Creative Director, UX/Experiential

The Hired Guns; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Hired Guns is looking for a Creative Director to shape brand experiences through UX and storytelling. This role requires deep expertise in AI and digital design, managing complex ecosystems for enterprise clients. Candidates should have a significant background in UX or product design, leading multidisciplinary teams and bringing innovative ideas to digital projects. The position is hybrid, requiring at least 2 days a week in the office in NYC. A competitive salary range is offered from $170k to $190k annually.

Qualifications

• Designer at heart with experience in UX, product, digital, or experience design.
• Previous experience in respected digital or brand agencies.
• Strong opinion on how AI affects creative teams and processes.

Responsibilities

• Oversee UX design for multi-million dollar digital ecosystems.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams in shaping the creative vision.
• Manage the delivery of projects ensuring high-quality outcomes.

Skills

UX design

Storytelling

AI innovation

Leadership

Digital strategy

Tools

Figma

Job description

Creative Director Wanted at Human-Centered Brand Experience Agency

Salary range: $170,000 to $190,000 per year

Are You the Missing Piece?

A highly respected brand and experience consultancy is searching for a Creative Director who lives at the intersection of UX, storytelling, and future-facing AI innovation. They want someone who’s a conceptual big-idea thinker who also has a real point of view on how agentic AI and dynamic systems can transform digital journeys, without stripping away the human essence that makes brands resonate. They want someone who’s bringing thoughtful ideas to the table about what creative teams look like in an AI-driven world, from evolving talent mixes to new ways of working and building digital experiences. This is a senior, hands‑on leadership role for someone equally fluent in brand, digital ecosystems, human‑centered design, and what’s next. Not to mention, your big ideas will put you at the thought‑leadership table with the founders. This is high‑impact, i.e., go in and push boundaries, challenge status quos, and have fun while doing it!

You’ll sit across from senior enterprise clients in the financial services, tech, and higher ed industries, advising them on complex, multi‑million‑dollar digital ecosystems. You’ll oversee UX design for websites, platforms, and cross‑channel experiences that must work technically, emotionally, and strategically. Internally, you’ll lead multidisciplinary teams, including UX, UI, dev, brand, and strategy, shaping the creative north star while ensuring the work actually ships with integrity.

Roughly 80–90% of the role lives in experience and journey design, not isolated screens. Think ecosystems, narrative flow, interaction tone, and how a brand behaves across moments, platforms, and channels. The environment is intentionally small, senior, and high‑touch. There’s no massive pitch machine or layers of process. Senior leaders both win the work and deliver the work, collaborating closely to shape the future of the team and the discipline itself.

What’s it going to take to score an interview?

• A designer at heart. You’re someone who grew up practicing UX, product, digital, or experience design before moving into leadership
• Agency pedigree where craft matters. Ideally, you’ve spent time at respected digital or brand agencies with visible progression and multi‑year tenures
• You’re a conceptual big idea thinker. You challenge the status quo, want a seat at the thought‑leadership table, and you’re unafraid to push the boundaries creatively
• An opinion around AI. You must bring unexpected, brand‑defining creative leaps that AI alone can’t generate. Plus, you must be able to articulate a clear vision for how creative teams evolve in the age of AI: what talent matters, how disciplines blend, and how to build teams that use AI as a tool for efficiency while humans drive surprise, originality, emotional resonance, and big‑picture thinking.
• Comfort leading complex digital ecosystems: multi‑property websites, platforms, or integrated brand experiences
• Experience with enterprise or stakeholder‑heavy environments (financial services, technology platforms, large organizations, etc.)
• Ability to bridge UX and UI thinking, structural journey logic paired with a strong eye for interface and interaction craft
• Experience leading end‑to‑end customer journeys, not just screens or wireframes
• Strong instincts around research, journey mapping, systems thinking, and experience architecture
• A credible presence with senior clients. You’re someone who can present ideas, shape thinking, and guide high‑stakes digital investments
• Leadership ability: managing designers’ growth, directing multidisciplinary teams, and acting as creative director on major engagements
• Digital fluency: You’re comfortable reviewing Figma files, prototypes, IA, and interaction systems while collaborating closely with developers and strategists
• Hybrid workstyle: at least 2 days a week in‑office in NYC is non‑negotiable.

You should take this meeting because …

This firm approaches brand and experience through a deeply humanistic lens, believing great digital work should do more than optimize interfaces or chase efficiency; it should bring the human essence of a brand to life. Their work begins with a powerful brand idea and its “human consequence” – how that story actually matters to people – and translates it into meaningful customer journeys, interactions, and digital behaviors. Because the firm is small, senior, and high‑touch, this role offers a real chance at ownership: shaping the discipline, mentoring designers who want broader careers, and helping define what modern experience design looks like in a world increasingly driven by automation and AI. If all the above got you moving and grooving, get in touch with us today!

The Hired Guns does not and will not discriminate in considering and referring candidates for employment, or in its treatment or advancement of its employees, and will not tolerate harassment, on the basis of race, color, religion, gender (including gender identity and expression), sexual orientation, place of origin, years on this Earth, disability, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Full Time / Direct Hire - Hybrid, Washington, DC