Associate Creative Director

Aquent (United States); San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Aquent Studios in San Diego seeks an Associate Creative Director with partnership experience to lead ideas, experiences, and fan moments for global sports partnerships. Working with the Creative Director, agency partners, and cross-functional teams, you will push ideas to be more relevant and culturally fluent.

The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking with hands-on creation, turning partnerships like Manchester United and Mercedes‑AMG PETRONAS into compelling fan experiences.

Qualifications

• Experience in advertising, experiential marketing, brand experience, partnerships, or integrated campaigns.
• A strong conceptual thinker with a portfolio full of original ideas and standout creative work.
• Experience taking ideas from concept through production, partnering across creative and production teams.
• Ability to bring ideas to life through storytelling, experience design, presentations, creative development, and visual thinking.
• Comfort moving between big‑picture thinking and hands‑on creative problem solving.
• Strong collaboration skills, with experience working alongside strategists, marketers, agencies, designers, producers, and partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead creative development and ideation for sports partnerships and experiences.
• Develop experiences, events, content programs, hospitality concepts, and social extensions.
• Create compelling presentations, concept boards, and materials to communicate ideas.
• Stay connected to sports, entertainment, culture, technology, and trends to inspire new ideas.
• Collaborate with Creative Director, strategists, marketers, agencies, designers, and partners throughout the process.

Skills

Advertising experience

Experiential marketing

Brand experience

Partnerships

Conceptual thinking

Job description

ACD, Partnerships & Experiences

Position Summary

Aquent Studios is seeking an Associate Creative Director with Partnership experience who will lead the ideas, experiences, and fan moments that bring global sports partnerships to life. Working alongside the Creative Director, agency partners, and cross-functional teams, this role turns world‑class partnerships, including Manchester United and the Mercedes‑AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, into work that fans genuinely care about. The ideal candidate is a highly creative, conceptual thinker who is equal parts strategist and maker: someone who can push an existing idea further or build something entirely new, and who is energized by finding fresh ways for our product to show up and stand out in culture.

Key Responsibilities

Creative Development & Ideation

• Create and develop ideas that bring Snapdragon’s sports partnerships to life in memorable and unexpected ways
• Bring fresh creative thinking and cultural awareness to every stage of development
• Push work beyond the expected, challenging teams to explore new directions and stronger creative solutions
• Find new ways to make ideas bigger, more relevant, and more exciting for fans

Partnership Activation & Experience Design

• Help develop experiences, events, content programs, hospitality concepts, and social extensions that extend partnership platforms beyond traditional sponsorship
• Collaborate with agencies, rights holders, internal teams, and experience partners to build fan experiences, brand moments, and activation programs

Creative Communication & Presentation

• Build compelling presentations, concept boards, and creative materials that help ideas come to life for internal and external audiences
• Bring ideas to life through storytelling, experience design, and visual thinking

Cultural & Trend Awareness

• Stay connected to sports, entertainment, culture, technology, and emerging trends to inspire new ideas and opportunities
• Bring an authentic, culturally fluent point of view to how Snapdragon shows up in partnership moments

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with the Creative Director on creative direction and partnership strategy
• Collaborate with strategists, marketers, agencies, designers, producers, and partners throughout the creative process
• Take ideas from concept through production, partnering across creative and production teams to deliver high‑quality final work

Required Qualifications

• Experience in advertising, experiential marketing, brand experience, partnerships, or integrated campaigns
• A strong conceptual thinker with a portfolio full of original ideas and standout creative work
• Experience taking ideas from concept through production, partnering across creative and production teams
• Ability to bring ideas to life through storytelling, experience design, presentations, creative development, and visual thinking
• Comfort moving between big‑picture thinking and hands‑on creative problem solving
• Strong collaboration skills, with experience working alongside strategists, marketers, agencies, designers, producers, and partners

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with sports, entertainment, lifestyle, or sponsorship‑driven brands
• Experience in sports marketing, sponsorships, entertainment, experiential campaigns, or partnership‑driven creative development (strongly preferred)

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently generate ideas that fans remember and talk about
• Sponsorships become experiences, stories, and moments that earn attention beyond the venue or event itself
• Creative work feels distinct, modern, and culturally relevant
• Partnerships create stronger emotional connections between Snapdragon and fans around the world
• Agencies and partners see our brand that pushes for bigger ideas and better creative work