THE ROLEWe are looking for a Creative Lead who will translate Moments that Matter into creative territories, messaging hypotheses, campaign concepts, headlines, CTAs, and copy direction that designers can execute against. The Associate Creative Director will bring senior-level creative judgment to work that is fast-moving, digital-first, and tied directly to business outcomes. This person will not simply wait for polished briefs or execute one-off design requests. They will help shape the ask, identify stronger creative angles, and translate strategic inputs into assets that feel clear, compelling, and differentiated. They will represent creative in strategic new-business and portfolio-sales opportunities, help build speculative and portfolio creative, and support Directive's move toward campaign-style case studies that can drive account growth and new revenue.
This is an individual contributor role - no direct reports - but the work will be high-visibility and the standard will be high. The ideal candidate is copywriting-led and campaign-minded. They should have enough executive presence to participate in client and leadership conversations, but remain hands-on enough to write copy, review briefs, develop messaging territories, and shape creative direction without needing a fully staffed creative team around them. They should understand performance creative as a system of hypotheses, tests, learnings, and scalable winners-not just brand execution or asset quality.
Success means helping Directive replace deliverable-based requests with campaign briefs grounded in business objectives, buyer insight, test variables, and success metrics. The ACD should raise the quality of creative thinking before work reaches production, improve how Directive communicates to technical and enterprise buyers, and create the foundation for a scalable performance creative practice.
WILL OWNCampaign StrategyThe Creative Lead owns the idea, message, and creative direction before production begins - and helps prove that better campaign thinking can create better performance, stronger pitches, and more creative revenue.
- Support new-business and portfolio-sales opportunities with speculative creative, campaign narratives, and stronger creative presence in strategic pitches.
- Create the foundation for Directive's strategic creative approach.
- Primary responsibility is creative direction, campaign concepting, messaging strategy, and performance copy direction.
- Turns campaign and creative briefs into territories, concepts, hooks, headlines, CTAs, landing-page narrative direction, and message sequencing.
- Partners with designers by giving them a strong concept and copy direction to execute against.
- Builds the early proof points, examples, and campaign-style case studies needed to support future creative revenue growth.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE30-day success signal: Internal teams understand why this role exists, what it owns, and how creative requests should start shifting from asset asks to campaign briefs.
- Audited current creative requests, briefs, production workflows, pitch materials, and performance creative examples.
- Met with Creative Production, Paid Media, Growth, Sales, Account leadership, and executive stakeholders to understand opportunities.
- Defined what a "good" campaign brief needs to include before work enters production.
- Created a first draft of the campaign creative brief template tied to Moments that Matter / Stratos.
- Identified 2-3 priority use cases where the new model can prove value quickly, such as strategic account pitches, paid social campaigns, ABM campaigns, or portfolio-sales opportunities.
- Produced at least one example of a stronger campaign territory or messaging direction from an existing work.
90-day success signal: Directive can point to live examples where creative strategy made the work sharper before production began, and stakeholders feel the new process is improving clarity, quality, and pitch readiness.
- Run several real briefs through a campaign-level creative process: insight, hypothesis, concept, copy direction, production handoff, launch, and learning.
- Developed creative territories, messaging angles, campaign copy, and testing recommendations for priority initiatives.
- Supported at least one new-business, strategic account, or portfolio-sales opportunity with speculative or campaign-style creative.
- Built a working partnership model with production designers so designers are executing against clearer concepts and copy direction.
- Created early examples of campaign-style case studies or internal proof points.
- Established a lightweight creative review rhythm focused on concept quality, message clarity, testability, and business relevance.
- Begun defining the message/proof library and taxonomy needed for learning to compound across campaigns.
- You have an established creative testing rhythm: hypothesis 12 variant 12 data 12 decision, repeatable without manual oversight.
QUALIFICATIONSExperience & PortfolioCreative Expertise- 4-6 years of professional creative experience, with a meaningful portion in an agency, professional services, or B2B marketing environment
- A portfolio that shows range across brand work and performance creative - we need to see both a visual system you built and an ad campaign you designed that drove measurable results
- Experience developing campaigns from concept through execution.
- Ability to maintain and evolve brand standards across multiple channels.
Strategic and Business Skills- Understanding of creative strategy and storytelling.
- Ability to translate ICP, positioning, personas, JTBD insights, proof points, objections, and funnel-stage context into creative hypotheses and campaign concepts.
- Executive presence and confidence presenting creative strategy in new-business, portfolio-sales, client-facing, or leadership settings.
- Strong understanding of performance creative, testing methodology, message iteration, pipeline influence, and revenue-oriented creative measurement.
- Ability to partner effectively with production designers, paid media strategists, Account Directors, Growth, and Sales without needing to personally execute design production.
- Comfort operating in ambiguity and helping shape the brief when the request is not fully formed.
Technical and Industry Knowledge- Digital marketing and social media
- UX/UI design
- Video and motion graphics
- Content strategy
- Creative software such as Adobe Creative Cloud
- AI-assisted creative tools and emerging technologies
Tools - Required- Adobe Creative Suite - Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign (expert level)
- Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro - proficient; you can produce and deliver without a separate editor
- Figma - design systems, component libraries, collaborative handoff
- Familiarity with A/B testing and CRO tools - Optimizely, Unbounce, Crazy Egg, or equivalent
- Heavy reliance and comfortability with generative AI and a recommended tool-set day 1.
Tools - Preferred- Project management tools - Asana, or similar; you will work within an existing PM workflow
- Familiarity with a marketing analytics stack - GA4, Looker, or similar; you can read a dashboard and extract creative implications independently
WHAT WE OFFER- We have a set living wage at Directive; The annual base salary range for this position based in Canada is $115,000-$125,000 CAD. This salary range is an estimate, and the actual salary may vary based on Directive's compensation practices, job related skills, and depth of experience.
- Medical, dental, vision plans, disability, and life insurance coverage for you and your family that fit your lifestyle
- Including a 100% employer-paid plan for you and a 50% employer contribution for your dependents
- Benefits to Support the Whole Person:
- Mental - Access to certified therapists through Spring Health, membership to Headspace
- Physical - Physical therapy through Omada, fertility support through Carrott, thousands of Aaptiv virtual workouts, complimentary One Medical membership for primary and virtual care
- Time Off - Unlimited PTO (2-week minimum), Paid Company Holidays, Your Birthday Off, End of Year Recharge (Closed December 24 - January 1), Paid Parental Leave
- Financial - Traditional and Roth 401(k) with a 3% company match
- Bonus - Annual bonus based on tenure, which scales in total amount over time
WORK ENVIRONMENTDirective is a remote-first company. This role operates 100% virtually from your home office. We collaborate through Zoom and Slack. You will need a reliable setup, high-speed internet, and a professional working environment capable of running Adobe Creative Suite and video production software without interruption.
We accommodate global candidates in markets where Directive has established business operations, including Canada, Mexico, and the UK. Current, permanent work authorization in that country is required. Due to the nature of this role, you must be able to remain stationary for extended periods, operate design and video software on Mac or PC, and observe and interpret written and verbal communication consistently. Reasonable accommodations are available for qualified individuals with disabilities - contact [redacted].
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 
