Associate Design Director

As an Associate Design Director, you bring a strong creative opinion, informed by strategy and past results to lead performance marketing initiatives. Balancing visual language, narrative structure and design process, you develop client and interagency relationships by clearly communicating and justifying concepts. Visual and systematic design woven together with a performance lens is your bread and butter-but you've also got strong working knowledge of campaign development, brand development, UX and UI principles, and scalable design system development-all essential in your role.You're looking to hone your management skills directing the collaborative efforts of a large creative team. And the environment you build for your team fosters professional growth and inspires others to exceed expectations. Most importantly, you embody and embrace our values-to be honest, inspired, driven, passionate and real-in everything you do.You Will:Lead the design of a digital design system, both building from established patterns and iterating on new design components to evolve the systemBe a hands-on creative lead with the desire and capability to bring the best out of a design teamBuild and maintain creative culture within the design teamUnderstand skillsets and personalities of team members to find areas for opportunity or improvementDrive the strategies that address customer needs and business goals across digital channelsContribute creative solutions and innovations that strengthen both the agency brand and market leadership positionDevelop & deliver innovative proposals to capture both account growth and new business opportunitiesPromote continuous improvement and accountability by driving Creative discipline and operational excellence and lending industry vertical expertisePerform strategic account planning with senior management in vertical marketing groupsConceive and create experience design solutions that fulfill strategic business objectivesBe just as comfortable in the work as leading it. Figma is an extension of your creativityEffectively communicate creative ideas and strategies to all project stakeholdersLead and partner with multidisciplinary teams, including all creative disciplines, technology, planning, account and program managers, partners, clients and moreProvide regular team leadership and constructive feedback on all accountsDevelop, monitor, and modify the business unit creative department staffing strategies and plans, including team composition, performance, skills, training, and mentoringDevelop, implement, and monitor quality standards across all creative artifacts and deliverablesContinuously improve Creative methods, problem-solving models, and best practicesProactively manage the success of production scope, schedules, and budgetsEngage and inform practice leads from media, technology, marketing science, usability, and quality assurance to maximize results and ensure satisfactionSupport and lead Human Resource initiatives with a focus on performance managementUnderstand, embrace, and communicate corporate mission and valuesYou Have:4+ years visual communication education or equivalent experience8+ years design, marketing, or communications interactive work and design leadership experience4+ years' Design Systems experienceExperience in a lead design role within a project-based strategic, creative, or technical agency environmentSubstantial experience managing and bringing to life performance social creativeA solid understanding of storytelling with the use of video - editing, pacing, motion design excellencePassion for design and eagerness to collaborate with other creative peopleSolid understanding and appreciation for the distinction between creative expression and commercial realityWhat We Offer:Global maternity and parental leave Competitive benefits packages Vacation, compassionate leave, wellness days, and flex days Access to online services for families and new parentsEarly Dismissal Friday's (off at 3:00 PM local time every Friday) Diversity and Inclusion Board with 13 affinity groups Internal learning and development programs Enterprise-wide employee discounts Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. In an effort to do so, we expect our team to work from an office a minimum of 3 days a week.We continually review ranges to address skills, experience and markets. Base salaries are determined during our interview process, by assessing a number of factors that include, but aren't limited to, a candidate's experience and skills relative to the scope and responsibilities of the position. For current CM employees, tenure will also be a consideration.Salary Range$130,000-$150,000 USDCritical Mass is an equal opportunity employer. Critical Mass uses artificial intelligence in our recruitment process to enhance job postings, filter keywords during the review of prospective candidates, and, in some cases, transcribe interviews with our recruiters. Human review remains central to the process, and all hiring decisions are ultimately made by our team.The Critical Mass Talent Acquisition team will only communicate from email addresses that use the URLs , and us.greenhouse-mail.io. We will not use apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Google Hangouts for communicating with you. We will never ask you to send us money, technology, or anything else to work for our company. If you believe you are the victim of a scam, please review your local government consumer protections guidance and reach out to them directly. If U.S. based: Canada based: U.K. based: Costa Rica based:

Created: 2026-04-02