Creative Director Job Description Template

A creative director determines the creative vision for a product and oversees a team working to bring to life the vision that will ensure the success of a product. Creative direction is vital to a product’s success because creativity acts as a means for a company to connect with its consumers, convey a company’s professional ethos, and communicate an aesthetically correct, pleasing message.

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Typically, a senior role for proven leaders and creative thinkers, a creative director establishes the creative vision for a brand or a project and manifests that vision through methodical and deliberate design. A creative director is a “big-picture professional” who maintains a cohesive look and feel of a project, supervises the entire creative process, and guides the team that works under them. The creative team typically includes art directors, copywriters, content strategists, graphic artists, and various designers.

A creative director—often, but not always—establishes budgets and timelines and manages client relationships. They make sure everyone on their team is clear on what they need in order to succeed and what the creative director expects from each of them to make it happen.

Creative Director Job Description and Ad Template

Copy this template, and modify it as your own:

Company Introduction

{{Write a short and catchy paragraph about your company. Make sure to provide information about the company’s culture, perks, and benefits. Include office hours, remote working possibilities, and anything else you think makes your company interesting.}}

Job Description

We are looking for a creative director who is able to interpret business requirements and client briefs quickly and translate them into elegant, creative solutions. Often working to tight deadlines while juggling multiple projects, the creative director must be skilled at overseeing a creative team (including but not limited to: art directors, copywriters, content strategists, graphic artists, designers). The creative director must be exceptional at pitching creative concepts to clients and company stakeholders, as well as communicating ideas and creating concepts for other team members. {{Add any specific experience here.}}

Responsibilities

  • Distill abstract business concepts and client needs into refined, elegant creative solutions.
  • Take responsibility for the creative vision and the standard of output across team members who work under them.
  • Pitch ideas confidently and present their creative vision clearly to clients, as well as communicate in the same manner to members of their creative team.
  • Have strong supervisory, people management, and leadership skills in order to lead and inspire, hire, develop, and oversee their creative team.
  • Ensure that all of the organization’s or client’s creative output/visuals are consistent with the overall brand.
  • Lead multiple projects from conception to completion in accordance with deadlines.
  • Collaborate with other team members and stakeholders.
  • Ask smart questions, take risks, and champion new ideas.
  • {{Add other relevant responsibilities here}}

Requirements

  • A fine arts degree (preferred) or an undergraduate degree in graphic design, visual communication, typography, or a related subject, or equivalent professional experience.
  • Five or more years of creative direction experience. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience creatively directing complex solutions for digital products.
  • Ability to work with clients to understand detailed requirements and determine a creative vision that matches client briefs.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills to clearly and effectively communicate the creative vision, concepts, ideas, and solutions to stakeholders, internal teams, and clients.
  • Ability to work effectively in a team setting, including synthesizing abstract ideas into concrete design implications.
  • Extensive supervisory experience (including leadership, team-building, and delegation) leading and managing a creative team.
  • A solid grasp of art history, design history, photography and the visual arts, pop culture, and counterculture; fluency in current technology, politics, a deep understanding of the zeitgeist of social tastes and current affairs.
  • Be excited about collaborating and communicating closely with teams and other stakeholders via a distributed model to regularly deliver design solutions for approval.
  • Be open to receiving feedback and constructive criticism.
  • {{List education level or certification you require}}
See also:Toptal’s growing, community-driven list of essential Creative Direction interview questions

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