Manager, Creative Services

Manager, Creative Services

Join Our Team!

Midwest Dairy is seeking a strategic, creative, and hands-on Manager, Creative Services to lead the development and execution of high-quality creative materials across the organization. This role combines creative direction, project management, and hands-on design to bring marketing and communications strategies to life.

The ideal candidate is both a creative thinker and a doer - someone who can manage projects, collaborate across teams, strengthen brand consistency, and personally develop compelling creative content. This position will also help build efficient internal creative processes, maximize resources, and reduce reliance on external agencies.

What You'll Do

• Lead Creative Services: Build and manage an efficient internal creative services function, overseeing creative projects, production schedules, resources, and approval processes while contributing directly to design and execution.
• Champion Our Brand: Maintain and strengthen Midwest Dairy's visual identity through brand guidelines, creative standards, templates, and consistent execution across all channels.
• Create Impactful Content: Lead and produce creative materials for digital and social media, presentations, campaigns, publications, video, photography, retailer and partner initiatives, and events.
• Collaborate Across Teams: Partner with Marketing, Communications, relationship managers, and external stakeholders to translate strategies and messages into engaging creative for farmer- and consumer-facing audiences.
• Improve Processes and Systems: Establish streamlined creative request workflows, implement project management tools, and oversee a centralized digital asset library, including asset organization, version control, usage rights, and accessible, on-brand templates. Provide training and guidance to support adoption.
• Manage Creative Partners and Budgets: Coordinate agencies, freelancers, photographers, videographers, and printers while managing scopes, timelines, quality, and costs. Identify opportunities to bring creative work in-house.
• Support Industry and Partner Initiatives: Stay informed of relevant industry and consumer trends, represent Midwest Dairy at partner and industry events, and use insights to support creative solutions that strengthen relationships and advance dairy demand.

What You'll Bring

• Strong creative judgment, visual storytelling, brand management, and advanced design skills across print, digital, social, presentation, and event materials.
• Ability to balance strategic creative direction with hands-on design and production.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills, with the ability to prioritize competing deadlines and coordinate multiple projects and resources.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to manage stakeholder expectations, incorporate feedback, and work effectively with internal teams and external partners.
• Knowledge of creative production processes, digital asset management, brand governance, and workflow optimization.
• Experience managing creative vendors, evaluating deliverables, and balancing quality, efficiency, timelines, and budgets.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in creative services, graphic design, art direction, or a similar creative role.
• Demonstrated success leading creative teams and managing creative workflows.
• Strong portfolio showcasing brand systems, campaigns, and multi-channel creative, with clear evidence of hands-on design capabilities and execution.
• Expert-level proficiency with Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign); working knowledge of Canva.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders and external partners.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience using Monday.com or similar project management and workflow tools to coordinate projects and deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building or scaling an internal creative services function.
• Familiarity with video, motion, or animation tools (Premiere Pro, Animate).
• Experience in agriculture, food, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or mission-driven organizations.
• Experience with asset management systems and workflow platforms (Monday.com).

Additional Details

• Fully remote position with standard working hours.
• Must reside within Midwest Dairy's 10-state region: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, or Arkansas.
• Flexibility to attend occasional events outside normal business hours.
• Approximately 10% travel to support partner and consumer events.