Associate Creative Director (ACD), Design
Role Summary
We’re looking for an Associate Creative Director with a strong design foundation to help lead the creative output of the agency across brand, campaign, content, and integrated projects. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can think big, design beautifully, pitch confidently, and guide teams to great work .
You’ll partner closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams, shaping ideas from early strategy through execution, while mentoring designers and helping elevate the overall creative culture.
What You’ll Do
Creative Leadership & Design Excellence
- Lead design-driven concept development across campaigns, brand systems, digital, social, experiential, and pitch work.
- Set a high bar for craft, ensuring work is smart, aesthetically strong, and on-brand.
- Be hands-on when needed—able to jump into layouts, direction, or production to bring an idea home.
- Provide clear, constructive creative feedback that improves the work and grows the team.
Ideation & Concept Development
- Drive and participate in brainstorming sessions, turning insights into bold, relevant creative.
- Translate strategy into concepts that are visually distinctive and idea-led.
- Explore multiple routes quickly, encouraging range and risk-taking in early stages.
- Collaborate with copywriters, producers, and account teams to build cohesive ideas.
Presentation & Client Communication
- Present work confidently and clearly to clients and internal teams.
- Tell a compelling story: insight → idea → execution → why it works.
- Handle Q&A and feedback with composure, diplomacy, and solution-orientation.
- Help shape decks and pitch narratives that close the gap between “good idea” and “sold idea.”
People Management & Team Development
- Manage and mentor designers and junior creatives, helping them build skills and confidence.
- Support resourcing and workflow with thoughtful planning and prioritization.
- Encourage an environment of collaboration, accountability, and creative ambition.
- Help recruit, onboard, and grow design talent as needed.
Must-Have Skills & Experience
- Design-first background with 6–10+ years of professional experience in agency, brand, or studio environments.
- A portfolio that shows high-level design craft + idea-led thinking across multiple media.
- Fluent in core tools , including:
- Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
- Figma (or equivalent UI/UX tools)
- Presentation tools (Keynote / PowerPoint / Google Slides)
- Bonus: motion basics (After Effects, Premiere, etc.)
- Excellent presentation skills —you can pitch to a room and make people believe.
- Strong ideation ability: you bring concepts, not just comps.
- Proven experience leading or mentoring teams (formal or informal).
- Calm under pressure, organized, and able to juggle multiple projects.
- Great instincts for culture, trends, and what makes work feel fresh.
Nice-to-Haves
- Experience in integrated campaigns across brand, digital, social, and experiential.
- Motion/design for content (short-form, titles, sizzle, etc.).
- Ability to collaborate on strategy and help shape briefs.
- Comfort with fast timelines and iterative processes.
What Success Looks Like in This Role
- The work feels sharper, more confident, and more idea-led.
- Designers feel supported, challenged, and clearly directed.
- Presentations land well and clients buy the thinking—not just the visuals.
- You help raise the pace, quality, and ambition of the whole creative group.
Why Join In
- You’ll have real influence over the work and creative direction.
- You’ll collaborate closely with leadership and help shape agency output.
- You’ll work on a wide range of brands and challenges.
- We value smart thinking, strong craft, and kind, straightforward collaboration.