Story Director

Nashville - USA

Monthly Salary: Not Disclosed

Posted on: 30+ days ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

ABOUT ELEVATE:

Elevate is a full-service consulting firm that inspires high-performing organizations to find their limits and push past them. With expertise in brand consulting sales strategy data-driven insights and talent optimization Elevate gives its clients a competitive edge in the fight for peoples precious time and attention. Established in 2018 Elevate set out to help sports teams and leagues spark innovation and drive the years since the world of sports has transformed today standing at the convergence of media entertainment and consumer brands with Elevate supporting some of the worlds most ambitious businesses across these sectors. Elevates proprietary technology data sources and software products combined with our thoughtful insights and people-centric approach give clients a 360-degree view of their customers underpinning intelligent decision-making on marketing spend growth strategy and more.

Our team of 300 employees spans the globe with in 20 locations worldwide. We value recruiting diverse individuals to our team to bring new perspectives to our company and look forward to learning more about you in the recruitment process. To learn more and see what weve been up to follow Elevate on X LinkedIn and Instagram.

WHO WE ARE

Elevate Creative is the creative arm of Elevatewe are a best-in-class sports and entertainment firm that partners with the worlds most recognizable teams brands and properties. Together we forge unforgettable moments of connection uniting storytelling and emotive design to create dynamic experiences and spaces that amplify brands and drive revenue.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Rooted in core truths and lived experience boundless creativity creates transformative experiences for fans translates a brand to three dimensions and brings a space to life. While most people look at something head-on we tilt our heads to change perspective. We love building brands experiences stories relationships and moments that demand to be re-lived. At Elevate creativity never stops.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are looking for a Story Director to uncover the core truths that drive emotional connection and design impact. This role contributes throughout our design process conducting interviews analogous research facilitating workshops and researching client organizations to uncover key insights and story strategy. Youll be expected to synthesize these diverse inputs into clear patterns and opportunity areas framing challenges from a user-centered perspective. Through co-creation sessions with stakeholders and rapid prototyping of narrative ideas youll validate story directions early and often. Youll also explore story frameworks through visual and experiential lenses using metaphors analogies and multi-sensory cues to imagine how ideas can come to life. These findings shape the foundational narrative that guides downstream designfrom concept development to final execution.

In this role youll develop research insights and story presentations that are equal parts strategic blueprint and creative inspiration. These tools help align stakeholders around a clear compelling vision ensuring our designs not only look great but also reflect the values culture and future aspirations of our clients.

The ideal candidate brings a strategic research-oriented mindset and an intuitive sense for what makes a brand or space resonate emotionally. Youve likely worked in fields like experience design branding content strategy journalism or even filmanywhere that values storytelling and deep user insight. Familiarity with the sports industry and the business of sports is a strong plus as is the ability to present with boardroom polish in front of executive stakeholders.

Youll work across a variety of projectsstadiums experience centers and branded environmentswhere narrative is essential to creating immersive high-impact spaces. Expect to travel at the onset of projects conduct independent and analogous research and collaborate closely with our strategy design and production teams throughout the engagement.

EXPERIENCE

8 years of professional experience in storytelling brand strategy design research or related fields such as journalism immersive experience design or content strategy.
Portfolio or samples showcasing impactful vision decks narrative frameworks user personas and insight synthesis that guided creative or experiential outcomes.
Demonstrated experience leading research engagements conducting stakeholder interviews facilitating workshops and synthesizing findings into compelling narratives.
Track record of presenting story frameworks and narrative strategies directly to clientsparticularly executive-level stakeholderswith clarity confidence and polish.
Experience working in multi-disciplinary creative teams and contributing to the development of experiential environments branded spaces or cultural activations.
Evidence of translating research into strategic insight and story arcs that inspire creative work and drive alignment across client and internal teams.

SKILLS

Narrative Development Expert at crafting strategic story frameworks that drive design direction inspire teams and align stakeholders.
Human-Centered Research Skilled in qualitative methods including interviews field research and analogous exploration to uncover deep insights.
Synthesis & Insight Generation Adept at transforming complex data into clear themes opportunity areas and emotionally resonant storylines.
Facilitation & Alignment Confident designing and leading workshops that surface diverse perspectives and build consensus across teams.
Communication & Presentation Exceptional verbal and written communicator with the polish to present to executive stakeholders and the fluency to collaborate with creative teams.
Cross-Functional Collaboration Comfortable working across disciplines (strategy design architecture production) to integrate storytelling throughout the experience.
Strategic & Systems Thinking Capable of connecting narrative to brand strategy audience needs and business outcomes.
Emotional & Cultural Intelligence Sensitive to tone language and contextable to tailor stories for different audiences values and cultural settings.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Design scope and conduct research engagements that inform strategic storytelling and design direction.
Facilitate synthesis sessions with internal teams and stakeholders to generate clear actionable insights and opportunities.
Creatively articulate the insights and stories behind our design conceptsthrough documents presentations and immersive storytelling tools.
Build alignment across stakeholder groups with varying perspectives decision-making styles and information needs.
Translate research findings into design opportunities and narrative direction that inspire downstream design and creative work.
Participate in all phases of design consultancy from early research and visioning to strategy concept development and prototyping.
Act as a bridge between insight and execution helping design teams embed storytelling into environments experiences and brand moments.
Travel to project sites for stakeholder interviews immersion research and client collaboration at project kickoff and milestone moments.

NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS

Industry Insight: Familiarity with the sports and entertainment industry including fan engagement sponsorship and team culture.
Emerging Media: Experience with immersive formats (XR AR/VR spatial audio) and how they shape modern storytelling.
Behavioral Insight: Exposure to behavioral science or psychology principles that deepen audience understanding.
Visual Storytelling Tools: Proficiency in tools like Figma Miro Keynote or Adobe Creative Suite to visually express story ideas.
Trend Awareness: Ability to track and interpret cultural and design trends to inform timely relevant narratives.
Public Speaking or Writing: Experience presenting at conferences writing thought leadership or contributing to published work.
Fluency in creative management and collaboration tools (e.g. Asana Notion Slack Figma Miro).
Familiarity with design systems thinking across multi-channel ecosystems.

WORKPLACE

Location: Nashville TN (Hybrid). Take a peek of our studio here.
Travel: Ability to travel as needed (2030%)
We offer an unlimited PTO policy because we believe rest and personal time fuel creativity and performance. We trust our team to balance time away with delivering exceptional work.

This position is open to all qualified candidates. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability in connection with the application process you may contact us at emailprotected.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity/veterans/disabled/ LGBT employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment is decided based on qualifications merit and business need without regard to race color religion gender sexual orientation national origin disability status protected veteran status genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Required Experience:

Director

ABOUT ELEVATE:Elevate is a full-service consulting firm that inspires high-performing organizations to find their limits and push past them. With expertise in brand consulting sales strategy data-driven insights and talent optimization Elevate gives its clients a competitive edge in the fight for pe...