Creative Lead

About Us:

Founded in 2010, Ekya Schools offers progressive K-12 education through CBSE, ICSE, and Cambridge IGCSE curricula, emphasizing experiential learning. Alongside Ekya Schools, our chain of CMR Pre-University Colleges deliver an extensive pre-university program affiliated with the Karnataka Pre-University Board, offering a rigorous academic curriculum and a well-rounded learning experience. Drawing from the rich legacy of the CMR Group, we nurture lifelong learners equipped to thrive in a dynamic and evolving world.

This year, we are launching Purpose-Based Schools, thematic schools where students develop specialized skills from a young age. The first, Ekya Nava, will focus on Innovation, Creativity, and Design, empowering students to become future technopreneurs, innovators, and changemakers.

Position Overview:

As the Creative Lead, you will be the brand custodian for multiple distinct school brands within our portfolio. You will be the guardian of our school's identity, ensuring that every touchpoint, be it digital, print, or physical, reflects our mission, values, and vision. Your role is pivotal in crafting and maintaining a cohesive brand narrative that resonates with students, parents, staff, and the broader community.

You will lead the creative direction, design execution, and brand storytelling across campaigns and communication platforms. This includes collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to deliver compelling, consistent, and meaningful brand experiences. With a keen eye for design and a strong sense of strategy, you will ensure each brand under your stewardship stands out while staying true to its core essence.

As a team leader, you will guide and mentor a team of designers and content creators fostering a high-performance, collaborative, and creatively driven work culture.

Key Responsibilities:

• Brand Stewardship: Own and evolve the visual identity, tone, and overall brand narrative for 4 to 5 school brands.
• Storytelling: Craft compelling narratives that bring the brand to life across digital and offline platforms—highlighting our mission, community impact, and student experiences.
• Creative Direction: Lead the design and production of all marketing materials including digital campaigns, brochures, videos, outdoor creatives, event collateral, and merchandise.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with teams across to align creative output with organizational goals.
• Performance Alignment: Partner with the Performance Marketing team to conceptualize and deliver creatives that are not only visually impactful but also data-driven and conversion-focused.
• Brand Consistency: Adhere to and enforce brand guidelines across all materials, ensuring visual consistency, clarity, and cohesion.
• Aesthetic Excellence: Maintain a high standard of visual design, ensuring all creative outputs reflect a refined, modern, and student/parent-friendly aesthetic.
• Campaign Conceptualization: Ideate and execute integrated marketing campaigns that support admissions, engagement, events, and reputation building.
• Content Oversight: Guide and review messaging and visual content to ensure it aligns with brand tone, emotional storytelling, and positioning.
• Team Management: Lead, mentor, and manage a team of in-house designers and content creators; oversee workflow, set priorities, provide feedback, and support team growth and development.
• Vendor & Agency Coordination: Manage relationships with external designers, videographers, and creative agencies to uphold brand quality and consistency.
• Design Governance: Understand and maintain brand guidelines, toolkits, and templates to ensure consistent usage across all stakeholders.
• User Experience Thinking: Bring in a user-first mindset to communication design across parent journeys, school visits, digital presence, and other experience touchpoints.
• Digital Literacy & Technical Proficiency: Demonstrate proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and a strong understanding of digital platforms and tools for content distribution (e.g., social media, websites) to effectively reach and engage the school community.
• Innovation & Trends: Stay up to date with design, branding, and education marketing trends to keep our communication fresh, relevant, and forward-looking.

Key Skills & Competencies:

• Strong visual storytelling and narrative development
• Excellent design aesthetics and attention to detail
• Strategic thinking with a deep understanding of branding principles
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills
• Strong project management and prioritization abilities
• Ability to collaborate across functions and manage multiple stakeholders
• Leadership skills with the ability to inspire, coach, and manage a small creative team
• Flexibility and adaptability in a fast-paced, high-output environment
• Data-driven creative thinking to align with marketing performance metrics
• Problem-solving mindset and a can-do attitude

Qualifications and Experience :

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design, Fine Arts, Marketing, Communications, or a related field required; Master's Degree preferred
• Experience: 5-8 years in a creative role, with a minimum of 3 years in a leadership position
• Preferred Industries: Experience in Advertising and Digital industries preferred
• International exposure is highly valued

We would love to hear from you!