Location:
Markham, Ontario

Job Description
Position: Creative DirectorType: Full-Time | Hybrid

Location:
Markham, ONReports to: Vice President, MarketingPet Valu is Canada's leading pet specialty retailer, dedicated to strengthening the bond between dedicated pet lovers and their pets. With 50 years of animal care expertise, we operate over 800 stores across Canada under several banners, including Pet Valu, Bosley's, Total Pet, Paulmac's Pet, Tisol & Chico. Guided by our mission to deliver products, care, expertise, and memorable moments, Pet Valu is a place where people build meaningful careers while making a positive impact on pets and communities.
The Creative Director is the senior creative leader responsible for defining how the Pet Valu portfolio of brands looks, sounds, and shows up across the customer journey. Reporting to the Vice President, Marketing, this role establishes the creative vision, brand architecture, tone of voice, identity systems, and creative standards required to build distinctive brands customers recognize, trust, and love.
The Creative Director will build and lead a modern in-house creative capability spanning art direction, design, copy, content, production, and creative operations. The role translates brand strategy, customer insights, and commercial priorities into compelling ideas and customer experiences across campaigns, media, social, digital, loyalty communications, in-store signage, new store openings, community programs, and other customer-facing touchpoints.
As Pet Valu's creative authority, this leader combines exceptional creative judgment with strong enterprise and franchisee partnership. The Creative Director raises the quality and consistency of the work, creates effective ways of working with internal teams and external partners,



and ensures creative ideas can be executed successfully across corporate and franchised stores.Establish and steward the brand identity system, including visual identity, tone of voice, design principles, photography, illustration, motion, sonic and verbal expression, and other distinctive brand assets.
* Translate brand strategy and customer value propositions into clear creative platforms and enduring brand codes that build recognition, relevance, and emotional connection.
* Develop practical brand standards, playbooks, templates, and governance that enable consistent application across teams, agencies, franchisees, channels, and customer touchpoints.
* Serve as the enterprise creative authority, providing clear direction and resolving questions about brand expression and creative quality.Creative Vision & Direction* Set the overarching creative vision and standard for enterprise campaigns, always-on content, customer communications, retail experiences, and key growth initiatives.
* Lead concept development and creative direction from brief through production, ensuring ideas are distinctive, strategically grounded, channel-appropriate, and executable.
* Provide senior art and copy direction across advertising, media, social, video, digital, CRM and loyalty communications, content, PR, experiential, and in-store channels.
* Translate customer insights, merchandising priorities,



and business objectives into compelling creative ideas that influence priority customer behaviours and support customer growth.
* Present and advocate for creative work with senior leaders and business partners, clearly explaining the strategic rationale and expected customer impact.Build the In-House Creative Capability* Build the mandate, structure, talent plan, and phased roadmap for a high-performing in-house creative team.
* Recruit, lead, coach, and develop multidisciplinary talent across art direction, graphic design, copywriting, content, production, and creative operations.
* Define which capabilities and work should be delivered in-house versus through agencies, production partners, freelancers, and specialist resources.
* Establish clear roles, career paths, standards, and feedback practices that strengthen craft, accountability, collaboration, and creative ambition.
* Create a culture where robust ideas, constructive challenge, customer empathy, commercial awareness, and continuous learning are expected.Integrated Campaigns, Content & Customer Experience**
* Partner with Integrated Marketing, Media, Social, PR, Loyalty, E-Commerce, Merchandising, and Operations to shape creative strategies and connected customer experiences.
* Lead creative development for national and local campaigns, seasonal events, product and service launches, loyalty initiatives, new store openings, and community programs.
* Establish a content and storytelling approach that creates more relevant, useful, and engaging work across paid, owned, earned, digital, and in-store channels.
* Ensure creative platforms can flex effectively by audience, channel, market, banner, and local need without diluting the core brand idea.
* Champion an omnichannel perspective so the bra

📌 Creative Director, Brand Partnerships (Markham)
🏢 Pet Valu
📍 Markham