Creative Director

Inspired Thinking Group (ITG); Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Flexible bank holidays

Smart Working – up to 40% from home

Work abroad up to 90 days

Family leave enhancements

Pension scheme

Medical cash plan

Employee referrals

Job summary

Inspired Thinking Group (ITG) seeks a Creative Director to set the creative vision and drive quality across consumer brands. You will lead a multi-disciplinary team, translating strategy into distinctive ideas across campaigns, social, digital, CRM, content, print and retail environments.

You will balance leadership with hands-on ideation, shaping platform-aware, social-first work while guiding teams in brand experiences for retail and consumer sectors.

Qualifications

• Significant senior creative experience within an agency, in-house team or fast-moving environment.
• Proven experience with well-known B2C retail or consumer brands.
• Outstanding conceptual thinking and multi-channel creative execution.

Responsibilities

• Set and communicate a clear creative vision across channels and campaigns.
• Lead from the front, contributing to concept creation and problem solving when needed.
• Direct and develop Senior Designers, Copywriters and other talent to deliver high-quality work.

Job description

The Creative Director is responsible for setting the creative vision and driving the quality of work across consumer-facing brands. Leading and inspiring a multi-disciplinary creative team, you’ll turn brand and marketing strategies into distinctive creative ideas that connect with customers across every relevant channel.

This is a senior creative leadership role requiring a strong combination ofconceptual thinking, art direction, design expertise and multi-channel experience. You’ll lead the development of ideas from initial territory through to final execution, ensuring they translate brilliantly across campaigns, social, digital, CRM, content, print and physical environments.

Importantly, this isn’t a purely strategic or supervisory role. You’lllead from the front, balancing creative leadership with a willingness to roll your sleeves up and contribute directly to concept creation, creative development and problem solving when the work requires it.

You’ll have significant experience working withwell-known B2C retail or consumer brands, and understand the pace, complexity and commercial demands of creating work for brands with multiple customer touchpoints.

Social will be an important part of your experience. You’ll understand how brands need to behave in social channels, not simply how campaigns are adapted for them. You’ll be able to guide teams in creating platform-aware, culturally relevant and social-first ideas while ensuring they form part of a coherent overall brand experience.

As a leader, you’ll set the creative standard for the team, directing and developing Senior Designers, Copywriters and other creative talent, creating the conditions for brilliant ideas and craft, and building a culture of ambition, collaboration and creative excellence.

Key responsibilities:

• Set and communicate a clear creative vision, translating brand and marketing strategy into compelling creative direction.
• Partner with strategy, marketing and client teams to understand business challenges and identify the strongest creative opportunities.
• Establish clear creative territories and principles that enable teams to create consistently excellent work across multiple channels.
• Bring a strong understanding ofB2C retail, consumer behaviour and the wider cultural and competitive landscapeto the creative process.
• Act as a senior creative voice with stakeholders, confidently presenting and championing the thinking behind the work.
• Balance long-term brand-building ambition with the commercial needs and pace of a modern retail environment.
• Lead the development ofbig, organising creative ideasthat can translate effectively across the entire customer journey.
• Lead from the front, balancing strategic creative leadership with a willingness to becomeactively involved in concept creation, creative development and problem solvingwhen projects require it.
• Direct creative from concept through to delivery acrossbrand campaigns, social, digital, CRM, content, print, retail and physical environments.
• Understand the distinctive role of each channel and encourage teams tocreate for the medium rather than simply adapt for it.
• Championsocial-first creative thinkingas an integral part of the creative process.
• Bring a strong understanding ofAI-enabled creative workflows and emerging technologies, with the ability to identify where they can genuinely improve creative thinking, development and execution.
• Take overall creative responsibility for the quality and consistency of output across channels.
• Know when to empower Senior Designers and Copywriters to own the work and when tostep in directly to help solve, develop or elevate it.
• DevelopSenior Designers, Copywriters and other creative talent, giving individuals meaningful ownership while maintaining the overall quality and ambition of the work.

• Significant senior creative experience within an agency, in-house creative team or similarly fast-moving creative environment.
• Proven experience working with well-known B2C retail or consumer brands, demonstrated through a strong portfolio of customer-facing work.
• A portfolio demonstratingoutstanding conceptual thinking and creative execution across multiple channels.
• Strong experience developing and directing work acrosssocial, digital, CRM, content, campaigns, print and physical or retail environments.
• Genuine social experience, with evidence of social-first thinking and an understanding of how creative ideas and brands need to behave differently across platforms and formats.
• Excellent conceptual and art-direction skills, supported by a sophisticated understanding of design and creative craft.
• The ability and willingness to remainhands-on when required, contributing directly to ideas and creative development rather than operating solely at an approval or leadership level.
• Experience originating ideas and overseeing their development into coherent, connected multi-channel campaigns and brand experiences.
• A strong understanding of the demands ofretail and B2C marketing, including the need to balance brand-building creativity with commercial objectives.
• Demonstrable experience leading, inspiring and developing designers, copywriters and other creative talent.
• Confidence presenting creative thinking to senior stakeholders and articulating not justwhatthe creative solution is, butwhyit is right.
• A good understanding ofAI-enabled creative tools, workflows and emerging technologies, coupled with the creative judgement to understand where and when they add value.
• The ability to manage multiple priorities and maintain creative standards within a high-volume, fast-moving environment.

Perks at ITG — alongside a competitive salary, here's what you can look forward to:

• Time off that works for you — 25 days' holiday + bank holidays, a paid Wellbeing Day, flexible bank holidays to honour cultural or religious observances, and the option to buy or carry over up to 5 extra days.
• Flexibility & lifestyle — Smart Working with up to 40% from home, and after 12 months, the option to work from abroad for up to 90 days a year.
• Family & life milestones — Enhanced family friendly leave, 3 extra days for your wedding/honeymoon, and an Employee Assistance Programme whenever you need support.
• Financial perks — Pension scheme, Corporate Medical Cash Plan, electric car salary sacrifice scheme, and tax-efficient payroll giving to your favourite charities.
• Growth & recognition — Funding for professional qualifications, monthly Employee of the Month awards (£250 bonus), and referral bonuses of up to £1,500.
• Community & wellbeing — Regular Wellbeing Workshops, 30+ Wellbeing Champions, a paid Volunteer Day, and an online perks platform with discounts on top brands, days out, and gym memberships.

We Value Diversity

We champion and welcome diversity in our workforce and ensure all job applicants receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender or gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or nationality.

We are not only committed to increasing the visibility and recognition of talent from under-represented groups within our organisation, but the wider industry too.

At the end of the day, we make sure we take time to look after ourselves, each other, and the planet, because we’re always stronger together.

ITG have a number of community groups available to employees and exist to offer a safe space for like-minded colleagues, with shared interests to connect, socialise and check in with each other.