Executive Creative Director

Chicago Fire FC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Chicago Fire FC is seeking an Executive Creative Director to build and lead Fire Studio, uniting design, video, photography, and production into a single creative team. This leader will set a new creative standard for the Club and shape how the Chicago Fire brand comes to life across touchpoints.

The role calls for significant experience heading creative for sports or entertainment brands, a strong portfolio, and the ability to mentor top talent while driving high-impact campaigns and fan

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading creative for a brand, agency, sports or entertainment org.
• Portfolio demonstrating exceptional creative thinking, visual taste, brand-building work.
• Deep understanding of brand identity and visual systems; hands-on design skills.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary creative teams with talent development.
• Builder mentality and operational instincts to shape a creative org at scale.

Responsibilities

• Set and raise the creative vision, standards, and direction for Chicago Fire FC.
• Build and lead Fire Studio, unifying design, video, photography, and production.
• Develop concepts for major brand campaigns and matchday moments.
• Act as a hands-on creative leader with direction and feedback for the team.
• Recruit, mentor, and foster a collaborative, high-standard culture.
• Partner with senior creative leaders to empower discipline experts.

Skills

Brand leadership

Creative direction

Multidisciplinary teams

Adobe Creative Suite

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

There has never been a more exciting time to join Chicago Fire FC.

As one of Major League Soccer’s original clubs, Chicago Fire FC is in the midst of an exciting era fueled by tremendous investment, ambition, and growth. With a new $100M state-of-the-art Endeavor Health Performance Center now open, new offices in Chicago’s iconic Wrigley Building, and plans underway for a privately‑funded $750M+ soccer‑specific stadium set to open in 2028 in the heart of Chicago, the Club is building the future of soccer in one of the world’s great sports cities.

Chicago Fire FC is becoming a cultural force in Chicago by connecting communities, shaping experiences, and creating new ways for fans to engage with the game and the city. The Club’s future home, McDonald’s Park, will anchor Chicago’s newest neighborhood and serve as a catalyst of growth for the next chapter of professional sports and entertainment in the city.

Joining Chicago Fire FC today means joining an organization on the rise. Our growth creates once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunities for ambitious professionals to generate meaningful impact and help shape the future of our Club. Whether on the pitch or in the front office, every team member plays a role in building something incredibly special.

At Chicago Fire FC, our mission is to entertain, serve, and unite Chicago through world‑class experiences and a relentless pursuit of excellence. We are guided by our core values: Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Accountability, and a commitment to Never Settle.

If you’re looking for a place where your work will matter, your ideas will be heard, and your career can grow alongside one of the most ambitious projects in professional sports, we’d love to hear from you.

Job Summary:

Chicago Fire FC is seeking an Executive Creative Director to build and lead Fire Studio, bringing the Club’s design, video, photography, and production capabilities together as one integrated creative team. This person will set a new creative standard for the Club and shape how the Chicago Fire brand comes to life across every touchpoint.

Job Responsibilities:

Creative Vision & Leadership:

• Set and continually raise the creative vision, ambition, and standard for Chicago Fire FC.
• Build and lead Fire Studio, bringing graphic design, video, photography, and production together as one connected team with a shared creative vision, culture, and standard.
• Develop and lead creative concepts for major brand campaigns, launches, matchday moments, Club announcements, and other tentpole initiatives.
• Operate as a true player‑coach, combining exceptional creative direction, art direction, and feedback with significant hands‑on creative execution alongside the team.
• Recruit, develop, mentor, and inspire creative talent while building a culture of collaboration, experimentation, accountability, and high standards.
• Partner with the Director of Video and other creative leaders to provide clear direction while empowering discipline experts to lead their teams and craft day‑to‑day.

Brand & Storytelling:

• Own the visual and creative expression of the Chicago Fire brand and serve as a key creative voice in how the brand continues to evolve and connect with Chicago.
• Lead the Club’s creative involvement in the development of Chicago Fire FC kits, partnering with internal teams, adidas, and Major League Soccer to shape concepts, design direction, storytelling, and launch creative.
• Help shape the creative expression of matchday, ensuring in‑stadium content, environmental creative, presentation, and fan‑facing moments feel distinctive, connected, and unmistakably Chicago Fire.
• Provide creative direction for merchandise, apparel, retail, and brand collaborations, identifying opportunities to extend the Chicago Fire identity into products and cultural spaces beyond traditional Club marketing.
• Develop creative platforms and storytelling that build deeper connections between the Club, its players, supporters, the city, and culture.
• Ensure the broader Fire ecosystem – including the First Team, youth soccer, Chicago Fire Foundation, community initiatives, and other Club properties – comes to life through a connected but appropriately flexible creative system.
• Partner closely with Social, Content, Communications, and Marketing teams to create work that is culturally relevant, channel‑appropriate, and capable of breaking through beyond traditional sports marketing.

Partnerships & Commercial Creative:

• Partner closely with Corporate Partnerships and marketing peers to develop distinctive creative ideas and executions that serve the objectives of both the Chicago Fire and its partners.
• Create integrated concepts that can extend across design, video, photography, social, experiential, matchday, and other channels while helping unlock new commercial value.

Stadium & Future of the Brand:

• Serve as a key Club‑side creative voice in the development of McDonald’s Park, working alongside internal stakeholders and external agencies and partners.
• Contribute creative perspective to environmental identity, signage and wayfinding, content systems, in‑venue creative, photography and art, launch campaigns, and other elements of the stadium experience.
• Help ensure the new stadium feels unmistakably connected to Chicago Fire FC while representing the ambition and next chapter of the Club.

Creative Operations & Scale:

• Build a modern, scalable creative operation that enables the team to consistently produce exceptional work in a fast‑paced sports environment.
• Establish smarter processes, workflows, and systems that reduce friction and low‑value work, giving the team more time and space to focus on great creative.
• Improve how work is briefed, prioritized, assigned, produced, reviewed, approved, delivered, stored, and reused across the organization.
• Build and continually improve the Club’s approach to digital asset management, creative archives, taxonomy, accessibility, usage rights, and retrieval.
• Identify opportunities to thoughtfully use technology, automation, AI, and emerging creative tools to improve the team’s process, capabilities, and output.
• Build and manage a strong network of external creative partners, agencies, freelancers, artists, and production resources that can extend Fire Studio’s capabilities and bring new perspectives to the Club’s work.
• Keep Fire Studio connected to the best work and emerging ideas across soccer, sports, design, entertainment, fashion, music, and culture, continually bringing new influences and perspectives into the Club’s creative work.

Qualifications:

• Significant experience leading creative for a brand, agency, sports or entertainment organization, or other culturally relevant consumer‑facing business.
• A portfolio demonstrating exceptional creative thinking, visual taste, art direction, design, brand‑building, and integrated campaign work.
• Deep understanding of brand identity and visual systems, with exceptional hands‑on design and art direction skills, strong proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, and the desire to remain actively involved in concepting, designing, and creative problem‑solving.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary creative teams, with a demonstrated ability to develop talent, provide direct and constructive feedback, and build high‑performing creative cultures. Experience overseeing design alongside video, photography, content production, or similar disciplines is strongly preferred.
• A builder’s mentality and strong operational instincts, with genuine interest in shaping a creative organization, its culture, processes, tools, and systems to enable exceptional work at scale.
• Curiosity about emerging technology and enthusiasm for thoughtfully incorporating new tools, including AI, into creative workflows and output.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with senior leaders and cross‑functional stakeholders while balancing long‑term brand building with the speed, volume, and changing priorities of a professional sports environment.
• Strong cultural fluency in soccer, including an understanding of the visual language, traditions, supporter culture, and contemporary influences shaping the game globally. Experience working in soccer or professional sports is preferred but not required.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including but not limited to evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Compensation:

• This role offers a salary range of $130,000 - $140,000. Final salary is determined by carefully considering the applicant's background, experience, and qualifications. Base pay may vary significantly based on geographic location, job‑specific knowledge, skills, and overall experience. This role is classified as Full‑time, exempt
• This role is bonus eligible based on club‑wide goals
• Additional benefits & perks: Official Chicago Fire FC Website

Additional Notes:

• Chicago Fire FC is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. Our diversity initiatives start with the recruitment and selection process; therefore, we’d like to welcome all diverse candidates to apply to opportunities within our Club.
• CFFC is committed to providing equal employment opportunity and maintaining a workplace for employees and applicants for employment that is free from discrimination. The Company does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, age, veteran or military status, disability, sexual orientation, sexual orientation or expression, marital status or any other characteristic protected by law. This policy governs all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.
• If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please contact the People & Culture Department at [e-mail] to let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

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