VP of Creative

Description

Whisker is the maker of Litter-Robot, Feeder-Robot, and Litterbox.com. At Whisker, we believe pet parenthood can always get better.

As leading innovators in pet tech and refined pet accessories, we work tirelessly to solve problems and deliver smarter insights for pet parents while enriching the lives of pets. Whether it’s a self-cleaning litter box that automates scooping, an automatic feeder that helps pets develop healthier eating habits, or a modern cat tree that delights both humans and felines, we strive to deliver better solutions for consumers while transforming pet care along the way. To us, having a pet is the best thing ever. At Whisker, life together just keeps getting better.

Whisker is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan and Juneau, Wisconsin with 500+ passionate team members.

Summary:

Whisker is seeking an experienced multidisciplinary Executive Creative Director to join us as the VP of Creative onsite in our Auburn Hills, Michigan HQ. This journey at Whisker is incredibly exciting as there are few opportunities as a marketer to truly shape the future of a category - let alone a pet care category - where you get to transform how pet parents think about their pet household chores. This is a creative marketers dream role and we look forward to partnering together to grow Whisker to its full potential. You'll be an integral part of our leadership team, reporting to the SVP of Marketing, and working closely with our President & CEO.

As the VP of Creative, you'll lead our in-house creative department, guiding art direction, content, copy & storytelling, video production, web design, performance creative, and brand design. You’re a hands-on creative leader who enjoys ideating and executing high performing DTC experiences and campaigns. Your core superpower lies in your exceptional writing skills combined with a keen eye for visual creativity, or vice versa. You have strong foundational experience with ecommerce as you will creatively lead Whisker across brand strategy, product marketing, growth, lifecycle, and technical content. You'll have the chance to define the Whisker voice through compelling copy and design, drawing from our 24-year legacy while positioning Whisker for where we are heading. This includes spearheading the launch of Whisker.com in 2025, naming of our next generation lineup of products, and so much more. This is a creative person's dream role depending on this next paragraph...

We believe that our brand and creative storytelling are best told by cat people. So yes, this is the only job description you’ve ever read where having a cat (or getting a cat) is in fact a requirement of the role!

Why join Whisker as VP of Creative:

• Global Leader: For 24 years Whisker has been the leader in automated pet care, growing our business profitably and consistently. Now, with 500 people on the team, you will join us at our next inflection point as we take our brand to new heights through our connected pet ecosystem and global expansion.
• Scrappy + Outcomes Oriented: Join a small but mighty award-winning creative team that has spearheaded numerous successful campaigns and brand commercials, with over 500M+ views. For almost 10 years, Whisker has managed its own creative and e-commerce design and development in-house with our 50 person marketing & IT team. We are highly performance driven, aligning all of our creative and brand development with DTC outcomes.
• Creative Autonomy: You will have the opportunity to establish and own the end-to-end creative direction for the Whisker brand across copy, web, advertising (performance + integrated campaigns), social, packaging, and more.
• Opportunity for Impact: Through your creative storytelling lens, you have an opportunity to set trends in the world of pet care. From OOH billboard campaigns to brand activations at global events, to our website with 20M+ annual visitors, your work will get major visibility across different mediums.
• State-of-the-Art Facilities: Enjoy our renovated 50,000 sq ft. headquarters featuring a 3,000 sq ft R&D lab and a dedicated 2,000 sq ft in-house content studio for cutting-edge content creation.
• Powerhouse Team: You join a passionate team of awesome creative folks currently led by our multidisciplinary Creative Director. The team includes: 1 Creative Director - Video, 1 copywriter, 1 technical content lead & copywriter, 2 designers, 1 UX designer, 1 Producer, 1 Photographer/Videographer. The marketing team is 35 people total.
  
  
  

What You'll Do:

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.

• Leads, inspires, and mentors a diverse creative team, including creative directors, designers, video producers, copywriters, and content creators.
• Owns strategy and vision of the DTC website experience including UX design concepting, site information architecture, and conversion rate optimization across the eCommerce shopping funnel.
• Leads the development of our ad creative pipeline across all performance marketing channels including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Leverages internal creative production resources, external agency partners, and content creators (UGC influencers) to develop and maintain the pipeline of ad creative assets.
• Engages with creative directors on your team to ideate and produce full-funnel global marketing campaigns backed by sizable media investments across TV, streaming platforms, outdoor advertising, and brand activations.
• Ensures that our owned CRM channels (email, SMS, and in-app notifications) speak to our product experience with accuracy while also promoting our brand to new and existing customers alike (onboarding journey, newsletters, product and app updates.)
• Develops and maintains Whisker's brand identity and guidelines, ensuring consistent design direction across all marketing channels, website content, app content, and product packaging.
• Launches Whisker’s new brand architecture strategy for our parent brand and sub brands along with and our flagship site, Whisker.com.
• Leads content strategy and development of originally produced video content across YouTube and editorial content on our official blog.
• Contributes to go-to-market strategy by driving brand creative direction for our next generation products including naming conventions.
• Is a product marketer and partner with internal product marketers and drives content with confidence and accuracy across our product portfolio.
• Partners with leaders across Marketing, Omnichannel, Operations, HR, IT, Product, and Engineering to prioritize creative support for company-wide initiatives.
• Oversees departmental budgets, resource allocation, and external agency relationships.
• Provides direct influence and input on creative copy and design across high-impact projects.
• Is a passionate leader who highlights your team's best creative work, and who will also drive decisions based on business impact.
• Creates compelling stories that captivate millions of unique site visitors per month and connects with them in a 1:1 way.
• Will perform additional responsibilities when required
  
  
  

Requirements

What You'll Bring:

• BA in Advertising, Marketing, or related field
• 10+ years of experience in creative leadership roles, preferably in-house or at D2C creative agencies.
• DTC Brand Experience: You must have experience marketing directly to consumers for a brand that sells directly to consumers.
• Web & Performance: You’ve previously owned creative execution for building DTC ecommerce websites and you’ve owned creative execution for acquisition marketing channels.
• Proven track record of delivering innovative and commercially successful campaigns across various platforms.
• Strong portfolio showcasing major brand work and strategic creative thinking.
• Experience managing and mentoring diverse creative teams, fostering a collaborative and inclusive culture.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate creative concepts to stakeholders at all levels.
• Passion for pets and a genuine understanding of pet parents' needs and preferences
• Current cat owner
• Comfortable with office pets (cats, dogs)
  
  
  

Benefits & Purrks:

Join a tenacious, inventive company that empowers team members to chart their own path, lead by grounding decisions in the “why”, and has a strong sense of empathy and openness to new perspectives. Be a part of exciting growth, work with incredible people, and create tomorrow’s pet products—plus a whole lot of extras. You will also be provided with:

• Premium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Whisker Parents Program
• 1 day "pawternity" leave for new pet adoption
• Pet Insurance
• 401K match
• Flexible spending accounts
• Company-paid short-term disability and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous paid time off
• 14 Paid Holidays
• Top of the line equipment
• Pet-friendly office
• Whisker products and swag
• Continuing education Support
• On-site gym with Peloton
• Referral program
  
  
  

Statement of Inclusivity:

We believe different perspectives make Whisker better and strive to create a place where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive.

Please ensure to regularly check your email spam folder for any communication from Whisker to avoid missing important updates regarding your application status.

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