Senior Director, Creative

Role overview

This position is for a Senior Director, Creative to lead and grow the design function within the Creative and Brand organization. The role combines creative leadership, strategic thinking, team development, and operational rigor to ensure the brand’s visual output is distinctive, scalable, and emotionally compelling.

The ideal leader will raise and protect the quality standard, build a strong and concept-driven team, and help design operate as a strategic partner across the business. The position also requires close collaboration with strategy, brand, marketing, and executive stakeholders to align design execution with broader company goals.

Leadership, team building, and talent development

• Guide and expand a high-performing design organization that includes brand, motion, and multidisciplinary creative talent.
• Hire with intention, prioritizing strategic thinking, taste, and conceptual strength alongside executional skill.
• Set a firm and uncompromising standard for design quality, craft, and creative thinking.
• Address underperformance decisively and thoughtfully in ways that support the long-term health of the team.
• Coach emerging leaders so they can take on greater ownership, responsibility, and direct leadership duties.
• Build confidence and autonomy in designers and future leads by pushing decision-making deeper into the team.
• Define clear expectations, progression paths, and feedback loops across all levels.

Systems, process, and operational scale

• Create repeatable workflows, systems, and processes that help the team produce excellent work consistently at scale.
• Identify bottlenecks in briefing, reviews, production, and delivery, then remove them proactively.
• Work closely with Creative Operations and Marketing Operations so design practices can grow with the organization.
• Develop templates, frameworks, and visual systems that improve speed and reduce friction without lowering quality.
• Balance strong craft standards with disciplined execution so the team can deliver great work efficiently.

Strategic and conceptual leadership

• Partner with the strategy function to keep design grounded in clear strategic intent.
• Turn insights, positioning, and brand frameworks into flexible visual systems that can scale.
• Evaluate strategy through a design lens and refine ideas into clear, emotionally resonant creative expressions.
• Ensure design decisions support brand and business outcomes, not only aesthetic preferences.
• Promote conceptual thinking throughout the team so ideas shape the visuals, rather than the other way around.

Strategy partnership and integration

• Work as a creative peer to strategy leadership and help shape direction and success criteria early in the process.
• Keep the team aligned to shared strategic frameworks instead of isolated project briefs.
• Translate strategy into practical visual guidance that enables faster and more confident execution.
• Build structured collaboration rhythms with strategy partners through working sessions, reviews, and planning milestones.
• Spot and resolve gaps between strategic intent and creative execution before they become problems.

Cross-functional and executive leadership

• Collaborate with senior leaders and executives to align design direction with business priorities.
• Build strong working relationships across Brand, Product Marketing, Demand, Events, Content, and Communications teams.
• Act as the final approver for the brand’s visual direction.
• Anticipate needs and creative risks across functions and create processes to address them early.
• Represent design as a strategic business partner, not just a service team.

Creative oversight and craft

• Own and evolve the brand’s visual identity and design systems across all touchpoints.
• Direct work across brand and campaign design, websites and digital experiences, event and experiential marketing, paid media, out-of-home, motion, and internal presentations.
• Collaborate closely with motion designers so movement is integrated into the brand system.
• Manage freelancers, vendors, and production partners to maintain consistency and quality.
• Step in hands-on when conceptual or strategic design leadership is needed most.

What success looks like

• The design team consistently produces strong conceptual work that is visually polished and scalable.
• Clear systems define how work is ideated, executed, reviewed, and delivered.
• Junior leaders grow into meaningful ownership roles with less dependence on senior leadership.
• Performance concerns are handled quickly and constructively.
• Strategy and design work together more tightly, with fewer disconnects later in the process.
• Cross-functional partners see design as a strategic advisor rather than only an execution team.
• The brand remains cohesive, intentional, and emotionally resonant across every channel.
• You proactively bring solutions and direction instead of waiting for instructions.

Compensation and rewards

For candidates in the United States, the expected starting base pay for this role is between $144,000 and $215,000 per year. The expected On Target Earnings range is $172,000 to $256,000 per year, inclusive of bonus or commission. Final compensation may vary based on market location, relevant knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition to cash pay, the role is eligible for a comprehensive total rewards package that includes restricted stock units (RSUs).

Benefits and workplace experience

The company provides benefits that vary by location. Offer details for benefits are shared later in the hiring process. The overall package may include competitive compensation with equity, retirement and employee stock purchase plans, flexible paid time off, medical/dental/vision/life/disability coverage, fertility support, equal paid parental leave, formal career pathing, learning platforms, a yearly learning stipend, an in-office experience designed for collaboration and innovation, volunteer and donation matching opportunities, employee resource groups, and a collaborative and transparent culture recognized as a Great Place to Work.

About the company

The company is a leading customer engagement platform that helps brands create meaningful customer experiences and drive value for both consumers and businesses. Its platform combines composable intelligence with AI-powered capabilities for smarter, faster, and more personalized engagement across channels, journeys, and decisioning. The company has earned multiple industry and workplace recognitions and maintains offices in major cities across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

Equal opportunity and candidate experience

The employer is committed to equitable, accessible, and inclusive hiring. Candidates are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet every qualification, and the recruitment process is designed to be respectful of different backgrounds and circumstances. The company does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics and provides privacy information related to the recruitment process.