[IxDA Discuss] Job: Creative Director for Online World (SF)

[Nathan]

Creative Director

Location: CA - San Francisco
Position Description

Opportunity Snapshot

Are you a creative visionary who is passionate about pushing the  
limits of consumer portals? Cyworld been touted as one of the  
"hippest" online social networking platforms and our innovative look,  
charm and engaging communication tools have been a huge hit with the  
youth culture looking for an authentic, safe destination for  
interaction and creative expression. We enjoy a start-up environment  
and complete financial backing from our parent company.

We are seeking exceptional creative leadership across the spectrum of  
design, from product creation to brand experiences, who can take  
"ownership" of our product portfolio and conceptualize what the next  
version of our product will look like. Your mission is to lead our  
design (both visual and UI) strategy to build scalable and innovative  
consumer portals.

Specifically, you will strategize and oversee all design projects,  
driving the constant evolution of our design techniques, and  
ultimately being responsible for a compelling user experience. One of  
our key growth initiatives is to penetrate the mobile space and as  
you come on board, we'll look to you to capitalize on this huge,  
potentially lucrative market, translating online design to mobile  
applications through telephones. You have the unique opportunity to  
not only impact our growth and success on a daily basis, but also put  
your own, distinctive "stamp" in shaping the future of our company.
If you have. . .

Bachelor's degree in related field; Master's preferred.
At least five years experience in all aspects of design including:  
information design/architecture, user interface design, visual  
design, human factors, usability studies, branding/identity;  
copywriting. Prefer mix of traditional CPG brand and new media  
experience.
Ability to develop new approaches to complex design problems and  
convey ideas into tangible form.
Experience leading creative teams with a demonstrated understanding  
of how to provide constructive feedback while continuing to inspire  
creative thought.
Experience combining business and creative goals when creating a  
unique design solution.
Strong communication and problem solving skills and the ability to  
meet deadlines in a fast paced environment.
Solid understanding of graphic and web design principles and good  
understanding of current web technologies (CSS, DHTML, Flash etc).
Advanced proficiency in design tools, such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
. . .consider a role that offers:

High impact & visibility -- you will impact our success in the US  
market and your contributions will be keenly watched by our executive  
leadership team.
The best of both worlds -- you'll enjoy the entrepreneurial vigor of  
a true start-up atmosphere and the stability and "deep pocket"  
resources of our parent company.
Career growth -- "growth" is the operative word here; not only will  
this position itself grow under your leadership, but also the company  
will grow, both organically and via acquisition. Your success in this  
role could set you up to pursue a number of opportunities throughout  
our company.
Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive base and  
generous incentive plan, we offer a comprehensive benefits package  
including all that you would expect as well as a few features that  
might pleasantly surprise you.
Who We Are

Founded in Korea in 1999, Cyworld has members in the United States,  
China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Styled on a similar model to other  
social networking sites such as Friendster and Myspace, Cyworld  
offers a new, virtual, way to connect with people:
"Here, you'll find friends you know, new people to meet, clubs to  
join and special spaces for your photos, artwork, journals and more.  
In Cyworld, you can meet up, hang out, play, dream and share your  
world like never before."

Developed as a subsidiary of SK Telecomm, one of Korea's largest  
wireless service providers, Cyworld has grown to roughly 15 million  
users in Korea (more than one third of Korea's total population) and  
just two years after launch the site has 2 million users in China.

Our business model is a proven success story with strong profit  
margins, and our due diligence shows great promise for our model in  
the US market. As a creative networking company, we know that ideas,  
innovation and user friendly design are integral to Internet success,  
and we believe that at the core of this success is a talented team of  
people...that's where you come in.

More About Your Role

Reporting directly to our Senior Director of Product Management, you  
will lead our Creative Services team, encompassing four design staff  
in our downtown San Francisco office. Initially, your core areas of  
focus are to truly "get" our mission and culture, evaluating and  
enhancing our UI design to align with our goals and develop  
applications for the mobile space. You will be ideally positioned as  
our Senior Director's right-hand person and "own" the design look and  
feel for everything attached to our brand.

Since ours is a start-up environment, you'll face an interesting  
stream of challenges including defining our overall design strategy  
and building a team in an undefined, evolving environment. We'll look  
to you to possess a "roll-up-your-sleeves" mentality and actually  
execute as well as provide the vision for creative inspiration. In a  
nutshell, you'll spend 1/3 of your time with hands-on execution;  
another 1/3 with short-term planning; and the final 1/3 with long- 
term strategic planning. Specifically, your responsibilities are to:
Participate in concept development and design ideation.
Create visual designs that address business, brand, market, and user  
requirements, including the design and production of screen layouts,  
color palettes and user interface elements.
Produce design specifications, storyboards, scenarios and design  
prototypes.
Successfully communicate conceptual ideas, design rationale and the  
specifics of user centered design process.
Collaborate with product managers, web developers and engineers to  
refine the user experience.
Assist in project coordination across functional teams.
Assign creative services staff to projects maintaining a design  
calendar with all scheduled projects along with their timelines and  
deliverables.
Identify and recruit new hires and help to attract and retain high- 
caliber talent.
Mentor and train junior design staff; create and maintain design  
style guides.
Conduct all day-to-day operations of creative services including  
managing budget, resources, facilitating weekly departmental and  
discovery meetings, and signing off on all design specs,  
documentation and outgoing proposals.
Research and utilize potential technologies and creative concepts;  
assign research projects to staff and track progress.
Contribute new sources of creative inspiration to the design team on  
the whole.
Contribute to the branding of all company projects as needed.
Act as company advocate and embody our values: people, passion,  
creativity, fun and excellence.
Participate in ongoing special projects in support of our strategic  
plans.
Coordinate design related activities, such as off-site meetings,  
training workshops etc.
Maintain subscriptions to design magazines.
Manage other special projects as required.
Keys to Success

To excel in this environment, you will posses that unique hybrid of  
creative passion coupled with strong leadership skills to instill  
that passion within your team and guide them to achieve design  
excellence. By bringing this passion to work every day, you'll not  
only be a key driver in our success story, but have the added benefit  
of truly loving what you do. In addition, you will need the following  
personality attributes to succeed:
Impeccable communication skills to interact with cross-functional  
groups including product management and engineering; you'll be  
comfortable working with engineers, programmers, and other "techies"  
in the creation of innovative and expressive online projects.
Team-building skills with a willingness to mentor junior staff, and  
motivate your team to achieve their goals; you will be able to work  
with ideas of any origin without losing focus on requirements for  
marketing, product and company success.
Life-long-learner approach to updating your industry/design knowledge  
to ensure that we keep our competitive edge.
Self-assess to understand what makes you good at what you do, and  
constantly take steps to build on strengths and improve on weaknesses.
Ability to use levity to diffuse stressful situations and be  
comfortable working around others who value a sense of humor.
If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for  
you, and you meet our requirements, we look forward to hearing from you!
Contact peter.christy at cyworldinc.com


________________________________________________________

Nathan Shedroff                  WEB   www.nathan.com
Experience Strategist

22 Cleveland Street                  NET    nathan at nathan.com
San Francisco, CA 94103