Creative Director

We are Black Sheep, a cause-driven creative and brand strategy agency that works with impactful companies and organizations to activate communities around things that matter, and we are recruiting for a new Creative Director.

Creative Director Job Description

You are a multidisciplinary storyteller who is curious about people and what makes them tick. You get excited by using the craft of writing and design to create narratives with the power to transform people and create change. You know how to cut to the heart of what drives people to unlock epiphanies and galvanize communities. You demonstrate the ability to simplify the complex and communicate it in clear and inspiring ways, across a variety of mediums. You have a digital-first mindset and the design chops to translate traditional ideas to the digital space and vice versa. The impact of your creative is far greater than what’s on the page.

What does that mean for your day-to-day? You will be…

• Authoring powerful strategy into concise, compelling creative briefs that inform the creation of world-class visual stories.
• Art directing across mediums (print, digital, experiential) and pushing creative to the edge of visual design.
• Building, coaching and leading multi-disciplinary teams, reviewing work and offering feedback to push ideas further while helping to grow the skills of the creative team.
• Working on big challenges that create major impact, across various industries.
• Building client confidence in our creative credibility.
• Identifying new opportunities and new engagement spaces in close collaboration with the digital and accounts teams. 

Why is this role important for Black Sheep’s work?

The Creative Director role makes the biggest impact by pushing others to the edge, getting big ideas to the surface and then believing in and owning the development of those ideas. You inspire the team to go further. You collaborate with our digital team to identify innovative platforms where great ideas can come to life. You work closely with our strategy team to find unique, compelling insights. And you partner with our accounts team to deliver extraordinary thinking that changes the status quo for our clients.

Your skillset is critical to our work because you are constantly on the lookout for new ways to inspire creative solutions and for new vehicles that will help our stories unfold. What has been a poster or video today might be a VR installation or an immersive experience tomorrow. Pushing the edge of our creative and formats within Black Sheep will be key.

We count on you to embody the belief that creativity and storytelling can amplify messaging, accelerate impact and rally others to spark a movement. 

Key Areas of Mastery

Campaign & Brand Development: You will be accountable for campaign/brand concepting and development, taking on ownership of the campaign/brand creative process from end-to-end (in collaboration with the assigned Account Director). This is not to say that creative ideas and support won’t come from all directions of the agency, but you will be the leader that informs, inspires and wrangles those ideas and who problem solves when we’re stuck. 

Creative Direction: This director level position demands a deeply-engaged, charismatic creative leader who inspires and mentors their team, powerfully presents ideas to clients and prospects and helps craft strategic thinking that enables great work. It will be your responsibility to drive creative direction in a multi-dimensional capacity—a role that will include both strategic thinking and strategic “doing.” This may include creative ideation, writing, designing or building of work with ownership of the outcome in mind. 

Problem Solving: You approach challenges with an open-mind and have a strong listening skills that can inform powerful creative solutions. In this position, you lead the team down the road less traveled and champion, in partnership with your account team, the best solution for the client. 

Agency Development and Financial Responsibility: You are a part of a leadership team dedicated to increasing agency efficiency and profitability. In this role, you will have the ability to directly influence the kind of product offerings we offer as an agency and build a team to support that vision. Leadership in this area and the ability to think like a business owner, will be a primary focus and gauge of performance.

Job Requirements

While it’s hard to define the exact experience necessary, we are hoping to find someone that meets the requirements below—or someone who can prove to us that the experiences they’ve had beat what we have outlined. 

• 10+ years as a creative leader at an agency or an agency-like workplace
• A multidisciplinary portfolio of design and creative work that demonstrates an understanding of moving audiences to action
• Strong intuition and the ability to self-start and push a project through the creative process, setting goals, assigning responsibilities, managing accountability and providing constructive feedback that inspires powerful iteration
• Experience using data, research and insights to inform positioning and creative directions for brands and campaigns
• Strong, concise creative writing and design skills, with a desire to participate in the work with your team––to whatever degree necessary

Inclusion at The Black Sheep Agency

Yes, we’re a gathering of rebels. We’ve come together to change minds and accelerate impact for organizations and businesses that are leading communities toward a more equitable future. In our field of strategy, marketing and creative ideas, we know the playing field isn’t fair, and getting a dream job is easier for some than others.

We believe our ecosystem is strengthened through perspective and collaboration, and that can only happen when mentorship, leadership and career opportunities are open to all. We’re looking for go-getters and figure-it-outers— people who think beyond the ordinary list of awards and internships and tell the story of how they’ve transformed their professional life through personal initiative and creativity.

We don’t believe talent and expertise should look the same—ever. Tell us how you’ll join us in sparking an empowered and brilliant future for our communities. Be the rebel that you are. We want to meet you.

Tagged as: Director