Associate Creative Director - Art

**Prioritizing candidates located in the Los Angeles or San Francisco area. If we're unable to hire locally, we may open this search up to candidates who are willing to travel as needed, based in Pacific Time or Mountain Time, and able to work Pacific Time hours.**
**If based in San Francisco, must be willing to work hybrid onsite/remote.**
**Candidates must submit a book / portfolio (including the password if applicable) for consideration.**

We believe in Extraordinary. 

What we do isn’t easy. Nothing extraordinary ever is. 

At Jack Morton we create head-turning, stomach-dropping, mind-boggling, smile-inducing brand experiences. We exist to reimagine what experience can be, and we do that by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. 

We take care of each other, as much as we take care of business. We forget titles, check egos at the door, roll up our sleeves and make extraordinary happen. This is a place where you can be you, all of you, and bring your true and honest self to work, every day in every way.

What we create is unique, just like those who work here and together we are united behind a powerful vision - we inspire the world to experience better. To show, not tell how things should be.  More innovative. More inclusive. More sustainable.  

So if you feel work, and the people you work with, can be extraordinary, let’s chat.

That brings us to you.

This Associate Creative Director - Art is an experiential design expert and creative thinker with at least 3 years of agency experience who helps grow and sustain the creative efforts for one of our major tech clients. The ACD will generate innovative concepts and smart solutions, leading client projects of varying sizes and budgets. They are proficient in developing user journeys and crafting all related experiential design materials with excellence and rigor. They maintain a high level of polish and generate work that deeply engages the audience, brings the brand story to life, and drives client results. 

They are right at home collaborating with a diverse and multi-talented team, which includes strategists, graphic designers, environmental designers, producers, technical experts, account team members, content experts, copywriters, and creative technologists.

Reporting to the VP, Senior Creative Director, the ACD will help establish templates and processes for the creative work on this marquee tech account, support hiring and staffing decisions as related to their projects, and be a partner in the health and expansion of this exciting body of work with the one the world’s most innovative and established tech brands. 

Responsibilities:

Creative Strategy

• Own the brief. Initiate creative excellence by ensuring the brief is complete and sets the team up for success with clear objectives and a clear creative scope. Join early client calls, support Q+A sessions, ask for supporting documents or insights and flesh out the brief as needed to make sure the project starts from a solid foundation. 
• Define the approach. Lead the team in developing work that is on brief, on brand and fueled by intelligent insights. Collaborate expertly with strategists in this process.
• Prove it. Understand how measurement, data collection and analysis, and storytelling with data can positively impact the work. Integrate key stats into case studies, recaps, and award submissions, always telling the story with factual grounding and impressive impact stats. 

Ideation + Concepts

• Seek to consistently and relentlessly elevate the work. Develop concepts that meet the brief, consider the audience, leverage the best elements of the brand, and add value by pushing the creative in a bold direction.
• Communicate clearly. Understand that design is communication and work with team members to bring ideas to life both visually and verbally.
• Work with all team members to push and refine creative ideas and design solutions (before sharing with creative leadership or clients).

Presentation

• Inspire and motivate. Deliver pitches and new ideas with both enthusiasm and grounding, winning over the hearts and minds of internal and external teams and giving momentum to the creative work.
• Expertly present ideas to teams and clients with compelling and strategic rationale, inventive design solutions, and a client-centric level of finesse. Be ready to field questions and defend creative choices (while also being understanding of the needs and the feedback). 

Execution

• Create the work. Own your craft. Generate best-in-class design work that moves your projects forward and sets an example for the team.
• Understand project requirements (budget, timeline, etc) and help manage deliverables and quality control of all creative work to meet the overarching program goals.
• Work closely with producers, technical directors, printers, fabricators and other experiential and event experts to ensure creative solutions are executed to a high standard with consideration to the client brand, cohesion across the experience journey, and attention to all fit and finish details. 

Verticals + Client Relationships

• Build an understanding of the client ecosystem with attention to the various departments and products we work on across the client’s org.
  • Help yourself and your teammates “get smart” and strategic about the client’s brands and products on all projects in order to stay competitive.
  • Make in roads with the Brand Design team, always building trust and fostering partnerships with these creative experts on the client side.
  • Organize brand assets internally and help establish brand excellence and consistency across the account.

Team Development

• Help manage, onboard, and collaborate with expert creative freelancers, creating space for all collaborators to thrive.
• Manage creatives at the intern, associate, designer and senior designer levels to nurture the growth of the full time team. 
• Provide objective feedback on creative talent, supporting their growth and informing resourcing decisions for future work. 

DEI+B

• Lead by example when it comes to research, casting, selection of assets, and support of inclusive narratives within the creative work. 
• Work with talent, project leads and senior leadership to foster a culture where all voices are heard, respected and supported. 

Innovation

• Be an active voice for innovative thinking, finding opportunities to challenge convention, break the mold, explore new technologies, and forge into new territory. 
• Collaborate with innovative experts in the realm of creative technology, interactive, lighting design, UX/UI, scenic / production design, content and video and other disciplines to push the creative work in exciting new directions.
• Express an interest and understanding in Artificial Intelligence and various AI tools as related to the client work. Experiment, generate, explore, share learnings and find excellent, thoughtful use cases for AI.

Skills: 

Software

• Google Workspace + Microsoft Office: Demonstrate high proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Teams, etc. as well as Google Meet, Chat, Slides, Drive, Sheets, Docs and any other tools relevant to the work. 
  • Actively own and manage Google Slides templates and decks for all projects with a high level of polish. 
• 2D (Adobe CC, etc): 
  • Demonstrate expert level proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, etc. with an emphasis on expert graphic design for all print and digital needs. 
  • Proficiency in After Effects or other motion graphics or video tools is a plus.
  • Proficiency in AI-based visuals tools (Midjouney, Gemini, Runway, etc) is a plus.
• 3D (Sketchup, Rhino, 3DMax, Revit, AutoCAD, etc): 
  • Familiarity with modeling and rendering tools is a plus. 
  • Ability to create to-scale floor plans a plus.  
• Advancement + Troubleshooting: Demonstrate an ability to problem-solve software needs and learn new software as needed. 

Craft

• Look after both art and copy. Know what makes a great hero visual and a great headline (and the magic that happens when these disciplines work in harmony). 
• Consistently elevate the work with attention to detail and out-of-the-box solutions that add value to the creative output. Consider new materials, substrates, print techniques, textiles, decor and unconventional objects that  

Industry + Culture

• Share industry and cultural trends with teams for inspiration and motivation.
• Stay in-the-know about the experiential industry and adjacent industries in order to deepen subject matter expertise and foster exciting new solutions.

Last, but not least, we believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. 

Jack Morton and Genuine are equal opportunity employers; we strongly value diversity at our companies. We do not discriminate on race, religion, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by law.

In Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada and New York City the standard base pay range for this role is $90,000.00 – $120,00.00 annually, depending on relevant factors including experience, internal equity and market considerations. This base pay range is specific to Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, and New York City and may not be applicable to other locations. 

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