Creative Director Job Description Template

• 
  What does a creative director do?
• 
  Hiring a creative director
• 
  Template

What does a creative director do?

Creative directors play a critical role in the creative industries, including advertising, arts, fashion, music, film, and publishing. They’re the people who own the creative vision for a company, developing and leading creative projects like advertising campaigns, building a brand identity, and providing creative direction in everything a business does.

Some creative director positions are in-house, where they lead a team of creative professionals for one business. Other creative director positions are in marketing or advertising agencies, where they serve a range of clients.

Depending on the company, a creative director could be leading advertising campaigns, web design, films, photography, or a host of other creative projects.

Hiring a creative director

Advertising your creative director role in the right way is crucial if you want to attract successful creative directors to your company. If your job description is missing essential details, it could dissuade people from applying – or mean that you attract the wrong people.

While our creative director job description template is optimized for online job boards like LinkedIn, or careers pages, remember that it’s just a template. You’ll need to adjust it so that it’s specific to the kind of creative director that your company is looking for. (And tease out more details with some thoughtful interview questions, naturally.)

You may want to change details like the years of experience required. This will vary depending on whether you’re looking for a seasoned creative director who’s ready to hit the ground running, or an art director or senior copywriter that’s ready to make the next step in their career.

Ready? Let’s take a look.

Trusted by +1M creatives since 2015

The sign-off layer for video preproduction

One tool for storyboards, animatics, and client sign-off. No missed feedback, no expensive reshoots.

Try Boords Free

Template

Introduction

At [company name], we’re looking for a creative director to develop and maintain a consistent creative vision for our brand and projects.

As creative director, you’ll lead our creative team – managing budgets, keeping the creative team on track with timelines, and guiding client relationships.

Creative director responsibilities

As a creative director at [company name], you will:

• 
  Manage the entire creative department, including our in-house art directors and copywriters
• 
  Uphold our existing brand standards and lead our continuing brand development
• 
  Meet with stakeholders to discuss project deliverables and creative vision
• 
  Collaborate with other team members, including account managers, balancing project management requirements with the creative process
• 
  Lead the creative team in brainstorming sessions to develop ideas for campaigns and projects
• 
  Decide on the layout for publications or product designs, choosing visuals including photographs, films, artwork, graphics and designs
• 
  Use your communication skills to pitch concepts to clients or directors
• 
  Liaise with stakeholders during a project regarding progress, issues and changes
• 
  Ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget, fulfilling stakeholders’ expectations
• 
  Build, manage, and motivate your creative team

Requirements and skills

We’re looking for someone with:

• 
  Management skills – including minimum [x] years’ experience managing a team of creatives
• 
  Leadership skills – we need someone who can spearhead pioneering creative initiatives and motivate the entire team to get behind bold ideas
• 
  Soft skills – we’re looking for someone who can nail pioneering creative strategies while using their communication skills to navigate interpersonal relationships
• 
  Software skills – you’ll need to get your hands dirty, so you’ll require an in-depth knowledge of graphic design tools including InDesign and Photoshop
• 
  A bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in graphic design, fine arts, or a related field

About the author

Luke Leighfield

Luke is a freelance writer based in London. A pop musician turned copywriter, he's worked at agencies including AKQA and R/GA, and written for brands like Nike, Google, BBC, and Volvo.