Job Description:

This is a senior leadership mandate to reset and modernize POLITICO's creative function - to rebuild how we bring the POLITICO and POLITICO Pro brands to life, from a mobile screen to a billboard, from a CMS module to a conference stage.

You will lead a lean, senior, technology-native team and own the creative and brand expression of a global business spanning Washington, Brussels, London, Paris and beyond. Close partnership with Events, Marketing, Newsroom and Product is central to the role, and you will be the architect of a design system that scales with our ambition. We are looking for an operator with the credibility, judgment and hands-on capability to lead a genuine transformation - and to shape what the function becomes next.

What You'll Do

Lead and evolve the global Creative and Brand function. Set the creative vision and serve as the steward of POLITICO's brand, driving consistency, integrity, and excellence in how it is expressed globally. Build, mentor, and actively manage a high-performing team, establishing clear roles, prioritization, and a culture of craft and accountability.

Architect the POLITICO Pro design system. Lead the design and delivery of a true, scalable design system - from foundations (typography, colour architecture, grid, iconography, motion) through reusable components to a flexible expression layer. The system must give our markets and cities distinct identities and bring our coverage verticals (energy, healthcare, technology, defense, financial services and more) to life as a visual language - while remaining unmistakably one brand. Every expression must scale from icon to billboard and translate across static, motion and audio. Deliver it as a documented, governed Figma component library that teams across the business can use with confidence.

Partner closely with Events, Marketing, Newsroom and Product. Become the trusted creative partner to these teams - and to Sales - deepening those relationships, raising the quality and speed of what we deliver, and rebalancing the team's effort toward our highest-value needs: product and brand, commercial marketing, and selected experiential, rather than over-indexing on production volume.

Modernize how we work. Build a faster, smarter creative operation: clear intake and prioritization, a flexible freelancer bench for surges and specialist skills, consolidated and modern tooling (Adobe, Figma, Creatopy), and AI embedded throughout the creative workflow to multiply output and quality.

Drive commercial impact. Connect creative directly to revenue, growth and brand equity. Operate to clear, measurable goals, and show the business the value of design in terms it cares about.

What You'll Need

• 15+ years of experience in a creative leadership role, operating at a senior level (e.g., Creative Director, Executive Creative Director, Head-of, or equivalent), ideally within media, B2B, technology, or premium brand environments.
• A proven builder of scalable design systems and brand identities that hold up across digital product, marketing, sales and physical/experiential environments.
• Technology-native. Fluent in Figma and modern creative tooling, an early and fluent adopter of AI across the creative workflow, and comfortable building and prototyping - not just briefing.
• A strong cross-functional partner who works hand-in-glove with events, marketing and product teams to deliver.
• Works well with externals. Builds and gets the best from a network of freelancers, agencies and production partners, and manages those relationships to quality, budget and pace.
• A strong operator who has run intake, prioritisation, freelancer management and cross-functional delivery at scale.
• A people leader who manages actively, raises the bar, and develops talent.
• Commercially minded - you instinctively connect creative work to growth, revenue and brand equity.

Bonus points

• Affinity for, or experience in, news, policy or politics.
• Experience with large-scale events and experiential design.
• Multi-market or global brand work.
• Motion and animation direction.
• Experience standing up or partnering closely with design technology / creative engineering.

We value our people. Click here for more on what we offer and what it's like to work for POLITICO.

Let's keep in touch. You can view our list of open positions here. We hope to see your application soon!

Posting date:
2026-08-03
Title:
Executive Director, Creative and Brand