Remote Associate Creative Director - Lead Craft & Strategy

Socket.dev; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Active Theory is seeking an Associate Creative Director to transition from senior individual contribution to holistic creative leadership. You will stay hands-on while directing creative across high-stakes client work and mentoring teams.

You will champion the studio’s vision, act as an ambassador internally and externally, and lead strategic storytelling in pitches and new business opportunities. Remote-friendly with PST-aligned hours.

Responsibilities

• Take creative ownership of one or more core client accounts, ensuring consistency, quality, and clarity across engagements.
• Set and maintain creative direction across projects — from early concept through execution.
• Be accountable for the overall creative health of the work, not just individual deliverables.
• Be practiced in core creative competency – you should be intimately familiar with creative execution at the highest level
• As needed, be hands-on with conceptual and delivery phases of the creative process
• Understand the possibilities, limitations and potential within 2D/3D motion design
• Act as a creative point of continuity for assigned client accounts.
• Build trust through taste, follow-through, and thoughtful decision-making.
• Collaborate closely with Production and Tech to shape approaches that balance ambition, feasibility, and craft.
• Step into a creative lead role on pitches and new client opportunities articulating our unique perspective. Help shape concepts, narratives, and presentations that reflect Active Theory’s point of view.
• Contribute to how we position our creative capabilities externally.
• Act as a primary ambassador for Active Theory starting to build a public-facing leadership profile (e.g., through industry events or thought leadership).
• Lead by example through craft, communication, and collaboration.
• Demonstrate being AI native and generally interested in AI
• Provide direction and feedback that helps elevate designers and strengthen the work.
• Contribute to creative standards, systems, and ways of working that scale across the studio.
• Foster a design culture and support in department process and initiatives
• The work feels cohesive, intentional, and confidently directed.
• Partners experience clarity, consistency, and trust in creative leadership.
• Designers feel supported, challenged, and elevated.
• Creative leadership is proactive — identifying opportunities, not just responding to briefs.

Job description

Active Theory is seeking an Associate Creative Director to transition from senior individual contribution to holistic creative leadership. You will stay hands-on while directing creative across high-stakes client work and mentoring teams.

You will champion the studio’s vision, act as an ambassador internally and externally, and lead strategic storytelling in pitches and new business opportunities. Remote-friendly with PST-aligned hours.