Midweight Creative

Ear to the Ground; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A global creative agency is seeking a Midweight Creative in Manchester to pioneer their creative output. The role involves leading concept development, setting campaign standards, and mentoring junior team members in a hybrid working environment. Candidates should have over 5 years of experience in marketing or advertising, strong conceptual ability, and proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite. The agency offers various benefits, emphasizing a supportive and dynamic culture.

Benefits

Flexible & hybrid working

Birthday off

Workplace nursery benefit

Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave

Private medical insurance and health cash plan

Enhanced sick leave

Cycle to Work scheme

Personal development coaching

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience as a Creative within marketing or advertising.
• Strong record of producing high-quality campaign work.
• Ability to guide and support junior creatives.

Responsibilities

• Establish art direction and tone of campaigns.
• Generate compelling concepts in response to briefs.
• Direct team members to maintain high storytelling standards.

Skills

Conceptual ability

Communication skills

Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite

Attention to detail

Ability to work under pressure

Education

Relevant design/creative education or training

Tools

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Job description

THE DETAILS

Job Title: Midweight Creative
Department: Creative
Reports to: Creative Director
Hours: Full time, permanent
Location: Manchester, Northern Quarter. We operate a Hybrid working policy of ideally minimum 3 days in Manchester HQ per week.

THE ROLE

As a Creative at Ear to the Ground, you play a pivotal role pioneering our creative output. You set the standard for world‑class craft, guide the development of culturally resonant ideas, and ensure our work connects deeply with fans – driving results for our clients, helping to grow their business and set new standards of creative excellence for our work and the industry.

You will sit at the centre of the creative process: generating socially relevant concepts, shaping visual language and copy, and directing execution across live, experiential, digital and social. You’ll lead by example, inspiring the internal creative team with your knowledge of the wider creative landscape, while mentoring and guiding the next generation of talent.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Creative Leadership

• Establish the art direction, copy, style and tone of campaigns, ensuring ideas land powerfully irrespective of touch‑points.
• Work with Creative Directorson creative and strategic goals across clients and projects.
• Drive world‑class execution across formats including experiential, live, digital, social and print.
• Lead by example to inspire and create original ideas.
• Run ideation and production of campaigns proactively.

Concepting & Visual Development

• Generate clear, compelling concepts in response to briefs.
• Collaborate closely with other creatives and wider creative teams to develop fully integrated campaign ideas.
• Ensure the concept, copy and visual strategy are implemented correctly from idea to final execution.

Craft Excellence

• Maintain a high standard of storytelling.
• Direct designers, visualisers, photographers, illustrators, and production partners to deliver work of the highest craft quality.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Present ideas passionately and clearly to internal teams and clients.
• Build strong client relationships through proactive communication and trusted creative leadership.
• Contribute to new business pitches with ideas, visuals and inspiration.

Team Mentoring & Creative Culture

• Guide and support junior creatives in their professional development.
• Foster innovation and curiosity within the creative team.
• Maintain and grow relationships with freelance designers, copywriters, visualisers, creatives and other creative suppliers.

Industry Knowledge & Trend Insight

• Stay on top of cultural, creative, sport, youth and entertainment trends to inspire internal teams and strengthen our creative output.
• Bring inspirational knowledge of art, culture, design, photography, sport, music or wider fan culture.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• 5+ years’ experience as a Creative (Art Director or Copywriter) within the marketing or advertising industry.
• Strong conceptual ability and a proven record of producing high‑quality campaign work.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator) and relevant design tools.
• Keen eye for detail.
• Skilled at communicating visual concepts with a strong command of AI to help visualise ideas.
• Ability to give and take direction, while also operating independently when required.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Experience creating work across age ranges (15 years and above).
• Deep, passionate awareness of sport, music and/or wider culture.
• Ability to perform under pressure and deliver against tight deadlines.
• Relevant design/creative education or training.
• A desire to create award‑winning work, and understanding of what it takes.

THE AGENCY

Ear to the Ground is a global sport, gaming, and entertainment creative agency with a unique model that sets us apart. We are driven by Fan Intelligence®, our global network of 12,000 influential tastemakers and fans. Our real‑time insight into what fans truly want, enables us to create compelling work that consistently pushes the boundaries of culture.

We pride ourselves on being the agency that listens better than anyone to solve our clients’ challenges, maximise their sport, gaming and entertainment partnerships, and ultimately build brands that lead culture. We’ve helped clients including Nike, PlayStation, JD, NBA, Coca-Cola and 2K turn fans into consumers by delivering culturally relevant, fan‑first campaigns that inspire emotional connection and measurable business impact.

You can learn more about the agency with a short film here.

OUR CULTURE

We are dedicated to making Ear to the Ground an amazing place to work where people grow, develop and thrive. We pride ourselves on our dynamic and exciting culture, excellent support of staff and fantastic benefits package. We have made it our mission to lead the way in being an inspiring, future‑thinking, creative agency and are invested in our people because they are the ones that will make that happen.

Some of our benefits include:

• 🕒 Flexible & hybrid working
• 🎉 Birthday off
• 👶 Workplace nursery benefit
• 👩👧👦 Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
• 🏥 Private medical insurance and health cash plan
• 🤒 Enhanced sick leave
• 🚴♂️ Cycle to Work scheme
• 📈 Personal development coaching
• + more