Creative Director

Brainrider; Toronto; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Brainrider is seeking a creative authority to oversee quality and brand consistency across a global network of studios. This role is not a traditional Creative Director; it focuses on systems, processes, and leadership to scale creativity while maintaining excellence.

You will collaborate with clients, project managers, and studios to ensure deliverables meet high creative standards and align with client objectives.

Qualifications

• Background in design, art direction, or creative direction.
• Experience leading creative work across multiple brands or clients.
• Ability to provide constructive feedback to designers and studios.
• Experience presenting to clients.
• Experience mentoring designers and creative teams.
• Agency experience preferred.
• Experience developing brand standards, review processes, or governance.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and excitement to help grow Brainrider.

Responsibilities

• Become the creative authority across Brainrider's client portfolio.
• Review creative work and provide actionable feedback to designers, art directors, and partner studios.
• Ensure work aligns with brand guidelines, briefs, and client objectives.
• Present creative recommendations directly to clients.
• Help define and refine creative review processes for consistency across partners.
• Coach teams on brand execution and creative excellence.
• Partner with Brainrider's global studio network to improve collaboration.
• Build and shape Brainrider's evolving creative operating model.

Skills

Design direction

Client-facing

Mentoring

Agency experience

Brand governance

Entrepreneurial mindset

Creative feedback

Job description

Brainrider is a creative services company that helps global brands scale creative production through a network of embedded talent and studio partners around the world.

Unlike a traditional agency, we don't execute all creative work ourselves. Instead, we partner with specialized studios while providing our clients with creative leadership, operational excellence, and a seamless client experience.

We're looking for someone to become Brainrider's creative authority across that ecosystem.

About the Role

This is not a traditional Creative Director role.

We're looking for someone who combines exceptional creative judgment with a systems mindset—someone who can ensure creative quality and brand consistency across multiple clients, studios, and teams.

You'll serve as the creative lead for Brainrider, partnering closely with clients, project managers, and our global studio partners to ensure every deliverable meets the highest creative standards.

We're looking for someone who is excited by the opportunity to build something from the ground up. Brainrider is creating a new creative operating model—one that sits between clients and a global network of creative studios—and we're looking for someone who wants to help shape what that looks like.

This role isn't just about reviewing creative work. It's about defining how creative quality is maintained across multiple partners, helping establish new ways of working, coaching teams, and building the systems that allow Brainrider to scale while maintaining creative excellence.

What You'll Do

Creative Leadership

• Become the creative authority across Brainrider's client portfolio.
• Review creative work and provide actionable feedback to designers, art directors, and partner studios.
• Ensure work aligns with brand guidelines, creative briefs, and client objectives.
• Present creative recommendations directly to clients.
• Help solve creative challenges before they reach the client.

Brand Continuity & Quality

• Develop creative review processes that improve consistency across multiple studio partners.
• Build creative playbooks, onboarding materials, and best practices for new studios.
• Establish quality standards that help prevent recurring issues before work reaches clients.
• Coach teams on brand execution and creative excellence.

Studio Partnership

• Partner with Brainrider's global studio network to improve collaboration and creative quality.
• Build strong relationships with studio creative leads.
• Help onboard new studios and establish consistent ways of working.
• Identify opportunities to improve creative workflows across partners.

Building Brainrider

• Help define Brainrider's creative operating model as the company continues to grow.
• Work cross-functionally with Account Management and Project Management to improve how work moves through the organization.
• Help shape what creative leadership looks like inside Brainrider.

We're Looking For Someone Who Has

• A background in design, art direction, or creative direction.
• Experience leading creative work across multiple brands or clients.
• Strong creative judgment with the confidence to provide constructive feedback.
• Experience working directly with clients and presenting creative recommendations.
• Experience mentoring designers and creative teams.
• Agency experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience developing creative standards, review processes, or brand governance is a plus.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and excitement about helping build a growing business.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, you will:

• Become the trusted creative advisor for Brainrider's clients.
• Build stronger creative consistency across our global studio partners.
• Develop repeatable creative review processes that improve quality and reduce avoidable revisions.
• Help Brainrider establish a scalable creative operating model that supports future growth.