Chief Creative Officer

Thesis; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Thesis, headquartered in Portland, OR, seeks a visionary Chief Creative Officer to define the future of creativity for our agency and clients. You will shape our creative philosophy, elevate capabilities, and build a world-class team spanning design, writing, motion, AI, and production.

As a member of the executive leadership, you will partner with the CEO to evolve Thesis, unlock new capabilities, and mentor leaders.

Qualifications

• A visionary leader who inspires confidence and communicates a clear creative direction.
• An exceptional creative leader with uncompromising standards and optimistic outlook.
• A mentor who develops leaders, not followers.
• A tastemaker with strong creative instincts and business sense.
• A leader who elevates teams and elevates client outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Define Creative Vision & Steward the Thesis Brand—establish and evolve the creative vision, philosophy, standards, and POV.
• Lead a world-class creative organization—recruit, develop, and inspire talent across design, writing, motion, production, AI, and emerging disciplines.
• Set the creative standard—champion ideas from concept to execution, establish high quality across clients and deliverables, and modernize workflows with AI and automation.
• Shape the future of creative—define how creativity evolves in an AI-enabled world and build capabilities to stay at the forefront.
• Drive client transformation—act as executive creative partner to leadership and elevate partnerships.

Skills

Visionary leadership

Creative leadership

People development

AI awareness

Storytelling

Business acumen

Inspiring communicator

Culture shaping

Job description

Job Description

Job Description

Reports to: CEO

Department: Creative

Classification: Exempt

Salary: Competitive base salary plus performance-based incentives

WHO WE ARE

We are Thesis. Proudly headquartered in Portland, OR, while serving clients globally for over 20 years. Thesis is a creative agency that drives business success through marketing across technology, strategy and operations.

THE JOB

Thesis is seeking a visionary Chief Creative Officer to define the future of creativity for our agency, our clients, and the industry.

As Chief Creative Officer, you will shape our creative philosophy and elevate our capabilities. You’ll build a world-class multidisciplinary team spanning design, writing, motion, creative technology, AI, design systems, storytelling, and scaled production. You'll inspire exceptional work while redefining how modern creative organizations operate in an AI-enabled world.

You will continually raise the creative standard across the agency while creating an environment where extraordinary talent is empowered to do the best work of their careers.

This role is equal parts visionary, operator, coach, storyteller, futurist, and builder.

You believe creativity isn't simply what agencies produce, it's the competitive advantage businesses use to transform brands, shape culture, and drive growth.

As a member of the executive leadership team, you'll partner with the CEO and leadership to evolve Thesis, define what's next, unlock new capabilities, and inspire our people and our craft.

AS A PERSON, YOU ARE

• A visionary who inspires people to believe in something bigger than themselves.

• An exceptional creative leader with uncompromising standards and contagious optimism.

• Someone who raises the ambition of every room.

• A builder of iconic teams, not just great campaigns.

• Fearlessly opinionated yet deeply collaborative.

• A mentor who develops leaders, not followers.

• A tastemaker with exceptional creative instincts and business acumen.

• A relentless champion for craft who believes details matter.

• An operator capable of scaling creative excellence across boutique craftsmanship and enterprise production.

• A student of culture, technology, design, storytelling, AI, and emerging consumer behavior.

• A future thinker who sees AI and automation as accelerants—not replacements—for human creativity.

• An inspiring communicator who aligns teams around ambitious visions.

• A trusted executive who influences clients, earns confidence from leadership teams, and elevates partnerships.

• A leader who makes everyone around them better.

IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL

Define Creative Vision & Steward the Thesis Brand

• Establish and evolve Thesis's creative vision, philosophy, standards, and point of view.

• Serve as executive steward of the Thesis brand—leading creative identity, thought leadership, marketing, and brand expression to elevate awareness and strengthen market positioning.

• Foster a culture where bold ideas thrive and creativity becomes a competitive advantage.

Build a World-Class Creative Organization

• Recruit, develop, and inspire exceptional talent across creative direction, design, writing, motion, production, AI, creative technology, design systems, and emerging disciplines.

• Create an environment where high performers thrive and future leaders emerge.

• Lead organizational design, succession planning, coaching, and performance management to scale creative excellence.

Set the Creative Standard

• Champion extraordinary ideas from concept through execution while establishing a high bar for quality across every client, discipline, deliverable, and touchpoint.

• Create systems that allow world-class craft to exist at both boutique levels and enterprise scale without compromise.

• Protect the integrity of the work while continually raising expectations for what's possible.

• Modernize workflows through AI, automation, integrated technology, and scalable creative systems.

• Create repeatable excellence without creating bureaucracy.

Shape the Future of Creative

• Define how creativity evolves in an AI-enabled world.

• Lead the agency's creative roadmap across AI, automation, design systems, workflow innovation, and emerging platforms.

• Build new capabilities that keep Thesis at the forefront of modern creativity.

Drive Client Transformation

• Serve as executive creative partner to sen