Job title: Creative DirectorDepartment: DesignManager: Executive Design DirectorPosition Summary: Happy Cog is hiring a Creative Director to lead design engagements end to end, from the first sales call through the final developer handoff. You'll work on content-heavy digital experiences, complex sites, platforms, and applications where editorial thinking and design craft have to move together.
The role sits at the center of how we sell, scope, and ship work, so it requires someone who can hold a strategic conversation with a prospective client and then translate that conversation into a design system a team can build against.
Key Responsibilities:- Join sales calls early, often before a proposal is written, and help shape how we frame the work. Listen for what a prospective client is actually asking for, identify where their stated problem and their real problem diverge, and contribute to the strategic thinking that wins the engagement.
- Lead discovery once the work is signed. Run workshops, interview stakeholders, interrogate content and analytics, and shape the strategic direction before a single pixel moves.
- Carry that thinking through concept, design system development, and production. Stay hands-on through developer handoff and launch.
- Specialize in digital experiences where content is central to the design problem: publishing platforms, knowledge repositories, complex marketing sites, and product interfaces tied to editorial workflows.
- Lead brand conversations when the scope calls for it. Brand literacy is expected, even if brand isn't your primary discipline.
- Present your work to clients in a way that builds confidence. Our process is collaborative and transparent by design. Big reveals aren't part of how we work.
Skills & Qualifications:Happy Cog's working culture is built around the idea that joy and rigor are compatible, and we expect our leaders to hold both. The specific skills we're looking for:
- Substantial experience leading digital design engagements for complex content-driven products
- A portfolio that demonstrates strategic range, not just visual range
- Comfort moving between systems thinking and individual screen craft
- Strong presentation skills, including the ability to walk a non-designer through why a decision was made
- Experience working with content strategists and developers as peers, not dependencies
- A collaborative posture that holds up under pressure
Salary range: $140,000 - $170,000 per year, depending on experience
What we offer:- Healthy work/life balance
- A creative environment to do the best work of your career
- An amazing team of developers, designers, marketers, and project managers.
- Paid Parental Leave
- Paid vacation and sick time off
- Health, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Retirement plan with company matching
