Associate Creative Director, Art

Big-Spaceship-2; New York (NY); On-site; USD 135,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Big Spaceship in New York seeks an Associate Creative Director, Art to lead and elevate creative for luxury, travel, and financial services brands. This hands-on role blends big ideas with production, on-set guidance, and social‑first thinking.

You will steer concept development, maintain craft, and collaborate with cross‑functional teams to deliver integrated campaigns across channels while navigating brand constraints with diplomacy.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in advertising, digital, or full‑service agencies with a strong art direction background.
• Experience developing integrated campaigns for luxury, travel, financial services, sports, or other premium consumer brands.
• Strong conceptual thinker with a portfolio demonstrating distinctive ideas and visual excellence.
• Demonstrated ability to take an idea from concept through production and execution.
• Hands‑on art direction experience, including experience on set.
• Experience with social and digital creative and cross‑platform translation.
• Comfortable working within complex brand, business, or regulatory constraints while pushing creative ambition.
• Confident client presentation skills with ability to navigate multiple stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead concept development and art direction for major integrated, 360 campaigns.
• Develop bold, strategically grounded ideas across campaigns, partnerships, activations, social, digital, and experiential.
• Bring a refined visual point of view and high level of craft to every stage of the creative process.
• Be hands‑on in the work from initial concepts through production and execution.
• Present creative work to clients with clear rationale, vision, and opportunity.

Skills

Art direction

Creative leadership

Concept development

Brand storytelling

Tools

AI tools

Job description

At Big Spaceship, we're explorers, not settlers. We partner with ambitious brands ready to venture into new territory, push creative boundaries, and lead rather than follow.

We're a full-service creative shop built for brands that want to break new ground. Our diverse team of entrepreneurial spirits, creative minds, and makers brings bold ideas to life for some of the world's most innovative and culturally connected brands. If you thrive on exploration, creative risk-taking, and charting new paths, you belong here.

We are seeking an Associate Creative Director, Art to lead and elevate creative for a portfolio of high-profile clients across luxury, travel, and financial services. This role will play a critical leadership position on major integrated campaigns, with significant upfront concept development, partnership work, activations, social, and production.

The ideal candidate brings a refined design sensibility, strong conceptual thinking, and the ability to turn strategic opportunities into distinctive, culturally relevant creative. You should be equally comfortable developing big ideas and getting hands‐on in the work, from early concepts through production and launch. Experience working with luxury, travel, financial services, sports, or other highly visible consumer brands is valuable.

Our clients are collaborative and engaged, but projects can involve multiple layers of approval and, in some cases, conservative brand environments or significant business constraints. We're looking for someone who knows how to navigate those realities without letting them compromise the ambition of the work — someone who keeps pushing, finds smart creative solutions, and can advocate for great ideas with confidence and diplomacy.

This is a hands‑on creative leadership role. You should have strong conceptual chops, be comfortable on set, understand the importance of social and digital‑first thinking, and bring a low‐ego approach to collaboration. You'll work closely with your creative partner and cross‑functional teams to develop work that is strategically sound, beautifully crafted, and built to make an impact.

Roles + Responsibilities:

• Lead concept development and art direction for major integrated, 360 campaigns
• Develop bold, strategically grounded ideas across campaigns, partnerships, activations, social, digital, and experiential
• Bring a refined visual point of view and high level of craft to every stage of the creative process
• Be hands‑on in the work, from initial concepts and visual exploration through production and execution
• Present creative work to clients with confidence, clearly articulating the rationale, vision, and opportunity behind the work
• Partner closely with your creative counterpart, strategy, account, production, and cross‑functional teams to ensure cohesive creative execution
• Help develop creative for high‑profile brand partnerships, including sports and cultural activations
• Lead creative through production, including participating in and providing direction on shoots
• Create work that translates effectively across campaign touchpoints, with a strong understanding of social and digital channels
• Navigate complex client environments, approval processes, brand guidelines, and business constraints while continuing to push the work forward
• Integrate AI tools into the creative process to enhance ideation, design, and production workflows
• Operate autonomously, managing timelines and deliverables while maintaining creative quality
• Identify and solve complex creative challenges with thoughtful, design‑forward solutions
• Foster a collaborative, low‑ego creative environment and contribute to the growth of the broader creative team

• 7+ years of experience in advertising, digital, or full‑service agencies, with a strong art direction background
• Experience developing integrated campaigns for luxury, travel, financial services, sports, or other premium consumer brands
• Strong conceptual thinker with a portfolio demonstrating distinctive ideas, visual excellence, and integrated campaign work
• Demonstrated ability to take an idea from concept through production and execution
• Hands‑on art direction experience, including experience on set
• Experience with social and digital creative, with an understanding of how ideas translate across platforms
• Experience with partnerships, activations, experiential, or culturally relevant brand work is a plus
• Comfortable working within complex brand, business, or regulatory constraints while continuing to push creative ambition
• Confident and polished client presentation skills, with the ability to navigate multiple stakeholders and levels of approval
• Strong strategic instincts and ability to translate briefs into compelling visual narratives
• Comfortable working independently while collaborating closely across disciplines
• Low‑ego, collaborative approach with a willingness to get into the work
• Proficiency and comfort using AI as part of the creative toolkit

The salary band for this role is $135,000 - $170,000. Where a prospective new hire's base salary will fall within this band depends on several factors including their qualifications and experience, the skill level required in the role, market rates, and the salaries of existing crew members at Big Spaceship within the same role to maintain equity.