Creative Director - Football
Location : saudi arabia, Riyadh
department : Creative
Type : fixed term contract
Minimum Experience : senior
ABOUT FOOTBALLCOFootballco is a global, football focused, digital platform with an ambition to own the entire non-live football landscape worldwide and become THE digital destination for all football fans across the globe. Combining some of the most forward-thinking minds in football, an award winning creative and production function, as well as digital platforms that are loved by 400m fans globally, FC aims to own the digital fan ecosystem across the world’s biggest sport.
With 300 permanent employees across the world, FC is a diverse, disruptive, brave, dynamic, agile and fun organisation. Our work-hard, play-hard attitude supports these values – with the football fan always front of mind, leveraging a world class tech platform and our track record (since PERFORM) of being first to market.
We connect fans to football and brands to fans, come join us and be a part of it!
ABOUT THE ROLE
Footballco is working with some of the biggest sponsors, players and clubs in the Saudi Pro League. We will be running major Saudi brand partners’ digital channels and activating ground-breaking sponsorships with Saudi Arabian clubs. We will be creating and distributing visually compelling content that showcases brands’ association on Footballco owned channels and club channels.
We are looking for a Creative Director with a standout portfolio to lead the strategy and direction of one of our biggest clients in KSA. The Creative Director is the project leader responsible for guiding and transforming a campaign’s creative strategy into award-worthy work. They will be responsible for coming up with innovative, big ideas that give our clients exactly what they want, but also what they’d never expect – all whilst balancing the needs of the Footballco audience and our advertisers. As a creative leader, they will be confident when it comes to all aspects of the creative process and seeing a campaign through, from ideation to execution, presentation and production.
This person will oversee digital creative output for our client whilst coordinating the efforts of multiple teams, and ensuring Footballco’s creative product is of the highest standard.
WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING
Conceive and execute social-first hero, hub and hygiene creative campaigns that will delight our client and push the boundaries of how football sponsorships are activated in the region.
Lead and inspire the project team, providing clear direction, guidance, and feedback. Set content goals and KPIs and monitor the team's performance
Partner closely with key stakeholders to build rich creative ideas from unique audience insights that only Footballco is uniquely able to uncover.
Establish partner-facing content calendars, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality and consistent content across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and beyond. Be very comfortable communicating what we’re doing and why to colleagues and clients.
Brief our Designer and videographer to develop video, motion and static assets that capture the spirit of the clubs and resonate with the fan base.
Work with our Community Managers to develop and execute a comprehensive social media strategy for the partner’s accounts and Footballco accounts that adhere to the partner's tone of voice and brand values.
Work hand-in-hand with the Project Lead, as well as the GOAL, KOOORA and INDIVISA editorial leads, to ensure creative deliverables the client (and Footballco audiences) will love are prepared and published.
Collaborate with external agencies, writers, directors, editors, producers, designers and any other necessary talent on a program.
Direct videos when necessary at a high level and confidently communicate your creative vision to production and post-production teams.
Lead creative decision making on assigned campaigns: Oversee and manage the development from treatments to scripts to final edits to distribution; maintain accountability for the success of the campaign.
Partner with our client throughout the creative process to maintain balance between the campaign’s objectives as well as creative vision & best practices.
Assume ultimate responsibility for quality and accuracy of the end product of all project team members.
Ensure ideas can happen relative to budgets, timing, and capabilities.
Stay up-to-date with industry trends, emerging platforms and best practices to optimise content publishing. Have your finger on the pulse when it comes to the world’s biggest social media platforms and think of innovative ways to use them.
WHAT YOU HAVE
Fluent in the Najdi dialect of Arabic and English - verbal and written. Must be able to communicate with the UK central team as comfortably as in Arabic with the Riyadh team.
A creative portfolio full of diverse thinking, award-winning work and eye-catching art direction.
Extensive experience working as a creative/content lead in an agency, publisher or brand environment, ideally within the football industry.
Proven experience running a creative/ content team in a similar role within the media industry that required managing and growing digital communities that includes social channels.
Strong familiarity with content in Arabic and English football content on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.
Able to foster a collaborative and creative work environment, encouraging innovative ideas and continuous learning.
A calm, analytical head who can make big decisions with a track record of success.
Flexible to work evenings and weekends to coincide with Saudi Pro League matches when necessary.
In-depth knowledge and passion for Saudi football, with a good understanding of clubs and players is essential from day one.
Creative mindset with the ability to generate original and engaging content ideas - as well as knowing when to say no to ideas that won’t fulfil the partner’s objectives.
Ability to develop and execute creative social media strategies and campaigns.
Innate understanding of social media platforms, trends and analytics tools.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously, maintaining an attention to detail and working to tight deadlines.
Outstanding communication and organisation skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
A positive and professional attitude that inspires your team, building trust with client stakeholders in you and your team’s publishing.
Footballco is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category.