freelance designers, overseeing a high volume of design projects, and directing workflow across branches. This is a dynamic “player-coach” role: balancing vision-setting, mentorship, and creative leadership with hands-on design and execution. The Creative Director is expected to demonstrate proven leadership experience—mentoring creative staff, guiding cross-functional collaboration, and growing design capacity—while inspiring excellence across the organization. Working closely with all Parks Conservancy branches, and specifically the Communications and Marketing team, the Creative Director ensures that every creative touchpoint strengthens the Conservancy’s identity and deepens engagement with diverse audiences.
This full-time position is based in the Parks Conservancy’s headquarters at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Work is performed primarily in an office setting, including a mix of telework and onsite. The Conservancy currently requires a minimum of four full days per month onsite; however, in many instances it would require more onsite days either in the office or visiting park sites in order to meet the essential requirements of the position. This role is expected to work onsite at Fort Mason at least two days per week. Work may include weekends and evenings and may take place in locations other than Fort Mason.
Key Responsibilities and Duties:
Strategic and Creative Leadership
- Serve as the visual identity leader and chief steward of the Conservancy’s brand expression, shaping the overall look and feel, ensuring cohesion, scalable, and adaptable across all channels, and leading the implementation of a refreshed design system across digital, print, and in-park experiences.
- Shape and evolve the Conservancy’s creative work to deliver compelling artistic expression that inspires and engages diverse audiences.
- Translate organizational goals into creative concepts and leading them through to full production design deliverables that the brand journey to life for diverse audiences.
- Maintain and refine brand guidelines that uphold design quality, clarity, and consistency across all materials and channels.
- Stay ahead of cultural, design, and technology trends including AI-assisted creative tools and apply them strategically to enhance visual impact.
Project Management & Workflow
- Direct the full lifecycle of creative projects, from concept to delivery, ensuring projects are on-time, on-budget, and high quality.
- Oversee and prioritize incoming design requests across branches, aligning resources with organizational priorities.
- Manage freelance designers and agency partners, setting clear expectations, deliverables, and deadlines.
- Establish and refine workflow systems and project management processes (e.g., Asana, Trello etc) to streamline efficiency and transparency.
Marketing & Campaign Development
- Partner with Communications and Marketing, Development, Retail, and Project teams to conceptualize and execute integrated campaigns across web, email, social media, print, video, and environmental design.
- Lead the production of key institutional projects, including the Annual Report (digital and print), Gateways magazine, campaign toolkits, donor collateral, and membership materials.
- Build branded templates and frameworks for web, email, and social campaigns to enable scalable, high-quality content creation.
- Collaborate with the Retail team on concepts for Interpretive Retail Centers that reflect the Conservancy’s visual identity.
- Design and produce core visitor-facing materials such as trail maps, brochures, signage, and other print/digital collateral that support projects and enhance the park experience.
Collaboration & Mentorship
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to align design expression with organizational goals and audience needs.
- Mentor, guide, and inspire designers, writers, and creative staff—fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusion, and innovation.
- Act as a thought partner to senior leadership, advising on design strategy to strengthen storytelling, audience engagement, and brand cohesion.
- Host regular cross-departmental design meetings to scope out and plan for projects, ensuring alignment across branches.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Design Expertise: Mastery of design principles, branding, and visual storytelling across digital, print, and environmental applications.
- Artistic Vision: Ability to shape a distinctive look and feel for a brand, blending creativity, craft, and strategy.
- Technical Proficiency: Expertise in Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign), Proficiency in AfterEffects, Figma preferred. Knowledge of UX/UI, web, WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) best practice.
- Project Management: Proven ability to manage multiple, complex projects with competing priorities, using tools such as Asana or Trello.
- Creative Strategy: Strength in guiding the brand journey through design, ensuring cohesive and impactful artistic expression.
- Leadership & Collaboration: Skilled at inspiring, mentoring, and directing creative teams and partners in a fast-paced, iterative environment.
- Communication: Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills, with ability to present creative concepts to senior leadership and stakeholders.
- Innovation: Awareness of emerging design, cultural, and digital trends; ability to integrate new approaches, including AI tools, into workflows.
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor's degree in graphic design or design Certification preferred.
- 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in creative design, branding, and marketing, with at least 2 years of demonstrated leadership responsibilities.
- Demonstrated success in leading large-scale design initiatives with an emphasis on artistic direction and visual identity.
- Experience working in nonprofit, mission-driven, or cultural organizations is highly desirable.
Health and Safety:
It is the goal of the Parks Conservancy to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace. We work to mitigate hazards and risks that may cause harm to employees, consistent with state and federal laws. Employees play an active role in creating a safe and healthy workplace and are expected to comply with all applicable health and safety rules.
Physical Requirements and Work Environments: Work is performed in an office setting, at a computer or design equipment 6 to 8 hours per day.
Compensation:
The annual salary for this position is $117,500 (Pay Grade 25). As part of our equitable hiring practices the Parks Conservancy will hire at the salary posted for the position and will not make an offer above this level. Benefits include a competitive suite of medical, dental, and vision plans, up to 3 weeks of paid vacation; holidays, personal, and sick days; a 403(b) retirement plan, Employee Assistance Program, employee discounts, and more.
To Apply: As part of the application, please submit a resume and thoughtful cover letter. The deadline date to submit applications is Friday, November 14, 2025.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.
The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Recruitment, placement and promotions are conducted without regard to an individual's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical handicap, veteran status or sexual orientation, or any other classification protected by Federal, State, and local laws & ordinances. We will consider qualified candidates with criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.