Associate Creative Director (Copy-Based)

Job Description

Responsibility: Creative quality and day-to-day leadership of assigned projects and campaigns.

Imperative: Lead the idea.

Key Results Areas

• Product and Craft Leadership: Lead strong ideas and turn them into high-quality integrated work.
• Lead the development and refinement of creative ideas; ensure work is strategically clear, relevant, distinctive, and connected to the brief.
• Guide art, copy, and execution across channels; make timely quality decisions and stay sufficiently hands-on to raise the craft from concept through final output.
• Client and Growth Leadership: Build confidence in the work and help creativity create business value.
• Present and sell creative work clearly; explain the thinking behind the idea and respond constructively to feedback without necessarily diluting it.
• Support the Creative Director and Business Lead in pitches, organic opportunities, and key client presentations; flag implications on scope, timing, budget, or production early.
• One McCann Leadership: Bring the team together around the idea and the best outcome.
• Work closely with Creative, Strategy, Accounts, Connected Experience, and Production; bring the right capabilities in early and align the project team on the idea, roles, and decisions.
• Resolve day-to-day creative differences directly, encourage shared ownership of the work, and escalate issues when they require broader account or leadership decisions.
• Delivery and Standards Leadership: Own the day-to-day creative delivery from brief to production.
• Maintain clarity across creative tasks, reviews, timelines, and deliverables; anticipate roadblocks and keep the team moving without compromising the quality of the work.
• Ensure concepts and executions are sufficiently resolved and production-ready, with clear direction and complete handoffs that minimize avoidable revisions or delays.
• People Leadership: Raise the work and capability of the creatives around you.
• Provide clear direction, useful feedback, and hands-on coaching to Art Directors, Copywriters, MMAs, and other creative team members.
• Set expectations for assigned projects, recognize development opportunities and performance gaps, and help team members build stronger conceptual, craft, collaboration, and presentation skills.
• Reputation and Recognition Leadership: Contribute work that strengthens the agency's creative reputation.
• Identify work with strong effectiveness, case, or award potential and actively strengthen its idea, execution, and documentation.
• Contribute to case development, award submissions, and portfolio materials; ensure the thinking, craft, and results behind the work are captured clearly.

Individual Development

• Growth Mindset & Adaptability: Willingness to learn continuously, embrace change, seek new challenges, and strengthen leadership, conceptual, and craft capabilities in response to shifting creative, cultural, technological, client, and business dynamics.

Qualifications

• At least 7 to 10 years of experience in Creatives (advertising and media agency industry experience is a plus).
• Strong strategic thinker with the ability to ideate and deliver large and small ideas that fit within a client's strategy and brand.
• Strong ability to provide clear creative direction and provide timely, helpful feedback to keep work on track to meet deadlines.
• Excellent presentation skills and communication abilities, both internal and client-facing

McCann Worldgroup's Values

Our shared MW Values of Bravery, Integrity, and Generosity guide our behaviors in how we work together to deliver exceptional client work.

We are currently experiencing a high volume of applications. As a result, it may take some time before you receive an update regarding your application status. We appreciate your patience and understanding while our team completes the review process.