Job Description

Job Location: West Des Moines, IA 50266
Position Type: Full TimeSay Yes to the Best Career Opportunities
Merchants Bonding Company™ is hiring professionals who value clarity, collaboration, and opportunities to make an impact. Our team is growing, and we’re looking for people who thrive in a fast-moving environment built on common sense underwriting and first-class experiences. If you're ready for the next step in your career with a team that says yes to the best, this is your opportunity.
Job Purpose:
The Studio Director is responsible for the strategic planning, creation, management, and optimization of multimodal content and assets across various platforms to support organizational marketing goals. This role functions as the leader of an in-house studio, developing high-volume content—including written narratives, photography, live recordings, and video—that drives engagement and increases brand visibility.
As a key player in scaling the brand’s presence, the Studio Director ensures a consistent brand voice and visual aesthetic while delivering real-time value to target audiences through compelling storytelling. This position acts as a vital bridge between creative production and strategic leadership, often collaborating closely with the Relationship and Visibility & Performance teams.

Job Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and execute integrated marketing strategies across owned, earned, and paid media to increase national visibility and performance.
- Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on brand positioning, thought leadership, and sales enablement.
- Partner cross-functionally to align visibility initiatives with revenue goals and company priorities.
Studio & Content Ownership
- Lead the in-house studio in producing high-volume, multimodal content (video, written, visual, audio) across the full production lifecycle.
- Serve as Editor-in-Chief and visual brand steward, ensuring a consistent voice and aesthetic across all platforms.
- Direct storytelling strategy using the StoryBrand framework, adapting long-form content into high-performing short-form assets.
- Optimize content for platform-specific performance, leveraging analytics and audience insights.
- Oversee production calendars, workflows, live events, and distribution processes to maximize efficiency and asset utilization.
Communications Ownership
- Own internal and external communication strategy, ensuring a unified brand narrative.
- Lead crisis communications strategy and executive messaging.
- Partner with subject matter experts and leadership to translate complex ideas into compelling content.
Technology & Innovation
- Drive implementation of AI and creative software tools to increase speed, scale, and efficiency of content production.
- Stay ahead of emerging technologies and consumer behavior trends to maintain a competitive edge.
Performance & Budget Management
- Establish reporting cadence to demonstrate studio output, brand growth, and lead generation impact.
- Manage marketing budget, optimize campaign ROI, and oversee agency and vendor partnerships.
Team Leadership & Culture
- Lead, coach, and develop creative staff, establishing clear performance metrics and accountability.
- Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture aligned with company values.

QualificationsEducation and

Experience: Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, video production, videography, with a concentration in multimedia, plus 10+ years of related work experience.
Platform-Native Expertise: Experience or knowledge of Podcasts, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
End-to-End Production: Proficiency in video editing, social hooks, and experience with lighting and sound for filming. Excited to work with people and pull stories out of them.
Storytelling Content Production: The ability to translate brand goals into compelling stories that work in both 6-second clips to over 10-minute features.
Travel: This role will be required to travel up to 20% of the time for interviews and/or production with our agents/customers.
Competencies:  Leadership skills: excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to work well with diverse groups of peers; communicate positively and respectfully; provide excellent customer service to external and internal stakeholders; self-motivated to work independently; balance workload assignments within time constraints; business acumen, and retain strict confidentiality.
Benefits at Merchants
At Merchants, we value balancing the needs of our associates and their families. We offer a wide range of benefits designed to help achieve a healthy work-life balance and support personal and professional growth. In addition to competitive pay, bonus programs, and generous paid-time off, here are a few stand-out benefits:
- Flexible hybrid and remote opportunities with 37.5 hour work week
- Free health insurance option
- Paid volunteer time off with matching gift program
- Infants in the Workplace Program with family resources
- Discover more at: https://www.merchantsbonding.com/careers#Benefits
About Merchants
For nearly a century, Merchants Bonding Company has focused almost exclusively on surety, delivering common sense underwriting and first-class experiences to agents, accounts, and associates across the country. Merchants stands apart from multi-line carriers by offering deep surety expertise, a flexible approach, and strong financials that instill confidence and foster lasting partnerships.
Our people-first culture is built on collaboration, inclusion, and shared success. We’re committed to helping associates grow through real opportunities for advancement, while supporting a sense of belonging.
If you're looking to join a company that values your unique perspective, encourages new ideas, and invests in your development, apply today!