Sweetgreen

Creative Director

Sweetgreen$170K — $200K *
Media
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8-10+ years in creative leadership, ideally in high-growth consumer brands or agencies
  • Strong background in creative strategy or graphic design, with a keen eye for visual elements
  • Experience leading integrated campaigns across diverse platforms
  • Deep knowledge of art direction for photography and video production
  • Ability to effectively communicate creative concepts to varied audiences
  • Proven track record in managing and mentoring creative teams and freelancers
  • Combination of creative vision and strong business acumen, with an understanding of data-driven decisions
  • Passionate about design, culture, food sustainability, and trends

Responsibilities

  • Lead creative strategy and execution for marketing campaigns across digital, print, and emerging channels
  • Transform business objectives into compelling creative direction and marketing ideas
  • Ensure brand consistency while enhancing sweetgreen's visual identity in marketing and restaurant design
  • Direct art for marketing photo and video shoots, overseeing all creative aspects
  • Manage post-production processes for high-quality output across all content
  • Utilize data and insights to guide creative decisions and optimize campaigns
  • Provide constructive feedback to enhance ideas and promote team growth
  • Collaborate with various departments to align creative efforts with brand and business goals

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical plan options for you and your family
  • Dental and vision insurance
  • Flexible PTO policy
  • 401k retirement plan
  • Employee Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
  • Complimentary food offerings to enjoy
  • Opportunities to make meaningful community impact
  • Supportive team environment aligned with core values
  • Clear career progression paths for personal and professional growth
  • Free branded merchandise
Full Job Description
About Sweetgreen:

Sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 6,000+ team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we're committed to leaving people better than we found them. We're in the business of feeding people, and we're out to change what that means.

What You'll Do:

Sweetgreen is looking for a Creative Director to bring our creative vision to life across all marketing touchpoints. As a multidisciplinary creative leader, you will own the visual expression of the sweetgreen brand within our Commercial function, overseeing concept development, design execution, and art direction across campaigns, channels, and markets. You will balance art and science, pairing strong creative instincts with a deep understanding of business objectives and performance. You will lead, inspire, and develop an internal team of designers while collaborating cross-functionally to evolve and elevate the sweetgreen brand to world-class standards.

Core responsibilities for the position include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Lead creative strategy, concepting, and execution for integrated marketing campaigns across digital, print, CRM, and emerging channels, spanning multiple U.S. markets
  • Translate business and marketing objectives into clear creative direction, compelling marketing ideas, distinctly sweetgreen visual narratives, and actionable briefs
  • Own and elevate the sweetgreen visual identity within marketing and influence the visual identity in the restaurant design, ensuring brand consistency while continuously pushing the work forward
  • Lead art direction for marketing-owned photo and video shoots, including concept development, shot lists, lighting, styling, composition, and on-set direction
  • Oversee post-production including editing, color, music direction, and final finishing to ensure high-quality output across all assets
  • Use data, insights, and performance learnings to inform creative decisions and continuously optimize creative impact
  • Provide thoughtful, actionable feedback that strengthens ideas and execution while fostering growth and creative excellence
  • Collaborate closely with Brand, Culinary, Product, Store Development, and other cross-functional partners to align creative work with broader brand and business priorities
  • Present creative work to senior stakeholders, articulating creative rationale and incorporating feedback while maintaining brand integrity

Qualifications:
  • Based in office 4 days per week at the Sweetgreen Support Center in Los Angeles
  • 8-10+ years of experience in creative leadership roles, preferably within high-growth consumer brands or agencies
  • Strong foundation in creative strategy and/or graphic design with a refined eye for typography, color, composition, and visual systems
  • Proven experience leading integrated campaigns across multiple channels and platforms
  • Deep understanding of art direction for photography and video from concept through final delivery
  • Ability to clearly articulate creative ideas, strategy, and rationale to both creative and non-creative audiences
  • Demonstrated experience managing and mentoring creative teams and freelance partners
  • Strong balance of creative vision and business acumen, with comfort using data and insights to guide creative execution
  • Highly collaborative, open-minded, and experimental, with a constant desire to evolve and improve the work
  • Passion for design, culture, food, sustainability, products, and emerging trends
  • High standards, strong attention to detail, and pride in delivering exceptional creative work
  • Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, with motion design experience considered a plus
What you'll get:
  • Highly competitive pay + bonus plan
  • Three different medical plans to suit your and your family's needs
  • Dental and Vision insurance
  • Flexible PTO plan
  • 401k program
  • Employee HSA and FSA
  • Complimentary greens
  • An opportunity to make a real impact on the people around you, both by growing them and by connecting them to real food
  • To live the sweetlife and celebrate your passion + purpose
  • A collaborative team of people who live our core values and have your back
  • A clear career path with opportunities for development, both personally and professionally
  • Free sweetgreen swag

Come join the sweetlife!

About sweetgreen

sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 3,500 team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we're committed to leaving people better than we found them. We're in the business of feeding people, and we're out to change what that means.

sweetgreen provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.

sweetgreen participates in the federal government's E-Verify program to determine employment eligibility. To learn more about the E-Verify program, please click here.

Salary range for this role:

Starting salary range based on experience

$170,000-$200,000 USD

Sweetgreen provides equal opportunities for all employees and applicants, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles), religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service in the uniformed services of the United States, or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.

California residents: Review our applicant privacy notice HERE.

sweetgreen participates in the federal government's E-Verify program to determine employment eligibility. To learn more about the E-Verify program, please click here.

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen is a fast casual restaurant chain that was founded in 2007 by Nicolas Jammet, Jonathan Neman, and Nathaniel Ru. The company is known for its healthy and sustainable food options, and has over 100 locations across the United States. Sweetgreen has partnerships with local farmers and suppliers to source its ingredients, and has a strong focus on community and social responsibility. The company has raised over $478 million in funding from investors such as Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price, and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Learn more about Sweetgreen
Size
4,000 employees
Industry
Founded
2007

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Sweetgreen

  • Sweetgreen
    Head Coach
    $80K — $90K *
    Los Angeles, CA 90011 (Los Angeles County)
    Hospitality & Recreation
    In-Person
  • Sweetgreen
    Head Coach
    $80K — $90K *
    Los Angeles, CA 90011 (Los Angeles County)
    Hospitality & Recreation
    In-Person
  • Sweetgreen
    Restaurant General Manager
    $80K — $100K *
    Long Island City, NY 11101 (Queens County)
    Hospitality & Recreation
    In-Person
  • Sweetgreen
    Restaurant General Manager
    $80K — $100K *
    New York, NY 10025 (New York County)
    Hospitality & Recreation
    In-Person
  • Sweetgreen
    Restaurant General Manager
    $80K — $90K *
    Red Bank, NJ 07701 (Monmouth County)
    Food & Beverages
    In-Person

More Media Jobs

Find similar Creative Director jobs: