Director of Creative Services & Operations
17 days ago
New York
Job Description A rare opportunity to join the City Winery team as we reimagine the future of live music and hospitality. City Winery to deliver the highest end combined culinary and cultural experience to our customers who are passionate in sharing wine, music, and culinary arts. We are a unique facility, combining a fully functioning winery with intimate concerts, food & wine classes, private events in a variety of configurations, and fine dining. We have created a compelling mix for our sophisticated clientele of foodies, and active cultural patrons—bringing the wine country experience to the middle of a large city. Position Summary City Winery is seeking a senior, hybrid creative leader to oversee creative operations, intake, and delivery across a complex, multi-pillar hospitality and live-entertainment business. This role is designed for a creative leader who thrives in complexity, someone who can take incomplete inputs, competing priorities, and fast-moving business needs and translate them into clear creative direction, strong concepts, and executable plans. Reporting to the SVP of Marketing, the Director of Creative Services & Operations leads and enables a team of designers and creative partners, ensuring work is thoughtfully prioritized, well-resourced, and executed at a consistently high level. By combining strong creative instincts with operational discipline, this role protects designer time, enforces brand standards across channels and markets, and articulates the rationale behind creative decisions to internal stakeholders. The Director of Creative Services & Operations elevates Creative from a reactive production function to a strategic partner, ensuring creative work moves efficiently from idea to execution and strengthens the quality and cohesion of City Winery’s brand expression. The Director of Creative Services & Operations ensures that all creative work across venues, restaurants, live shows, and guest touchpoints is consistently on brand, high quality, and delivered on time. This role unifies creative leadership and operational execution, establishing clear creative standards while building the systems and workflows that enable teams to deliver in a fast-paced, live environment. Why us? ● Competitive pay ● We are a rapidly expanding national entertainment and hospitality company, offering tremendous opportunities for driven and ambitious individuals. ● Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance ● nDORFins program designed to promote a healthy and active lifestyle! ● 401K (and yes we match!) ● Flexible Savings Accounts,HSA and Dependent Care, Basic Life and AD&D Insurance ● Amazing discounts, 50% OFF all dining/retail wine ● Free Family Meal ● Tickets to available shows And more! Overview of Responsibilities Creative Intake & Concept Development • Own intake for all creative requests across the organization, serving as the central point of entry for creative work., • Translate high-level, incomplete, or evolving inputs into clear creative concepts and actionable briefs., • Develop creative direction when stakeholders cannot fully articulate needs, ensuring clarity before execution begins., • Own prioritization, timelines, and resourcing across the creative team using Asana., • Establish, enforce, and continuously refine intake, briefing, feedback, and approval standards., • Proactively reduce last-minute requests, fire drills, scope creep, and missed deadlines., • Strategically manage creative capacity and workload to ensure sustainable pacing and consistent output quality., • Partner closely with the Design Manager to set creative vision, standards, and executional excellence., • Provide clear creative direction upfront while empowering designers and avoiding micromanagement., • Elevate work from good to great through strong concepting, thoughtful guidance, and early alignment., • Serve as a trusted creative partner to Marketing, Programming, Private Events, Operations, and other department heads., • Partner cross-functionally to align creative priorities with broader business initiatives and timelines., • Push back constructively on unclear, unrealistic, or misaligned requests while offering alternative solutions., • Represent Creative Services early in planning and budget conversations not just during execution., • Strategically oversee creative-related spending, including design resources, freelancers, and external partners., • Review and manage budgets across design and creative initiatives to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness., • Manage and develop the creative team by aligning individual strengths, skill sets, and interests with ownership and responsibilities., • Protect designer focus time so the team can do its best, most thoughtful work., • Improve morale by reducing chaos, ambiguity, and reactive workflows. Minimum Qualifications ● 5–10+ years of experience in creative services, brand, in-house, or agency environments. ● Strong creative instincts paired with operational discipline and business acumen. ● Proven experience leading creative teams, workflows, and cross-functional initiatives. ● Comfort operating in ambiguity and translating evolving inputs into clear direction. ● Excellent communicator and collaborator across all levels of the organization. ● Demonstrated ability to balance creativity, efficiency, workload management, and financial responsibility. About Us Wine, food, and live entertainment collide at City Winery to create a dynamic and incredibly unique workplace. Since 2008, City Winery has been turning heads across the nation with amazing live performances, delectable cuisine, and award winning, locally produced wines. But there's more to us than that we're a haven for community and creativity, a place where the philosophy of hospitality is more than just a buzzword, but a way of life. City Winery, founded by music industry veteran & visionary Michael Dorf, has established itself as a one-of-a-kind brand providing unforgettable experiences for guests. From world class music venues to sustainably produced wines with ratings of 90+ points, City Winery offers a range of topnotch events & experiences. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at City Winery. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Additionally, City Winery participates in the E-Verify Program in certain locations, as required by law. We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility.