Sr. Manager, Creative Services

About National Western

We are National Western—an organization rooted in more than 120 years of history and driven by a mission to strengthen American agriculture through education, youth development, and community connection. We are stewards of the Western way of life, grounded in the values of courage, pride, integrity, grit, and loyalty.

Each January, we bring this mission to life through the legendary National Western Stock Show—one of the world’s premier Western lifestyle, rodeo and livestock entertainment

events—welcoming hundreds of thousands of guests from across the globe. Beyond the Stock Show, we operate The Legacy, a world-class, year-round destination for events, experiences, and cultural connection in the heart of Denver.

We are more than an event—we are a brand that lives at the intersection of heritage and culture, shaping how Western lifestyle shows up in the modern world.

Position Summary

National Western is seeking a highly creative, strategically minded Sr. Manager of Creative Services to lead internal efforts for development and execution of compelling, culturally relevant creative across all marketing channels.

This role serves as the primary driver of our internal creative capabilities—owning visual direction, storytelling, and creative production that bring the National Western brand to life. From campaign concepts to day-to-day content, this leader will ensure our creative is distinctive, consistent, and impactful across every touchpoint.

The ideal candidate is both a visionary and a builder—someone who can develop big ideas, execute with excellence, and elevate our brand into a culturally iconic Western lifestyle platform.

What You’ll Do

Creative Direction & Brand Expression

• Lead the visual and creative direction for National Western across all marketing channels
• Ensure consistent, high-quality brand expression aligned with our values and evolving brand identity
• Develop and maintain brand guidelines and “brand bibles” that define visual identity, voice, and storytelling standards

Campaign Development & Storytelling

• Concept and execute breakthrough creative campaigns for the Stock Show, The Legacy, and year-round initiatives
• Translate strategic marketing goals into compelling creative ideas that resonate with diverse audiences
• Bring strong narrative thinking and storytelling to every project—from large-scale campaigns to social content

Content Creation & Production

• Oversee and executive creative production across video, photography, social media, email, SMS, and digital platforms
• Lead the creation of engaging, platform-specific content that drives awareness, engagement, and conversion
• Direct and execute shoots, edit content, and guide production workflows to ensure high-quality output

Digital & Social Creative

• Develop creative for social media channels, ensuring relevance, consistency, and cultural resonance
• Partner with marketing teams to create high-performing digital assets for paid and owned channels
• Drive innovation in short-form video, content series, and real-time storytelling

Collaboration & Stakeholder Support

• Serve as a creative partner to internal teams across marketing, events, partnerships, and leadership
• Collaborate with external agencies, freelancers, and production partners as needed
• Translate business needs into clear creative direction and execute creative deliverables

Project Management & Operations

• Manage creative workflows, timelines, and priorities across multiple projects
• Bring structure and organization to the creative process, ensuring efficiency and on-time delivery
• Balance multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

Brand Building & Cultural Relevance

• Help position National Western as a culturally relevant Western lifestyle brand
• Develop creative that contributes to culture—not just marketing campaigns
• Identify opportunities to push creative boundaries while staying authentic to the brand

Reports to: Vice President, Marketing

Who You Are

You are a storyteller, a visual thinker, and a creative leader who thrives on bringing brands to life. You combine artistic vision with strategic thinking, strong project management skills and executional excellence.

Experience & Background

• 4–6+ years of experience in creative services, creative direction, or a related field
• Experience with lifestyle, Western, sports, entertainment, or culturally driven brands strongly preferred
• Proven ability to concept, develop, and execute integrated creative campaigns, ensuring creative is consistent and on brand strategy

Creative Expertise

• Strong visual design and art direction skills with a sharp eye for detail and aesthetics
• Demonstrated experience in marketing program concepting and storytelling across video, digital, and social platforms
• Experience creating content for email, SMS, and digital marketing channels
• Proficiency in creative tools (Adobe Creative Suite, video editing platforms, etc.)

Strategic & Operational Skills

• Ability to connect creative ideas to strategic objectives and business outcomes
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities
• Experience building and maintaining brand systems, guidelines, and identity frameworks

Collaboration & Leadership

• Highly collaborative, with the ability to work across teams and influence stakeholders
• Comfortable working with external agencies and managing creative partners, as needed
• Strong communicator who can clearly articulate creative strategy, concepts and direction

Mindset & Traits

• Passion for building culturally iconic and relevant brands
• Creative thinker with bold ideas and a willingness to push boundaries
• Self-starter with a strong “can-do” attitude and bias toward action
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and bringing clarity through creativity

Why Join National Western

This is an opportunity to define and shape the creative voice of one of the most iconic heritage brands in the country. You’ll play a key role in how National Western shows up visually, culturally, and emotionally - helping connect a rich legacy to new audiences in bold and meaningful ways. If you’re driven to create, inspire, and build something that matters—we’d love to meet you.

Physical Demands

National Western Complex is a multi-purpose indoor and outdoor commercial and agricultural complex where dusty conditions and animals may exist. While performing the duties of this job, work is performed both indoors and outside in all weather conditions, including extreme cold, snow, wind, and rain, on varied surfaces.

In this role, individuals will experience prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Incumbent must be able to lift 15 pounds and access/navigate the National Western Complex in its entirety, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Scheduling Requirements

While the schedule for this position is primarily Monday-Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm, there will be certain occasions in which early morning, late evening, weekend, or holiday availability will be required to perform the essential functions of this position.

Like almost all NWSS team members, this position will need to be on-site every day during Stock Show, typically for 12-16 hours at a time.

Compensation & Benefits

• This is a full-time salaried/exempt position with compensation for the position ranging from $75,000.00 to $80,000.00 (depending on experience and education)
• Full-time employees qualify for partial paid Medical, Dental, Vision, and life for employee; family coverage is available at group rates.
• Voluntary benefits including Accident, Critical Illness, Short-Term Disability, and Hospital Indemnity available at discounted rates.
• 100% paid Long-Term Disability.
• Paid sick leave and vacation time.
• Upon meeting plan qualifications, a competitive 401(k) retirement plan is available with up to 7% matching.

WSSA/NWSS is a drug & alcohol-free employer with a zero-tolerance drug policy, including marijuana.

WSSA/NWSS is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity.

All offers are contingent on the successful completion of a criminal background check.

Anticipated Job Posting Close Date:

05/01/2026; open until filled.

Work schedule

• 8 hour shift
• 10 hour shift
• 12 hour shift
• Weekend availability
• Monday to Friday
• Day shift

Benefits

• Paid time off
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Referral program
• Other