Director, Creative Recruitment

As our Director, Creative Recruitment, you’ll be the architect of our agency’s future talent strategy, building pathways to the industry’s top creative minds and visionary leaders. You’ll partner with creative leadership to understand the evolving needs of the agency and help us stay ahead of the competition by identifying, attracting, and retaining extraordinary talent. 

This is a leadership role where you’ll act as a true connector between our agency and the creative industry. Your focus will be on establishing strong relationships with the best creative talent out there, whether through networking, industry events, or direct outreach. You'll keep a finger on the pulse of the creative job market, shaping how we recruit, engage, and retain toptier talent while ensuring our agency continues to push the boundaries of innovation.

What You’ll Do

Talent Strategy: Collaborate closely with creative leaders to understand the evolving needs of the agency, defining key hiring priorities that align with the agency’s goals and vision.

Market Intelligence: Keep your finger on the pulse of industry trends, competitor hiring strategies, and the talent landscape, offering your POV on how we can stay ahead of the curve in terms of attracting and retaining top talent.

Creative Sourcing: Lead proactive recruitment efforts for top creative talent—whether it’s for full-time positions, freelance opportunities, or leadership roles—using a combination of traditional recruitment methods and creative approaches (think networking events, talent scouting, industry meetups).

Employer Brand Advocate: Serve as a true ambassador for our agency’s culture, values, and creative ethos. You’ll use your passion for creativity to promote our brand to candidates, making BarkleyOKRP a top destination for creative professionals.

Candidate Experience: Elevate the recruitment process by providing a seamless, engaging, and respectful experience for candidates at every touchpoint—from initial conversations to final offers.

Retention Insights: Work alongside leadership and HR to develop strategies for retaining top creative talent, diverse talent while using feedback and market insights to refine our approach to employee satisfaction and engagement.

Data-Driven Decisions: Utilize recruitment metrics and data to drive improvements in your strategies, ensuring we’re always recruiting smarter and more efficiently.

Creative Leadership Collaboration: Work closely with other leaders in creative, strategy, and HR to align talent acquisition strategies with the agency’s broader goals and culture.

Who You Are

Creative Thinker: You bring innovative approaches to recruitment—whether it’s finding new ways to engage with top talent or reimagining how we present ourselves as an agency.

Market Savvy: You’re highly attuned to the creative job market and have a strong understanding of what top talent is looking for in their next opportunity. You know how to market our agency as the place where creative minds want to be.

Data-Driven: You have a knack for leveraging data to assess the effectiveness of your recruitment strategies and use those insights to continuously improve.

Collaborative Leader: You thrive in collaborative environments and can forge strong partnerships with senior creative leadership to understand their hiring needs and challenges.

People-Centered: You’re all about people. You know how to create relationships with candidates that go beyond just the job offer, ensuring they’re excited about the opportunity and our agency culture.

Organized & Detail-Oriented: With many moving parts, you can juggle multiple recruitment processes at once, ensuring that no detail slips through the cracks and everything runs smoothly.

Creative Programming: You’ll be at the forefront of our talent programs we use to identify and cultivate creative talent. This includes being a strong partnership to our BLAC, MAIP and Creative Accelerator programs and bringing an inclusive lens to everything we do.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead talent strategy development for creative roles across the agency, working closely with creative leadership to align hiring needs with the agency’s long-term vision.
• Source, engage, and recruit top creative talent through both traditional and unconventional methods, including social media, networking, industry events, and talent scouting.
• Manage the recruitment lifecycle for creative roles, from initial outreach to offer negotiations, ensuring a smooth and positive candidate experience at every stage.
• Act as the voice of BarkleyOKRP in the creative community, building our brand and reputation as a top employer for creatives through content, speaking engagements, and networking.
• Analyze recruitment data and trends to refine strategies, improve candidate sourcing, and streamline the hiring process, ensuring we’re always recruiting smarter.
• Collaborate with HR and creative leadership to develop retention strategies, ensuring our top creative talent stays engaged and continues to thrive at BarkleyOKRP.
• Mentor and manage a growing recruitment team, providing leadership and guidance as they support the agency’s evolving talent needs.

Key Qualifications 

• 8+ years of recruitment experience, ideally with a focus on creative, marketing, or advertising talent. Prior experience in creative recruitment within an agency setting is a plus.
• Deep understanding of the creative landscape and what it takes to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market.
• Exceptional networking and relationship-building skills, with the ability to connect with creative professionals across a range of disciplines. 
• Proven track record of designing and implementing successful creative recruitment strategies that align with business needs and drive results.
• Strong leadership experience, with the ability to inspire and manage a recruitment team while collaborating effectively with senior leadership and HR.
• Comfort with leveraging recruitment metrics and data to drive continuous improvement and optimize recruitment efforts.
• A genuine passion for creativity and an ability to articulate the agency’s brand to potential candidates in a way that gets them excited to join the team.
• Excellent time-management and organizational skills, with the ability to handle multiple recruitment projects and deadlines simultaneous

BarkleyOKRP’s Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

• We believe being radically diverse and inclusive is the key to becoming one of the world’s great creative idea companies. By embracing everything that makes our partners who they are and what makes them unique to the world around them, we create the conditions and capacity to help creative, original thinking thrive. 
• BarkleyOKRP is committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging as part of our corporate strategic goals, supported by a formal DEI+B program, Employee Resource Groups, Director of Diversity leadership and agency commitment to The Brand Lab, Creative Accelerator, Fellowship, MAIP, and BLAC.