Associate Creative Director, Art Director

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Associate Creative Director, Art Director based in Canada. This is a senior creative opportunity for an experienced Art Director to shape innovative, human, and highly engaging brand work in a fast-moving environment. You will lead the visual and creative direction of integrated campaigns and projects ranging from major brand moments to smaller-scale initiatives. The role combines conceptual thinking, storytelling, hands-on making, creative leadership, and strategic problem-solving. You will collaborate closely with copywriters, designers, writers, marketers, engineers, and external production partners to bring ambitious ideas to life. You will also explore AI-powered tools to accelerate ideation, prototyping, production, and the development of creative assets. This role is ideal for a collaborative creative leader who can move seamlessly between making the work and directing others to deliver it at a high level.

Accountabilities

• Lead the creative development and production of integrated brand campaigns and projects from initial brief and concept through final delivery.
• Develop ambitious, original creative concepts and bring them to life through strong visual storytelling, art direction, storyboards, comps, animatics, prototypes, and finished assets.
• Own both large-scale brand campaigns and smaller creative projects, managing multiple initiatives simultaneously while maintaining a consistently high creative standard.
• Balance hands-on creative execution with creative direction and delegation, determining the right level of personal involvement for each project and stage of production.
• Provide art direction across a broad range of formats, including film, digital, social, print, and interactive experiences.
• Partner closely with copywriters and collaborate with designers, writers, marketers, engineers, and other cross-functional teams to develop integrated creative solutions.
• Act as a creative and strategic problem-solver, identifying how strong creative ideas can address business objectives and communicate effectively with audiences.
• Present creative concepts and final work clearly, confidently, and passionately, building alignment and championing the creative vision with internal stakeholders.
• Use AI tools throughout the creative process, including developing prototypes, drafts, mockups, animatics, and internally produced assets, while exploring new AI-enabled creative workflows.
• Direct and collaborate with external production partners when required, ensuring creative quality and alignment throughout production.
• Provide creative guidance and feedback to collaborators while contributing to a culture of thoughtful critique, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• 6–10+ years of professional experience as an Art Director, with agency experience preferred but not required.
• Strong conceptual thinking, visual storytelling, art direction, and design skills, with the ability to independently develop storyboards, comps, and animatics without relying exclusively on a dedicated design team.
• Extensive experience developing and delivering integrated campaigns, from strategic development and creative concepting through production and final execution.
• Proven production experience across multiple formats and platforms, including film, digital, social, and print.
• Advanced proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite and the ability to remain hands-on, creating comps, layouts, and creative assets across different media while providing direction to studio designers when appropriate.
• Familiarity with AI-powered image and video generation tools and an interest in experimenting with emerging technologies to improve creative workflows.
• Strong ability to connect creative thinking with strategic and business objectives, translating complex challenges into compelling creative ideas.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, with the ability to articulate creative concepts and confidently advocate for a creative vision.
• Highly collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively across creative, marketing, technology, and production teams.
• Ability to give and receive constructive feedback respectfully and use feedback to strengthen creative outcomes.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects,…