Associate Creative Director

Theableagency

Raleigh (NC)

On-site

USD 100,000 - 140,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Able&Co. Raleigh seeks an Associate Creative Director to lead and execute bold brand work while remaining hands-on. You’ll partner with Strategy, Account Services and the Creative Director to deliver strategically grounded creative across multiple clients.

The role blends leadership and production, mentoring designers, presenting concepts, and ensuring on-time, on-budget delivery. We value collaboration, innovation and a track record of strong campaigns that drive growth.

Qualifications

8+ years of professional creative agency or in-house brand experience.
Demonstrated experience leading creative teams and mentoring designers.
Strong portfolio showcasing integrated campaigns and strategic thinking.
Exceptional typography, layout, branding and visual storytelling skills.
Expert knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, XD or Figma, Premiere Pro, After Effects.

Responsibilities

Lead creative development from concept through production, ensuring all work aligns with client strategy and Able&Co.’s standards.
Translate briefs into integrated creative solutions across print, digital, video, social and experiential channels.
Inspire innovative thinking and maintain consistency and quality across all deliverables.
Mentor, coach and develop designers while fostering a collaborative, accountable and positive creative culture.
Build trusted client relationships by presenting concepts and articulating strategic rationale behind design decisions.
Oversee creative workflows, prioritize workloads and manage project progress to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery.

Skills

Team leadership

Mentoring designers

Creative leadership

Brand storytelling

Presentation skills

Project management

Tools

InDesign

Illustrator

Photoshop

Figma

Premiere Pro

After Effects

HubSpot

MailChimp

WordPress

Job description

Associate Creative Director

Job Description – Associate Creative Director
Full-Time Position, Raleigh Location

The Opportunity

You are ready to become an emerging leader within Able&Co. as an Associate Creative Director, you’ll help shape the creative vision of the agency while remaining hands-on in the work. You possess both exceptional creative talent and strategic thinking, enabling you to transform business challenges into compelling brand experiences that deliver measurable results.

You naturally see the bigger picture—balancing creativity, strategy, client expectations, timelines and budgets. Whether you’re leading a campaign brainstorm, mentoring designers, presenting to clients or jumping into a file to solve a design challenge, you thrive in a player-coach role.

You understand that great creative isn’t simply beautiful—it solves problems, strengthens brands and drives business growth.

THE ROLE: Player Coach

The Associate Creative Director serves as both creative leader and practitioner, partnering closely with Strategy, Account Services and the Creative Director to develop thoughtful, strategically grounded creative solutions across multiple clients and industries.

You’ll oversee projects from discovery through execution, ensuring every deliverable meets Able&Co.’s standards for creativity, quality, accuracy and effectiveness. You’ll mentor designers, elevate creative thinking across the agency and help cultivate an environment where collaboration, innovation and accountability thrive.

As a trusted advisor to both clients and internal teams, you’ll confidently articulate creative rationale, lead presentations, manage resources and ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and aligned with each client’s business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Creative Leadership

Lead creative development from concept through production, ensuring all work aligns with client strategy, brand standards and Able&Co.’s creative excellence.

Translate strategic briefs into compelling, integrated creative solutions across print, digital, video, social and experiential channels.

Inspire innovative thinking and maintain consistency and quality across all deliverables.

Team Leadership

Mentor, coach and develop designers while fostering a collaborative, accountable and positive creative culture.

Provide constructive feedback and serve as the primary creative resource for assigned team members.

Client Partnership

Build trusted client relationships by confidently presenting creative concepts and articulating the strategic rationale behind design decisions.

Partner with Account Services to align expectations, project scope, timelines and resources.

Project Management

Oversee creative workflows, prioritize workloads and proactively manage project progress to ensure work is delivered on time, on budget and to the highest quality standards.

Ensure all creative assets are production-ready, technically accurate and error-free.

Strategic & Agency Leadership

Collaborate with Strategy to develop creative solutions that solve business challenges and strengthen brands.

Contribute to new business efforts, improve agency processes and stay current on design trends, emerging technologies and AI tools to continually elevate the agency’s creative capabilities.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

8+ years of professional creative agency or in-house brand experience.

Demonstrated experience leading creative teams and mentoring designers.

Strong portfolio showcasing integrated campaigns and strategic thinking.

Exceptional typography, layout, branding and visual storytelling skills.

Expert knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud:

InDesign

Illustrator

Photoshop

XD or Figma

Premiere Pro

After Effects

Emarketing Platforms (HubSpot, MailChimp)

WordPress

Experience with UX/UI design principles.

Strong understanding of print production and digital asset creation.

Excellent presentation and communication skills.

Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced agency environment.

Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail.

Comfortable giving and receiving constructive feedback.

Strong project management and prioritization skills.

Experience collaborating across creative, strategy, account service and production teams.

Looking for MORE?

We are a woman-owned strategic marketing and communications agency based in Raleigh, NC. Founded in 2008, our diverse team of subject matter experts is unified in our purpose: to help our clients transform and influence the way their brand is perceived, both internally and externally.

We are dedicated to creating customer success—not just customer happiness—through results-driven, award-winning creative solutions that are always grounded in strategy. We prioritize the right things and see the BIG picture with a unique and often unexpected perspective. That’s why we’re often considered an extension of our client’s team. Our relationships, with each other and our clients, are not transactional, but are deeply rooted in trust, respect and true collaboration.

Been there, done that and ready to lead?

We operate with a start-up mentality. We don’t run merely on a great idea; our smart ideas require the constant support of a skilled team where individuals understand the correct function of each factor to successfully nurture and develop the whole.

Although we’re always learning, this is the place where your contributions are based on your expertise and experience. The kind of experience that enables you to be a thought leader who can think three steps ahead to guide our clients on their path to success.

If you have that ‘it’ factor—a unique combination of relationship chemistry, innovative thinking, strategic design, expert talent and a desire for continuous growth based on outcomes—this could be the place for you.

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