Critical Mass

Creative Engineering Director

Critical Mass$150K — $180K *
Consumer Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in creative technology or front-end development with leadership experience
  • Proven ability to manage and mentor other leaders and individual engineers
  • Expertise in design systems architecture and strategic vision across various formats
  • Experience leveraging AI for process improvement and client solutions
  • Strong presentation skills for diverse audiences, including engineers and executives
  • Successful track record in client representation and new business development
  • Skill in building and scaling teams, processes, and industry standards.

Responsibilities

  • Define vision for scalable design systems across multiple platforms
  • Set strategy for dynamic content and optimization tools
  • Identify and champion AI applications for client challenges
  • Represent Creative Engineering to clients, fostering strong relationships
  • Lead high-stakes presentations, simplifying complex technical information
  • Mentor and manage engineering leaders and their teams
  • Pilot new tools and processes to drive innovation and quality.

Benefits

  • Maternity and parental leave additional days
  • Comprehensive benefits package
  • Vacation, compassionate leave, sick leave, and flex days
  • Access to services for families and new parents
  • Diversity and Inclusion initiative with multiple affinity groups
  • Internal learning and development opportunities
  • Enterprise employee discounts and additional perks.
Full Job Description
Role

Creative Engineering is the discipline that turns ideas into systems, the connective tissue between concept and code, between craft and scale. As a Creative Engineering Director, you own that discipline across accounts. You set the standards, define the vision for how our design systems are built, and make sure every team under you is pushing the same bar for craft, speed, and innovation.

Internally, you're building the bench. You manage and mentor Creative Engineering Leads, Associate Creative Engineering Directors, and the Engineers coming up behind them, setting the standard for how design systems get built and how AI gets used, not as a novelty, but as a tool that makes the work better and the team faster.

You Will

Ecosystem & Systems Leadership
  • Define the vision for complex, scalable design systems that hold up across websites, emails, social, in-platform interfaces, and every format in between
  • Set the strategy for how Dynamic Creative Optimization and dynamic content are applied across accounts, guiding teams on when it's the right tool for the job
  • Identify ways AI can solve client challenges or improve workflows across the function, and champion the adoption of new tools and platforms
  • Champion compliance, accessibility, and security standards across teams and clients

Client & Business Leadership
  • Represent Creative Engineering with clients and in new business creating compelling stories that win pitches and organically shape new opportunities within your craft
  • Build trusted relationships with clients as the go-to voice on what's technically possible
  • Own the narrative in high-stakes presentations, translating complex technical work into a story any audience can follow

Team Leadership & Culture
  • Manage and mentor Creative Engineering Leads, Associate Creative Engineering Directors, and engineers across the function, building a leadership pipeline beneath you
  • Lead the innovation agenda for the function piloting new tools, formats, and processes before they become standard
  • Champion talent development and culture, creating an environment where engineers want to grow and stay

Craft & Quality
  • Set and enforce the bar for technical craft across every team you oversee
  • Stay close enough to the work to catch what's broken and coach the fix, you lead by example, not just by title


You Have
  • 10+ years of experience in creative technology, front-end development, or a related field, with a track record of leading teams and functions
  • Proven experience managing and mentoring managers (CE Leads, ACEDs) as well as individual engineers
  • Deep expertise in design systems architecture, with experience defining vision and strategy across websites, emails, social, and in-platform formats not just execution
  • Experience using AI to solve client challenges and improve workflows, with a point of view on where the function should invest next
  • A strong presentation narrative for internal and external audiences you can walk a room of engineers or a room of C-suite clients through the same idea
  • Experience representing a function in new business and client relationships
  • A track record of building and scaling teams, processes, and standards across accounts


What we offer:
  • Maternity and parental leave extra days
  • Competitive benefits packages
  • Vacation, compassionate leave, sick days, and flex days
  • Access to online services for families and new parents
  • Diversity and Inclusion Board with 12 affinity groups
  • Internal learning and development programs
  • Enterprise-wide employee discounts
  • And more...

At Critical Mass, we value our employees and offer competitive compensation and benefits packages. If you're looking for a challenging and rewarding opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of our employees, we encourage you to apply for this exciting position today!

The Talent Team at Critical Mass is focused on ensuring we provide the best training, onboarding, and employee experience possible! Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. In an effort to do so, we expect our team to work from an office a minimum of 3 days a week.

The ask stems from our want to:
  • Strengthen opportunity for continuous learning
  • Improve collaboration and team relationships.
  • Increase employee engagement

This work model balances the need for individual flexibility while maintaining the relentless customer focus we provide at CM. We understand that not everyone may feel comfortable with this expectation, so we ask that you please let us know immediately if there are any concerns so we can help navigate accordingly.

About Critical Mass

Critical Mass is a global digital marketing and experience design agency. The company was founded in 1996 in Calgary, Canada and has since expanded to have offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Critical Mass provides services such as digital strategy, user experience design, and content creation for clients in industries such as automotive, healthcare, and retail. The company has won numerous awards for its work, including Cannes Lions and Webby Awards.
Learn more about Critical Mass
Size
1,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1996

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