As a Freelance Associate Creative Director, you bring a creative voice with strategic thinking to projects. You have a diverse array of experiences to bring to the role—from conceptual development to client relations to the execution of creative deliverables. Creating and communicating concepts, creating and implementing marketing strategies, and developing interactive solutions is on you. But you always ensure and rationalize all creative results against user experience management objectives to deliver excellent digital experiences.  

Leading multidisciplinary teams—creative, technology, planning, account and project management, partners, and clients to name a few—doesn’t faze you. Balancing creative thinking with interpersonal skills, you justify concepts to both the client and the project team. You build long-term client relationships with expertise on client vertical markets. Most importantly, you embody and embrace our values—to be honest, inspired, drive, passionate and real—in everything you do.   

You Will:  

• Contribute creative solutions and innovations. 
• Build and guide the creative team around account and company needs and vision.
• Drive creative discipline, operational, and industry vertical excellence and expertise to promote continuous improvement and a culture of excellence and accountability.  
• Perform strategic account planning with senior management in vertical marketing groups.
• Conceive and create experience design solutions that fulfill strategic business objectives.
• Effectively communicate creative ideas and strategies to all project stakeholders.
• Lead and partner with multidisciplinary teams.  
• Provide regular team mentorship and constructive feedback on all accounts.  
• Develop, monitor, and modify creative department staffing strategies and plans, including team compensation and performance, skills, training, and mentorship.  
• Develop, implement, and monitor quality standards across all creative department artifacts and deliverables.
• Improve upon creative department methods, problem-solving models, and best practices.
• Set and meet expectations for deliverables, estimations, and project plans.
• Support and lead human resource initiatives with a focus on performance management.
• Understand, embrace, and communicate corporate mission and values. 

You Have:  

• 4+ years copy or art directing experience.  
• Proven aptitude for quick, creative thinking with acute attention to detail within demanding deadlines.
• A keen enthusiasm for and demonstrable understanding of Web trends and technologies.
• A strong understanding of marketing (especially direct marketing) and advertising principles.
• Experience with brainstorming, campaign development, creative brief development, and creative execution.
• The ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and effectively juggle diverse writing demand.
• Solid knowledge and appreciation for the distinction between creative expression and commercial reality. 

The Talent Team at Critical Mass is focused on ensuring we provide the best training, onboarding, and employee experience possible! 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 2 days a week. The ask stems from our want to:

• Strengthen opportunity for continuous learning
• Improve collaboration and team relationships
• Increase employee engagement

This work model balances the need for individual flexibility while maintaining the relentless customer focus we provide at CM. We understand that not everyone may feel comfortable with this expectation, so we ask that you please let us know immediately if there are any concerns so we can help navigate accordingly.

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. If you are an individual with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please reach out to accommodations@criticalmass.com.

We are committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion within our pool of candidates, with a target of achieving at least 50% representation from underrepresented communities.

The Critical Mass Talent Acquisition team will only communicate from email addresses that use the URLs criticalmass.com 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: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams#avoidIf Canada based: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance/consumer-affairs.htmlIf U.K. based: https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rightsIf Costa Rica based: https://www.consumo.go.cr/educacion_consumidor/consejos_practicos.aspx