CV

Conceptual Design | Art Direction | Project Delivery | Brand & IP Development | Adobe Creative Suite

Conceptualizing New Projects: Generating blue sky original ideas and concepts for Merlins theme park resorts and gateway attractions globally, ensuring they align with current market trends and guest expectations.

Developing and Delivering Projects: Overseeing the transition of creative ideas from ideation through to fully realised projects, maintaining creative integrity throughout.

Onsite Art Direction and Show Programming: Providing hands-on art direction and directing the show programming to ensure the final product meets creative standards and delivers an exceptional guest experience.

Stakeholder and Contractor Management: Collaborating with internal teams, external stakeholders, and contractors to ensure seamless project execution. Building and maintain strong relationships whilst providing strong creative leadership throughout detailed and construction design phases, ensuring alignment with approved creative vision, brief, quality, brand 'DNA', project budget, and schedule.

Ensuring Creative Vision and Project Quality: Protect the creative vision while driving projects to be completed on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards. Implement creative problem-solving strategies to maximize output and overcome obstacles.

Innovative Thinking: Continuously infusing projects with out-of-the-box creative thinking to push the boundaries of traditional approaches, ensuring a fresh and engaging experience for guests.

Leading the park’s creative team in designing, developing and delivering new projects, events and improvements to ensure the park and hotel are aligned to the guests and brand expectations. Working with internal and external departments and key stakeholders to shape the vision of projects and events in alignment with budget’s, KPI’s and the guest journey. 

Ensuring that we are delivering exceptional designs that have longevity and consider all elements of the guest experience (including area/ride music, landscaping, smells and general ambience). Managing local and capex budgets and where possible, using non traditional sources of procurement to maximise the level of detail in the delivery.

Planning and managing multiple high capex projects and events simultaneously whilst considering factors such a time, budget and staffing constraints. Being prepared for last minute changes and alternative decisions. Assisting with install where possible to achieve deadlines and keep staff motivated.

Approaching all developments with a blue sky thinking attitude whilst retaining a  flexible and open approach from start to finish ensures that the process is smooth and simple for the client and any hurdles are successfully overcome.

This role requires me to work closely with a large variety of senior management, other departmental staff and external contractors such as builders, designers, and project managers of which I truly believe it is imperative to build a strong rapport with as this naturally drives the project forward to achieve it's full potential. 

Managing a team of varied skills to ensure that the parks theming elements are kept to the upmost standard as expected from Merlin Attractions. Supporting them in their individual projects and their development in their Merlin career.

Assisting in all Operations and Event duties across 4 businesses; Quex Activity Centre, Leisurequest Paintballing, Quex Adventure Golf and Cheeseman's Farm Luxury Accommodation. Taking the lead in planning, designing, budgeting, building and running large scale seasonal commercial events that totaled over 20,000 visitors yearly. Using Microsoft Office packages for budgeting spreadsheets, contacting suppliers and relevant event paperwork such as risk assessments. Using problem solving skills and communication with the team to efficiently solve any problems that may arise. Designing and driving marketing campaigns across social media and google, whilst monitoring statistics and feedback to optimize ticket sales.