Associate creative director

Note:
This role may cover clients and initiatives across multiple verticals, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, SaaS/technology, not-for-profit, higher education, financial services, and more.

As an Associate Creative Director, you lead creative concept development and execution for your assigned clients, bridging senior-level craft with strategic creative leadership. You own concepts from brief through delivery, present them to clients with confidence, and shape the creative direction of your accounts — often without needing a Creative Director in the room. You partner closely with our Creative Directors while carrying real ownership of your own work, guiding copywriters, art directors, and other creatives to bring big ideas to life across campaigns, brand work, and integrated programs.

Responsibilities

Here are some, but not necessarily all, of your responsibilities:

• Guide creative concept development. Act as a trusted partner to our Creative Directors and collaborate closely with copywriters and art directors to guide — and often own — creative concepts for assigned clients across campaigns, brand work, and integrated programs. Contribute to creative briefs and turn audience insights into strategically grounded, visually and verbally compelling ideas that work across every channel, bringing different creative disciplines together rather than defaulting to a single lens like art direction or copy alone.
• Direct creative execution. Direct the work of art directors, copywriters, designers, and other collaborators — including video editors and animators — on assigned projects. Give clear creative direction, review work against the approved brief and concept, and hold the line on quality for everything that ships. On your accounts, you have the authority to approve work without routing every decision through a Creative Director.
• Present and defend creative work to clients. Present creative concepts and campaign work to clients with confidence and strategic rationale. Defend strong ideas, interpret feedback constructively, and navigate the space between what a client asks for and what the work actually needs, building client trust in both the output and our team.
• Mentor and develop creative talent. Mentor and grow the craft of art directors, copywriters, and other creatives on the team. Give feedback that sharpens both the work and the thinking behind it, helping raise the creative bar across the group alongside our Creative Directors.
• Use AI to expand creative possibility. Use AI to accelerate concepting through rapid visual and verbal exploration, generate mood boards and layout variations, test messaging approaches, and compress production timelines — freeing up more time for the instincts, taste, and client-room confidence that only a human creative leader can bring.

What You’ll Need

• 5+ years of professional experience in a creative role, with demonstrated growth toward creative leadership
• Experience guiding or directing the work of art directors, copywriters, designers, or other creative collaborators
• A strong portfolio showing original, strategically grounded concept development across campaigns, brand work, or integrated programs
• Confidence presenting and defending creative work directly to clients
• Experience mentoring or developing other creatives
• Comfort using AI tools to accelerate concepting and production without losing sight of the human judgment that makes work great
• Agency experience preferred
• Strong collaboration skills across strategy, account, and production teams

What makes TrendyMinds a great place to work

We believe a happy team is a solid team; it's as simple as that.

• Fully remote: We believe the best team isn't limited by physical location. Whether it's the West Coast or East Coast, we work with team members across all of the U.S. time zones.
• Collaborative team environment: Your voice is important, and we believe the best projects include contributions from everyone.
• Great benefits: 30 paid days off and 401(k) matching. What more could you ask? Oh yeah, we cover 100% of health insurance premiums for all team members and 50% for their spouses and dependents.
• Flexible schedule: Some people are early birds who love collaborating in person at our offices. Others are night owls who enjoy working from home. We are flexible to accommodate different work styles, times, and locations - within reason and the needs of our clients - of course!
• New equipment: In order to produce incredible work, we have to have incredible equipment. Sorry if you were hoping for a 7-year-old PC. That's just not our style.
• Philanthropy: We like to do our part to help our community. With our philanthropy committee and donation matching system, we offer you the resources you need to make a difference.

Our values

At TrendyMinds, we aim to hire people who share our values. They are at the center of how we treat each other and our clients, and they act as our guideposts for every decision.

• Know the Why behind the What.
• Put relationships first.
• Think Ahead and push boundaries.
• Bring your full self.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

TrendyMinds is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement

TrendyMinds is committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process. If you require an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please contact us and let us know how we can support you.