Salary: 85k - 105k
Job Description: Associate Creative Director (PR & Creative)
JOB SUMMARY
As an Associate Creative Director, you will play a key role in shaping the strategic narratives, ideas, and cultural relevance of our work across clients and new business pitches.
Reporting to the Creative Director, this is a copy-first, narrative-led role focused on translating insights into compelling storylines, campaign platforms, and PR-driven ideas that can travel across content, community, and coverage. Visual language is a key component too, but secondary to messaging.
You will lead the development of press-worthy, culturally tapped-in concepts, ensuring every idea is grounded in insight, built to earn attention, and designed to resonate in todays media landscape.
This is not a design-first role. Its a narrative-first role where the strength of the idea lives in the story before the aesthetic.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Creative Development (Clients & New Business)
Reporting to the Creative Director, you will collaborate with Strategy, Accounts, and Creative teams to develop bold, insight-driven ideas across existing clients and new business pitches.
- Translate briefs into compelling creative territories, narratives, and campaign platforms
- Develop PR-led ideas designed to generate coverage, conversation, and cultural relevance
- Lead and contribute to brainstorming sessions with trend-driven, culturally tapped-in thinking
- Shape ideas across multiple touchpoints, including:
- PR moments & stunts
- Influencer campaigns
- Mailers & unboxing experiences
- OOH & experiential activations
- Social-first content
- Ensure all ideas are strategically grounded, creatively strong, and executionally feasible
Narrative & Concept Development
- Own the development of narratives that anchor campaigns and creative platforms
- Craft press angles, headlines, and hooks that make ideas easy to amplify across media and social
- Build language systems and campaign territories that scale across channels
- Partner closely with Strategy to translate insights into clear, ownable storytelling
Collaboration & Team Integration
- Work cross-functionally with Accounts and Strategy to align creative with client needs and timelines
- Act as a key creative partner on accounts, helping elevate the quality of thinking and execution
- Provide guidance and feedback to junior creatives and team members
- Contribute to a collaborative, ideas-first culture across the agency
New Business & Pitch Development
- Play a role in shaping pitch narratives and creative concepts
- Develop clear, compelling, and sellable ideas that differentiate the agency
- Contribute to building high-impact presentations and decks
- Help translate creative thinking into client-ready storytelling that drives wins
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)
- Creative impact: Quality and originality of ideas across client work and pitches
- Narrative strength: Ability to develop clear, compelling, and ownable storytelling
- Cultural relevance: Ideas that tap into trends, behaviours, and conversations
- PR impact: Strength of concepts to generate earned media and social traction
- Team contribution: Collaboration, and elevation of creative output
REQUIREMENTS
EDUCATION
Degree in Marketing, Communications, Design, or a related field.
EXPERIENCE
- 56+ years of experience in an agency, PR or brand-side creative role
- Experience across PR, social, and integrated campaigns
- Proven ability to develop insight-driven, culturally relevant ideas
- Experience in beauty, wellness, food or lifestyle brands is an asset
- Strong portfolio showcasing campaign thinking across multiple touchpoints
SKILLS
- This is a bilingual role, ideating campaigns that must resonate across French Canada, English Canada and at times, the US market.
- Exceptional copywriting and storytelling ability able to turn insights into sharp, compelling narratives
- Strong understanding of PR-driven creativity and earned-first thinking
- Deep cultural awareness chronically online, with a strong point of view on trends and audience behaviour
- Ability to develop big ideas through narrative first, then translate into execution
- Strong collaboration skills able to work seamlessly with Strategy, Accounts, and Design
- Confident presenter with the ability to sell ideas through narrative clarity and conviction
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment
- You are both strategic and culturally fluent equally comfortable building a campaign platform as you are spotting whats trending and turning it into something ownable.
Sip Into Success: Our Blended Perks & Benefits
- AwesomeLeadership:We'reallaboutcollaboration,creativity,andrespect.Ourvaluesincludeplayingnice,brewingbigandbeingdependable.
- Health&Wellness:Full-timepermanentemployeesgetmedical,vision,anddentalbenefitsafterthreemonths.
- ProfitSharing:EligibleforMerit+Bonusesafter1year.
- FlexibleWorkweek:Enjoyflexhourswithhybridoptions.
- HolidayChill:WeclosedownforapaidbreakduringChristmas(subjecttochange).
- WellnessPerks:PremiumCalmappsubscriptionandaccesstoPerkopolis.
- WorkfromAnywhere:Afterayearwithus,workfromwhereveryouwantforupto3weeks!
EQUALOPPORTUNITY
1Milk2Sugarsisanequalopportunityemployer.Wecelebratediversityandarecommittedtocreatinganinclusiveenvironmentforallemployees.Allqualifiedapplicantswillreceiveconsiderationwithoutregardtorace,colour,religion,gender,genderidentityorexpression,sexualorientation,nationalorigin,genetics,disability,age,orveteranstatus.
As part of our recruitment process, AI tools may be used to summarize interview discussions.
