Associate Creative Director

Wtads; Mission, Northern (KS, KY); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) matching

Health insurance

Paid time off

Friday work-from-anywhere option

Job summary

Walz Tetrick Advertising in Kansas City seeks an Associate Creative Director, Art Director who is a conceptual thinker, visual storyteller and creative leader. This hands-on role spans healthcare work and broader campaigns across the agency.

You will concept, design, direct and present from brief to execution, raising the quality of work and the people around you. The role values strong typography, craft and collaborative problem solving.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years in agency or equivalent, with a portfolio of strong conceptual thinking across channels.
• Ability to move between big ideas and execution with solid creative judgment.
• Sharp eye for typography, composition, photography, film, and design systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead concept development and art direction across campaigns and brand platforms.
• Collaborate with writers and designers to turn business challenges into creative ideas.
• Set the visual direction and carry it through execution across campaigns and digital experiences.
• Lead creative presentations and defend ideas to clients.
• Mentor junior creatives and contribute to pitches and opportunities.

Skills

Concept development

Art direction

Visual storytelling

Presentation skills

Collaboration

Job description

WTA is hiring an Associate Creative Director, Art Director who is equal parts conceptual thinker, visual storyteller and creative leader.

This person will play an important role across our growing healthcare portfolio while also contributing to larger campaigns, new business and creative opportunities across the agency.

This is a hands on role for someone who still loves making the work. You’ll concept, design, direct and present ideas from brief through execution while helping raise the quality of the work and the people around you.

We’re looking for strong conceptual instincts, exceptional visual taste and the judgment to know when an idea or execution needs to be pushed further.


What You'll Do

• Lead concept development and art direction across campaigns, brand platforms and ongoing client work.
• Partner with writers, designers and other agency partners to turn business challenges into strong creative ideas.
• Establish the visual direction and carry it through execution across campaigns, brand systems, visual identities, logos, digital experiences and other client needs.
• Lead creative presentations and sell in the work with confidence, connecting ideas back to strategy, audience and business opportunity.
• Guide production partners and protect the quality of the work through execution.
• Mentor other creatives and contribute to pitches, proactive opportunities and work across the agency.

What We're Looking For

• 7 to 10+ years of agency or comparable creative experience with a portfolio that shows strong conceptual thinking, visual storytelling and craft across multiple channels.
• The ability to move between big campaign ideas and execution with strong creative judgment throughout.
• A strong eye for typography, composition, photography, film and design systems with a clear point of view on what makes work feel distinctive.
• Confidence presenting and defending creative thinking with internal teams and clients.
• Experience partnering closely with writers from concept through execution and the ability to move between concepting, art direction and hands on design when the work calls for it.
• Experience working through production and collaborating effectively with photographers, filmmakers and other creative partners.
• A collaborative mindset and a genuine interest in making the work and the people around you better.
• Experience with health systems, pharmaceutical brands, insurance or medical and legal review is a plus, but it is not required. More important is your ability to understand complex subject matter, find the human idea inside it and create work that makes people want to care.

What Success Looks Like

• Becoming a trusted creative lead across key assignments and accounts.
• Raising the quality of the work you touch.
• Building strong partnerships throughout the agency and earning client confidence.

Why This Role Matters

We want someone who can help raise the standard of the work, strengthen the people around them and contribute to a growing creative department.

If you’re an ambitious creative who wants to make great work, have a real voice in the process and the opportunity to help build something, we’d like to meet you.

About Walz Tetrick Advertising

Walz Tetrick is a full-service marketing, creative and media agency in Kansas City. The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce named Walz Tetrick one of its Top 10 Small Businesses, honoring our resilience, innovation and values. Though we’ve been around since 1967, we approach every opportunity with the same zeal we did when we were just getting started. We look for associates, partners and clients who share that enthusiasm and appreciate our all-in approach to brand activation. With each day, we harness more tools and information to illuminate our way.

Walz Tetrick offers an office culture like no other. CEO Charlie Tetrick values his employees and creates a uniquely positive and supportive culture. We work and play as a family. Our current work hours are “in office” Monday through Thursday with an option to “work from anywhere” on Friday.

We’re proud of our strong benefits package that includes a 401(k) with an employer match, long-term disability and dental insurance. We offer excellent health insurance, and the agency pays 90 percent of the employees’ premiums with an option to add a spouse and family. We have a generous paid time off policy that includes days to volunteer at a charity of your choice.

If you’re passionate, strategic, collaborative and kind, with a dose of scrappy thrown in, we want to meet you.

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