Associate Creative Director

Thesis; Portland (OR); Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Thesis, an independent agency in Portland, seeks an Associate Creative Director to join the Growth team. You will shape creative strategy for B2C and B2B brands, developing campaigns, CRM programs, and pitch concepts.

The role blends visionary thinking with hands-on execution in a hybrid office setting. You’ll partner with strategy, lifecycle, performance, tech, and client leadership to deliver emotionally resonant work that drives acquisition, engagement, and growth.

Qualifications

• A multidisciplinary creative with 6–8 years of experience in creative, design, or art direction within a digitally focused agency or dynamic environment.
• Outstanding portfolio demonstrating craft, original thinking, and design excellence across B2C and B2B brands.
• Deep expertise in digital-first creative, including integrated campaigns, lifecycle marketing, CRM, email, digital experiences, and social platforms.
• Strong foundation in art direction, typography, design systems, visual storytelling, and brand expression.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creative development of new business pitches, translating business challenges and audience insights into compelling platforms, concepts, and experiences.
• Develop beautiful, strategically grounded creative across digital, social, CRM, lifecycle, brand, and integrated campaigns.
• Create standout pitch presentations, visual storytelling, campaign concepts, and prototypes that win prospective clients.
• Translate complex products, services, and business challenges into clear, distinctive, emotionally resonant creative.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to deliver exceptional work and present thinking confidently to senior stakeholders.

Job description

Salary Range: $105,000.00 To $135,000.00 Annually

About Thesis

Thesis is an independent agency working at the intersection of creativity, strategy, and technology. We partner with ambitious brands to solve complex business and marketing challenges and create ideas, experiences, and systems built to scale. We're evolving how we work to bring thinking and making closer together, build more accountable teams, and use technology and Al to expand what's creatively possible.

Role Overview

As an Associate Creative Director at Thesis, you'll help shape the next chapter of our agency's growth. This isn't a traditional creative role—you'll be a foundational member of our Growth team, an entrepreneurial group responsible for identifying new opportunities, building relationships, developing breakthrough ideas, and winning business. You are a creative powerhouse, master craftsperson, and strategic thinker who moves effortlessly between big-picture visionary concepts and hands-on execution. You understand how to build brands, connect with audiences, and create work that is as effective as it is beautiful.

You'll work across B2C and B2B brands, developing everything from integrated campaigns and digital experiences to lifecycle marketing programs, CRM ecosystems, and compelling pitch concepts. You will establish and bring to life the creative vision for prospective clients, translating complex products and business challenges into clear, distinctive, emotionally resonant work that inspires action. Pairing impeccable taste and sharp instincts with a maker mindset, you balance breakthrough thinking with commercial realities, creating work that gets prospective clients excited about what's possible.

Key Responsibilities

Creative Vision & Pitch Craft

Lead the creative development of new business pitches, translating business challenges and audience insights into compelling creative platforms, concepts, and experiences.

Develop beautiful, strategically grounded creative across digital, social, CRM, lifecycle, brand, and integrated campaigns.

Bring fresh thinking to both B2C and B2B challenges, understanding how to create meaningful connections with consumers, customers, and business decision-makers.

Create standout pitch presentations, visual storytelling, campaign concepts, and prototypes that bring ideas to life and build belief with prospective clients.

Translate complex products, services, and business challenges into clear, distinctive, emotionally resonant creative.

Business Impact & Connected Experiences

Partner closely with strategy, lifecycle, performance, and technology teams to develop solutions that solve real business problems.

Connect creative decisions to business impact, understanding how creative drives acquisition, engagement, conversion, retention, loyalty, and growth.

Bring deep fluency in digital customer journeys, CRM, personalization, and omnichannel experiences.

Balance breakthrough thinking with commercial realities, ensuring ideas are ambitious, relevant, executable, and measurable.

Think beyond individual campaigns to connected experiences that create lasting value for brands.

Help establish the creative standard, culture, and ambition of a growing team.

Move fluidly between creative direction and hands‑on design, concepting, and execution.

Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, external partners, and freelance talent to deliver exceptional work.

Present creative thinking confidently and persuasively to internal leadership, prospective clients, and senior stakeholders.

Contribute proactive ideas and concepts that strengthen Thesis's own positioning, marketing, and go‑to‑market efforts.

Champion experimentation, emerging technologies, AI‑enabled workflows, and new ways of working without compromising creative quality.

Use AI and contemporary design tools to expand exploration, prototype concepts rapidly, and accelerate learning.

Partner with multidisciplinary leads to explore modern ways of making and bringing pitch ideas to life.

Who You Are

A multidisciplinary creative with 6–8 years of experience in creative, design, or art direction, ideally within a digitally focused agency or dynamic environment.

An outstanding portfolio demonstrating exceptional craft, original thinking, and design excellence across both B2C and B2B brands.

Deep expertise in digital-first creative, with meaningful experience across integrated campaigns, lifecycle marketing, CRM, email, digital experiences, and social platforms.

A strong foundation in art direction, typography, design systems, visual storytelling, and brand expression.

A rare combination of visionary and maker who pairs strong creative judgment with the willingness to roll up your sleeves and build the work yourself.

Proven ability to turn a loose brief, blank page, or ambiguous business challenge into a compelling creative direction.

A compelling storyteller who presents, defends, and evolves creative work persuasively in high‑stakes pitches and client collaborations.

Fluent with contemporary design tools and curious and experimental with emerging AI‑powered creative workflows.

Optimistic, competitive, low‑ego, collaborative, and driven to make the people around you sharper.

Relationships

Reports to: Head of Accounts

Direct Reports & Teams: Collaborates with and directs multidisciplinary project teams across design, copy, motion, and freelance creative talent on pitch and growth initiatives.

Internal Cross‑Functional Partners: Partners closely with Strategy, Lifecycle, Performance, Technology, and Client Leadership leads across new business and growth workstreams.

External Partners: Prospective client leadership, external creative collaborators, production vendors, and freelance specialists.

Work Environment and Physical Demands

The following capabilities are required in order to perform the essential functions of this position.

Reasonable accommodations that do not create an undue burden on the agency are available to address the following requirements:

Using standard office equipment, computers, and related technology.

Certain activities are performed in an environmentally controlled office setting subject to extended periods of sitting, keyboarding, and manipulating a computer mouse.

Bending, reaching, lifting, pushing, and pulling up to 25 pounds.

Thesis operates on a hybrid work model, with in‑office collaboration Tuesday through Thursday and remote work on Mondays and Fridays.

As a proud B‑Corp, Thesis prioritizes candidates based in the Portland Metro area to allow for a hybrid working set‑up in our beautiful office in NW Portland.

Travel up to 25% of the time is expected for this role.

Inclusion and Encouragement

We know that experience can show up in many ways, and we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet 100% of the qualifications. If you're passionate about strategy, eager to grow, and excited to contribute your perspective, we'd love to hear from you.

At Thesis, we believe the best ideas come from bringing together diverse voices, experiences, and ways of thinking. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are not checkboxes‑they are essential to how we work, collaborate, and create. We are committed to fostering an environment where all employees can thrive and where every individual is treated with respect and dignity.

Thesis is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. We provide reasonable accommodations throughout the hiring process for applicants with disabilities. If you require an accommodation, please contact Human Resources at [e-mail].

As part of our commitment to equitable hiring practices, we do not request or consider applicants' salary history when making hiring decisions.