Lead Director, Retail Experience & Communications Design

We’re building a world of health around every individual — shaping a more connected, convenient and compassionate health experience. At CVS Health®, you’ll be surrounded by passionate colleagues who care deeply, innovate with purpose, hold ourselves accountable and prioritize safety and quality in everything we do. Join us and be part of something bigger – helping to simplify health care one person, one family and one community at a time.

Position Summary

It's a new day in health care. Combining CVS Health and Aetna – referring to merger in 2018 - was a transformative moment for our company and our industry, establishing CVS Health as the nation’s premier health innovation company. Through our health services, insurance plans, and community pharmacists we are pioneering a bold new approach to total health. At CVS Health, we have an unmatched ability to engage with consumers, where 70% of the population lives within 3 miles of a CVS store and 1 in 3 Americans interact with one of our services at least once annually.

Reporting to the Executive Creative Director, Experience Design, the Lead Director, Retail Experience & Communications Design will set the creative vision and lead the development of experiences that shape how customers engage with the brand across physical, digital, and experiential touchpoints. This role will translate business priorities, store experience strategy, and customer insights into compelling creative solutions that strengthen the brand, drive engagement, and improve the customer experience.

This leader will bring broad experience design expertise and a creative point of view on how brand, environment, communications, content, and technology come together to create meaningful customer interactions. The portfolio spans store formats and pilots, signage and communications, visual merchandising and seasonal décor, dynamic digital content, promotions and events, sports sponsorship activations, and other customer-facing experiences.

The ideal candidate is a proven senior creative leader with strong conceptual thinking, exceptional standards for craft, and deep experience translating retail and brand strategies into compelling experiences. This person should bring expertise across brand experience, retail communications, environmental graphic design, shopper marketing, wayfinding, visual merchandising, digital content, and emerging technologies, along with a passion for human-centered design and solving complex business challenges through thoughtful, effective creative solutions.

This role requires the ability to inspire and develop creative teams, influence senior stakeholders, and build trusted partnerships across a complex organization. The Lead Director will champion the brand across customer touchpoints while ensuring creative solutions support business objectives and can be effectively executed at scale.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead the development of breakthrough creative concepts that connect store experience strategy, shopper insights, and business objectives across store formats and pilots, signage and navigation, in-store campaigns and promotions, merchandising and seasonal décor, events, sponsorships, and brand activations.
• Provide a strong creative POV and shape in-store communications and experiences across front-store events, loyalty programs, pharmacy campaigns and other priority business initiatives.
• Integrate physical and digital touchpoints to create cohesive, connected customer experiences, including the design, and execution of in-store digital content.
• Establish and champion design principles and standards that create a consistent, distinctive brand experience across programs and touchpoints.
• Oversee end-to-end creative development and delivery across environmental, print, digital, and experiential elements, maintaining high standards for craft, consistency, and effectiveness while balancing operational, budget, timeline, and production constraints.
• Present and advocate for creative concepts and rationale with senior stakeholders, building alignment and confidence across functions.
• Guide and mentor designers, writers, and creative leads, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and high creative standards.
• Build trusted partnerships with internal teams, cross-functional business partners, and external agencies and vendors.
• Stay ahead of retail, consumer, and experiential design trends, including AI-enabled tools and emerging technologies that can improve creative development and execution at scale.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of creative experience in agency and/or corporate environments, with a proven track record of leading creative teams and a strong foundation in visual and verbal communication design.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating concept development and execution across experiential design, retail communications, environmental graphics, digital content, events, sponsorships, and customer-facing campaigns
• Deep expertise in environmental graphic design and visual storytelling, including layout, typography, color, photography, scale, materials, and production
• Proven ability to translate brand, marketing, and shopper experience strategies into compelling creative solutions across physical and digital touchpoints
• Experience leading dynamic digital content, with a strong understanding of short-form storytelling, storyboarding, modular systems, motion, pacing, and screen-based composition
• Exceptional leadership skills, with a track record of inspiring talent, developing teams, and building a strong creative culture
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment with senior stakeholders and partners
• Excellent presentation, storytelling, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, balancing multiple priorities and projects
• Hands-on, collaborative leadership style with a positive attitude and willingness to step in when needed
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and/or After Effects

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working within a large, complex, highly matrixed organization
• Experience leading work that spans retail, experiential, and digital customer touchpoints
• Strong familiarity with AI tools and emerging technologies applied to creative development and content production
• Familiarity with print production, fabrication, environmental graphics, and retail executions

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Advertising, Fine Art or related field OR equivalent work experience

Pay Range

The typical pay range for this role is:

This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full-time salary for all positions in the job grade within which this position falls. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors. This position is eligible for a CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to the base pay range listed above. This position also includes an award target in the company’s equity award program.

Our people fuel our future. Our teams reflect the customers, patients, members and communities we serve and we are committed to fostering a workplace where every colleague feels valued and that they belong.

Great benefits for great people

We take pride in offering a comprehensive and competitive mix of pay and benefits that reflects our commitment to our colleagues and their families.

Additional details about available benefits are provided during the application process and on Benefits Moments.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state and local laws.

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