Executive Creative Director, Conferences & Events

The Creative Production Studio will become Tahaluf’s central creative and production hub—setting the standard for how our stages, environments, activations, and concept documents look, feel, and get delivered across all events. It will be the engine room for developing Tahaluf’s signature design language, producing supplier-ready packs, and enabling portfolio teams to execute faster, more consistently, and with higher quality—reducing reliance on agencies while retaining IP and raising the bar year-on-year.

What you will do:

As Tahaluf's Executive Creative Director, Conferences & Events you will bring historically agency-led creative work in-house to build a recognisable, repeatable Tahaluf technical and creative signature across all portfolios. You will lead the Studio day-to-day—building and running a high-performing team that produces beautiful, world-class environments and supplier-quotable technical/RFP packs, with a strong design-to-budget mindset and consistently premium standards.

Studio build opportunity

This is a rare opportunity to help build a new in-house Creative Production Studio from the ground up. Working alongside the VP Production & Vendor Partnerships and the wider leadership team, the Executive Creative Director, Conferences & Events will shape the studio’s structure, ways of working, quality standards, and output formats—building a high-performing team and partner ecosystem aligned to a clear Tahaluf vision.

Scope: The studio’s outputs include main stages, second/main supporting stages, sub-stages, décor features and scenic environments, brand activations, and side events such as VIP dinners, networking events, and music/entertainment events, plus special projects.

The Executive Creative Director, Conferences & Events will partner closely with the existing Content, Marketing, Production, and Operations teams in a supporting capacity through build-up and on-site as needed—protecting creative intent, resolving technical queries, and keeping suppliers aligned—while Operations retains accountability for delivery, H&S, and budgets.

Reporting & Relationships

• Reports to: VP Production & Vendor Partnerships
• Direct reports may include: Producer, Production Manager, Technical manager, 3D/2D Designer(s), CAD, Studio Manager
• Internal client dynamic: Serve as an expert consultant to Exhibition/Portfolio Directors and respond to their briefs.
• Budget/feasibility gate: Partner with Operations/Production to ensure designs are pre-validated for feasibility and budget alignment before being presented for internal approval.
• Key partners: Marketing (brand strategy), Content team (show needs), Procurement (costing/RFP support), preferred suppliers + wider market suppliers (via RFPs)

Key Responsibilities

1) Studio Build, Leadership & Output Quality

• Build, lead, and performance-manage a lean, high-output Creative Production Studio (people, standards, templates, workflows, international freelance pool).
• Direct the day-to-day output of 3D/2D designers and CAD teams to deliver consistently premium standards.
• Remain hands-on where it matters: high-level ideation, creative direction, technical quality control, and refining executive-ready presentations.
• Establish studio governance: briefing intake, prioritisation, review cadence, quality gates, version control, and change control.

2) Creative Direction & Tahaluf Signature

• Lead creative development across all portfolios, setting the bar for idea quality, presentation quality, and visual polish.
• Co-own creative direction with Exhibition/Portfolio Directors and Marketing, ensuring ideas align with event objectives, audience, and brand.
• Build a recognisable Tahaluf signature across physical environments and concept documents.

3) Design-to-Budget, Feasibility & Value Engineering

• Apply Value Engineering early to optimise direct costs without compromising the Tahaluf signature.
• Identify “hero moments” that justify higher investment while optimising secondary structures for cost efficiency.
• Work with Operations/Production to make design-to-budget real, ensuring concepts are cost-aware and feasible before stakeholder presentations.
• Maintain clear optioning (good/better/best) so decisions are fast and commercial.

4) Supplier Strategy, Market RFPs & Commercial Discipline

• Operate a preferred-partner-first approach while maintaining commercial discipline through structured market RFPs/benchmarking.
• Package concepts into clear scopes and pricing schedules so suppliers quote like-for-like and options can be compared objectively.
• Partner with Procurement on bid evaluation and costing intelligence; hand over award/contracting and delivery management to Operations (supporting as needed to protect creative intent).

5) Delivery Readiness: Risk, Long-Lead & Change Control

• Identify long-lead items and key constraints early (venue restrictions, rigging limits, access/loading, supplier capacity) and drive timely design lock decisions.
• Maintain strict version control and change control on all studio outputs to minimise late-stage rework and scope drift.
• Ensure concepts translate into supplier-quotable packs that reduce ambiguity and prevent expensive surprises during delivery.

6) Commercial Sponsorship Design

• Respond to briefs to create high-value, sellable sponsorship inventory (lounges, brand activations, networking zones, feature moments).
• Ensure sponsored elements integrate into the wider event signature while meeting partner ROI requirements and maintaining quality.

7) Delivery Support & On-Site Partnership

• Work alongside Content/Production/Operations through build-up and onsite delivery in a supporting capacity, ensuring creative intent is protected, technical queries are resolved quickly, and supplier execution remains aligned—while Operations remains accountable for delivery, H&S, and budgets.
• Attend site visits, supplier workshops, rehearsals, and key show milestones as required.

8) Reuse Mindset (Nice-to-have value lever)

• Where practical, design scenic elements with reuse in mind—modular components (e.g., desks, archways, décor features, stage parts) that can be repurposed across shows, including back-to-back events in the same venue, to reduce waste and improve cost efficiency.
• Maintain a lightweight reusable library of proven elements and re-skin approaches that can be deployed when it makes sense.

9) Continuous Improvement

• Run post-event reviews: what worked, what didn’t, cost drivers, and what can be improved or reused.
• Maintain and evolve studio standards to compound quality and efficiency year-on-year.

Key Deliverables

• Portfolio presentations: High-polish decks that sell a consistent Tahaluf look and feel to Portfolio Directors and stakeholders.
• Supplier-quotable RFP packs: 3D renders, CAD layouts (plans/sections/elevations), key dimensions, material intent/specs, integration assumptions (AV/lighting/rigging/power), scope breakdown, and optioning.
• Studio template system: Consistent deck structure, visual language, documentation standards, and file/versioning discipline.
• Reusable IP library (nice to have): A catalogue of reusable scenic components/approaches where applied, with guidance on re-skinning and redeployment.

Success Measures (KPIs)

• Quality & consistency: Leadership confidence and a recognisable Tahaluf signature across environments and documents.
• Budget alignment: Accuracy of design-phase cost expectations vs supplier bids (and reduced late-stage cost shocks).
• Approval velocity: Speed of sign-off from Portfolio Directors due to strong taste level and pre-vetted feasibility.
• Commercial impact: Cost efficiency and savings influence through value engineering, optioning, and selective reuse.
• Studio performance: Throughput, rework reduction, and ability to scale output without adding unnecessary headcount.

AI-enabled Studio Approach (Lean Team, High Output)

Tahaluf’s Creative Production Studio is designed to stay lean, highly skilled, and versatile—scaling output by leveraging advances in AI and modern production software rather than building oversized teams. The Executive Producer is expected to:

• Champion AI-enabled workflows across concepting, design development, documentation, and iteration—without compromising standards or accuracy.
• Identify, test, and operationalise tools that accelerate throughput (e.g., rapid ideation, visual iteration, drafting support, CAD automation, render acceleration, deck production workflows), while maintaining strong QA and sign-off discipline.
• Establish safeguards for brand consistency, confidentiality, and IP prot