Associate Creative Director

Summary We are seeking an experienced Associate Creative Director to lead the Creative function, build a high-performing creative team, and ensure the delivery of innovative, commercially effective work across campaigns and platforms.

This role will be responsible for setting the creative vision, managing team performance and resources, overseeing major projects and pitches, and ensuring all creative output meets the required quality, strategic, and commercial standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the overall creative vision and direction across client projects, campaigns, pitches, and new business opportunities.
• Lead the development of creative concepts across digital, print, video, social, experiential, and other channels.
• Set creative standards and ensure consistency across all deliverables and client touchpoints.
• Lead, coach, and develop designers, copywriters, art directors, and wider creative teams.
• Plan and allocate creative resources based on project requirements, deadlines, priorities, and team availability.
• Track team workload, utilization, overtime, freelance requirements, and external resources.
• Proactively identify resource gaps, project risks, scope changes, and potential delivery issues.
• Establish structured creative processes from initial briefing through concept development, internal review, client presentation, revisions, approval, and production.
• Ensure creative teams receive clear briefs, objectives, deliverables, timelines, and resource requirements.
• Review and sign off creative work before presentation or client submission.
• Partner with Account Management, Strategy, Production, Operations, and Technology teams to deliver projects effectively.
• Lead client-facing creative presentations and communicate the strategic thinking behind creative recommendations.
• Manage feedback and revisions while ensuring the core creative vision remains consistent.
• Manage external creative partners including freelancers, photographers, illustrators, animators, and production specialists.
• Maintain creative quality and brand consistency throughout execution and production.
• Lead creative input for tenders, pitches, proposals, and business-winning opportunities.
• Contribute to improving pitch quality and conversion into awarded projects.
• Assess team capabilities and identify hiring, training, succession, and development requirements.
• Provide regular performance feedback, coaching, and mentoring to creative team members.
• Ensure creative solutions are commercially viable and aligned with project budgets, timelines, and client objectives.
• Monitor emerging creative trends, technologies, platforms, and consumer behaviors.
• Ensure consistent creative messaging, visual identity, and brand experience across channels.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Advertising, Graphic Design, Communication Arts, Fine Arts, Marketing, or a related field.
• 3–5 years of experience in a Creative Group Head, Creative Lead, or equivalent senior creative leadership position.
• Experience as a Creative Director or Head of Creative is strongly preferred.
• Proven experience leading integrated campaigns, creative projects, pitches, and client presentations.
• Strong portfolio showcasing multi-platform campaigns, creative leadership, and commercially successful work.
• Experience in retail, digital activations, promotional campaigns, content marketing, or events is an advantage.
• Strong knowledge of branding, marketing strategy, consumer behavior, and creative processes.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. After Effects is a plus.
• Strong conceptual thinking, visual storytelling, art direction, or copywriting skills.
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing creative teams.
• Strong understanding of project planning, resource allocation, budgets, and deadlines.
• Excellent client-facing, presentation, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving capabilities.
• Comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced agency environment.
• Strong commercial mindset with an understanding of creative budgets and business objectives.
• Highly creative, organized, proactive, and detail-oriented.