Associate Creative Director, Design

Who are we?

MATTE is a 360° creative studio at the convergence of culture, storytelling and design. We bring people together to inspire new ways of engaging, provoke long-term progress and entertain audiences around the world, while helping forward-thinking brands and institutions do the same.

Our studio capabilities span strategy and insights, creative development, branding and identity, experiential, web design and development, campaigns and content creation, through full-scale production and execution.

About this role

MATTE is looking for an Associate Creative Director, Design to join our Creative department. Motion / Animation Expertise Required

This person will be a senior, hands-on creative leader responsible for developing and directing work across brand, campaign, experiential, content, digital and motion.

The ideal candidate combines strong design and conceptual thinking with meaningful experience leading motion, animation, CGI, VFX and post-production workflows. They understand how moving-image work gets made, from early creative development and storyboarding through production, post and final delivery, and can confidently guide internal teams, external artists and production partners throughout the process.

This role requires someone who can move fluidly between creative direction and execution, lead multiple concurrent workstreams, maintain a high bar for craft, and help teams translate ambitious ideas into work that is both creatively strong and technically achievable.

This role reports to the Design Director and works closely with Creative Directors across projects, with project-specific creative leadership depending on the assignment.

Creative Direction

• Lead the ideation, design and development of brand, campaign, experiential, content, digital and motion-led creative.
• Develop and communicate clear creative direction across visual identity, graphic design, motion, animation and moving image.
• Concept and collaborate with Creative Directors, Art Directors, Designers, Copywriters, Experience Designers, Strategists and Producers.
• Lead creative work from early concept and pitch stages through production and final delivery.
• Translate concepts into clear briefs, storyboards, references and creative direction for internal teams and external partners.
• Maintain a high level of craft across multiple concurrent projects and fast-moving workstreams.
• Create and deliver compelling client presentations and confidently communicate creative rationale.
• Support new business pitches, presentation development and pitch reviews.
• Help determine the strongest creative approach, team and production methodology for each assignment.
• Contribute to the continued evolution of MATTE’s own brand, creative vision and expression across print, digital and other owned channels.

Motion, Animation & Post-Production

• Provide informed creative leadership across motion design, animation, CGI, VFX and post-production projects.
• Understand the workflows, production requirements and technical considerations involved in creating high-quality animation and moving-image work.
• Partner with Producers to determine appropriate production approaches, timelines, staffing and external partners.
• Scope and brief animators, motion designers, CGI artists, VFX teams, editors and post-production partners.
• Review work throughout production and provide clear, actionable creative feedback on animation, movement, timing, compositing, rendering, edit and overall craft.
• Identify technical or production risks early and work with Creative, Production and Account teams to solve them before they affect quality, timing or delivery.
• Ensure concepts remain creatively ambitious while being achievable within production realities.
• Lead motion and post-production reviews where appropriate and maintain clear communication between Creative, Production and external partners.
• Help build and maintain MATTE’s network of motion, animation, CGI, VFX and post-production talent and partners.
• Stay current on emerging tools, technologies and workflows across motion, 3D, real-time, AI-assisted production and post.

Client & Project Leadership

• Support Creative and Account Directors in ongoing client management.
• Maintain strong working relationships with clients and confidently lead creative conversations and presentations.
• Collaborate with Account teams to solve creative challenges and supp…