Creative Director - Story & World Building

Acronym; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Acronym, based in East Los Angeles, CA or Brooklyn, NY, seeks a Creative Director to own story-driven world-building and campaign-scale work from concept to delivery. You will shape narrative systems, set visual language, and guide cross-functional teams across strategy, production, and technology to create immersive experiences.

Reporting to senior leadership, you will drive in-world logic, ensure alignment with client objectives, and mentor a world-class creative team.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years in creative roles, with 3+ years leading interdisciplinary teams and owning creative direction from concept through execution.
• Proven ability to expand central ideas into narrative systems across multiple channels and environments.
• Experience directing narrative-driven, campaign-scale work with a strong portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Own the creative direction of narrative-driven projects from concept to final delivery, ensuring a consistent throughline across all expressions.
• Build narrative systems and worlds with internal logic, visual language, and behaviors that audiences can step into.
• Translate central ideas across physical spaces, interactive experiences, content, and digital touchpoints while preserving the world’s integrity.
• Lead cross-disciplinary teams, balancing craft and budget while driving ambitious outcomes.
• Provide actionable feedback and coach teams to deliver high-quality, on-brand work.

Skills

Narrative thinking

World-building

Leadership

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Client presentations

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Design/Arts/Advertising/Architecture

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud

Figma

GenAI workflows

Blender

Cinema 4D

After Effects

Google Suite

Job description

Creative Director (Story & World Building)

2026

About Acronym

About

ACRONYM is a creative firm that builds unreal experiences in the real world. We partner with ambitious brands to turn complex, slightly unhinged ideas into moments people actually feel -through strategic thinking, technical craft, and the kind of creative problem-solving that thrives on complexity. Serious work, unserious energy.

Founded in the mid-2000s, ACRONYM started out in a small studio in East Los Angeles has since expanded to over 80+ employees. Our team works across the majority of North America but has also expanded to Europe, China, and the Middle East.

In 2022, ACRONYM merged with global creative company BUCK, expanding our reach and reinforcing a shared focus on innovative, human-centered design.

Inside the Company

Our work is structured into three core areas:

1. Imagine – Concept development, narrative strategy, and multimedia design

2. Invent – Creative tech, robotics, custom engineering, and software development

3. Implement – Production, AV integration, project management, and fabrication

ACRONYM has delivered large-scale experiences for clients like Google, Netflix, McDonald’s, Gatorade, Meta, Ray-Ban, and Heineken.

Mission & Vision

ACRONYM is driven by a singular goal: to push the boundaries of what’s possible in storytelling through experience. We aim to create unforgettable, engaging experiences that transport and connect audiences through innovative use of technology.

Our core values are:

Innovation & Impossibility: We believe that no idea is unachievable, embracing challenges as opportunities to identify the best tools and solutions to complex problems posed by clients.

Collaboration: We value open and collaborative relationships with clients and partners and emphasize teamwork as a critical component of our creative process.

Emotion & Connection: Our work is designed to evoke emotions and foster human connection, aiming to inspire wonder and bring people together through shared experiences.

Culture

ACRONYM is collaborative, multidisciplinary, and innovation-driven. Our designers, engineers, artists, and technologists bring together creativity, hands‑on problem-solving, and emerging technology to create emotionally resonant experiences across the digital and physical.

We value open communication, experimentation, and cross‑functional collaboration, offering creative freedom, flexibility, high‑impact work, and opportunities for continued professional growth.

Job Description

We’re looking for a Creative Director to lead story-driven, world-building and campaign‑scale work from first concept through final delivery. Reporting to the Group Creative Director, this role is for a creative leader who knows how to turn a central idea into a world people can step into, participate in and carry with them beyond the experience.

The right person thinks in narrative systems, not isolated moments. They can establish the logic, visual language, behaviors and details of a world, then translate it across physical environments, interactive experiences, content, digital touchpoints and cultural moments. They understand how every element can feel in‑world and connected to a larger story, building ideas that can live across an event, a city and a cultural moment.

Tasks & Responsibilities

• Own the creative direction of narrative‑driven projects and accounts from initial idea through final execution, ensuring a clear creative throughline across every expression of the work
• Build narrative systems and creative worlds with their own logic, visual language, behaviors, characters, objects and rules, creating experiences that audiences can genuinely step into and participate in
• Translate central creative ideas across physical environments, interactive experiences, content, digital touchpoints and campaign moments without losing the integrity of the larger world
• Champion in‑world thinking across interdisciplinary teams, ensuring spatial, visual, technological and content decisions feel connected rather than like a collection of separate executions
• Set expectations for craft and creativity by doing the work itself: concept, design, narrative development and prototyping alongside the team when the project demands it
• Push ideas beyond the boundaries of a single experience, identifying how they can extend into culture and create relevance before, during and after the physical moment

Creative Oversight & Quality

• Provide clear, actionable feedback throughout the creative process, from initial concept development through to final execution
• Ensure all creative output is visually and experientially compelling and strategically aligned with client objectives and brand identity
• Know when and how to call in generalists or specialists across strategy, creative, technology, 2D, spatial and content to achieve creative excellence
• Offer new or experimental ways of working to achieve ambitious creative outcomes

Client Engagement & Relationship Management

• Contribute to winning and building long‑standing client relationships, recognized as a trusted creative partner to team leads and clients
• Lead creative presentations, commanding the attention of the audience and managing group dynamics to inspire, engage and influence audiences toward recommendations
• Act as a diplomatic facilitator: understand client needs and expectations, and exhibit grace when reconciling conflicting views or disagreeable feedback
• Build and lead a world‑class creative team, attracting top talent and fostering a collaborative, supportive, and innovative environment
• Facilitate ongoing training and professional development opportunities, ensuring the team remains at the cutting edge of industry trends and technologies
• Promote a culture of openness, collaboration, and creative exploration, where every team member feels valued and inspired to contribute their best work
• Coach with empathy, adapting style toward individual learning needs; serve as an instructive role model in career development, skill building and honing individual creative perspective
• Champion building and nurturing diverse and inclusive teams to broaden and deepen our global cultural perspectives
• Seek out and cultivate a network of collaborators, freelancers and specialist partners for projects and teams
• Adapt leadership style to various clients, contexts and team dynamics
• Work closely with strategy, production and technology to ensure every idea is achievable, on budget and flawlessly delivered
• Maintain a strong bias to action, energized by overcoming challenges and obstacles

New Business & Industry Experience

• Lead creative on narrative‑driven, campaign‑scale and culture‑led pitches, contributing directly to winning new work
• Partner with Strategy and Growth & Partnerships to identify opportunities where world‑building, storytelling and immersive experience can create a differentiated creative proposition
• Help shape ACRONYM’s point of view and offering around narrative experiences, entertainment, culture and world‑building
• Contribute to ACRONYM’s industry presence through award entries, talks, juries and published work

Qualities

• Visible champion of excellence and flawless delivery, with mastery in one or more creative disciplines and fluency across a broad range (strategy, creative, technology, media, content)
• Multi‑faceted creative leader who can architect and rally an interdisciplinary team around an ambitious idea
• Exceptional communicator and presenter, able to inspire, persuade and build trust with clients, executives and team members
• Strong bias to action, energized by overcoming challenges or obstacles
• Inspiring and empathic coach, adapting style toward individual learning needs and committed to building inclusive, entrepreneurial creative culture
• Business acumen to balance creative ambition with budgets, timelines and practical constraints

Recommended Qualifications

Education Background

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Fine Arts, Advertising, Architecture, or a related field or equivalent experience

Professional Experience

• 5–8+ years of experience in creative roles, including 3+ years leading interdisciplinary teams and owning creative direction from concept through execution
• A portfolio demonstrating exceptional narrative thinking and world‑building across experiential, campaign, content, entertainment, digital or cultural work
• Proven experience taking a central creative platform or narrative and extending it coherently across multiple channels and audience touchpoints
• Experience creating immersive worlds and narrative systems where environments, content, interactions and technology work together to tell a larger story
• Experience working with entertainment, cultural, gaming, music, fashion or other IP‑driven work is highly valued
• Experience directing interdisciplinary teams and managing high‑profile clients from concept through execution

Technical Skills

• Expert‑level proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma
• Strong understanding of production processes across interactive and experiential, including fabrication, creative technology processes and live event execution, to ensure creative concepts are achievable
• Experience utilizing GenAI creative workflows including Claude, Fuser, Midjourney, RunwayML and StableDiffusion
• Working familiarity with 3D and motion tools (Blender, Cinema 4D, After Effects). Proficiency not required
• Google Suite
• Commitment to ongoing personal and professional development, with a passion for staying ahead of industry trends and continuously exploring new creative possibilities

Location

East Los Angeles, CA or Brooklyn, NY (LA Preferred); work is hybrid