Associate Creative Director

Major Players | B Corp™; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Creative leadership

Job summary

Major Players, the UK's leading marketing and creative talent agency, seeks Associate Creative Directors for leadership briefs across marketing, employer branding and communications. You will lead integrated work across channels, set high standards for craft, and mentor a multidisciplinary team while embracing AI-enabled workflows.

The role offers rapid progression with exposure to senior agency leadership and a strong pathway to Creative Director, based in London with hybrid working

Qualifications

• Strong art direction or design background with a conceptual, multi-channel portfolio.
• Demonstrated thinking behind work: brief, role, central idea and execution.
• Experience line-managing, coaching or developing creative people.
• New-business ownership of pitches from brief to presentation is preferred.
• Curiosity about AI tools and their role in the creative process.

Responsibilities

• Lead and art-direct integrated creative work from concept to final delivery.
• Set high standards for ideas, design and craft with clear direction.
• Mentor and motivate a multidisciplinary creative team.
• Champion practical uses of AI across ideation, image-making and production.
• Contribute to strategy, EVP development and client growth.
• Shape new-business responses and lead pitches to clients and senior stakeholders.

Skills

Art direction

Team leadership

New-business

AI curiosity

Storytelling

Client pitches

Employer branding

Job description

Associate Creative Director

Job Summary

Ready to step into creative leadership without waiting years for the title to catch up with the work you're already doing? Major Players is building a select talent pool of Associate Creative Directors, Senior Art Directors and senior conceptual creatives for upcoming leadership briefs within marketing, employer branding and communications agencies. We're looking for visually led creative leaders who combine bold conceptual thinking with excellent craft. Experience leading and inspiring teams, alongside a willingness to drive innovation through AI-enabled workflows, is essential. These opportunities involve leading integrated work across multiple channels, shaping creative standards and helping multidisciplinary teams produce their best work. There is scope for rapid progression, with direct exposure to senior agency leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and art-direct integrated creative work from concept to final delivery.
• Set high standards for ideas, design and craft, providing clear, constructive direction.
• Manage, mentor and motivate a multidisciplinary creative team.
• Champion practical, responsible uses of AI across ideation, image-making, motion, prototyping and production.
• Contribute creative thinking to strategy, planning, EVP development and organic client growth.
• Shape new-business responses, lead the creative element of pitches and present confidently to clients and senior stakeholders.

Skills & Experience

• A strong art direction or design background, with a portfolio of conceptual, multi-channel campaign work.
• Evidence of the thinking behind your work, including the brief, your role, the central idea and its execution.
• Experience line-managing, coaching or developing creative people.
• New-business experience, ideally including ownership of a pitch from brief to presentation.
• Hands-on curiosity about AI tools and a considered view of their role in the creative process.
• Strong storytelling, presentation and stakeholder-management skills.
• Employer brand or recruitment marketing experience would be useful but is not essential. Applications are encouraged from conceptual creatives working within brand, integrated and creative agencies.

Personal Attributes

• Ambitious and ready to grow into broader creative leadership.
• Generous, motivating and skilled in developing others.
• Refined visual taste; ideas-led, with close attention to craft.
• Experimental and optimistic about new creative technology.
• Calm when balancing several clients, projects and priorities.
• Comfortable collaborating in person and acting as a visible face of the agency.

Salary & Benefits

• Roles ranging from £55,000-£80,000, depending on experience.
• Clear progression route towards Creative Director.
• High level of influence over the agency's creative direction and culture.
• Access to significant briefs across a varied client portfolio.
• Close collaboration with an established in-house film and production capability.

Location & Workplace

• London, with hybrid working and regular office collaboration.
• Flexibility for regular in-person collaboration with the creative team and client meetings.

Major Players is the UK's leading marketing and creative talent agency. Over the last three decades, we've consistently championed our people and communities. As a proud B Corp™, we are committed to improving diversity, equity and inclusion within the industries we serve, creating impactful and sustainable change for our partners, candidates and employees.

We offer equal opportunities to all candidates regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, age or any other protected characteristic, as required by applicable law. For further information about our DE&I commitments, please visit: www.majorplayers.co.uk/diversity-equity-inclusion/