Associate Creative Director

Thesis is building the next chapter of agency growth, and the Growth team is adding a new leader in creative direction. As an Associate Creative Director, you will help shape new business pitches and create connected, digitally fluent work across B2C and B2B brands.

Role overview

You will lead creative development for pitch work, translating business challenges and audience insights into creative platforms, concepts, and experiences. The role also calls for hands-on collaboration across strategy, lifecycle, performance, and technology to deliver solutions that connect creative decisions to measurable business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creative development of new business pitches, turning business challenges and audience insights into compelling creative platforms, concepts, and experiences.
• Create strategically grounded creative across digital, social, CRM, lifecycle, brand, and integrated campaign work.
• Bring fresh thinking to both B2C and B2B challenges, building meaningful connections with consumers, customers, and business decision-makers.
• Develop standout pitch presentations, visual storytelling, campaign concepts, and prototypes that build belief with prospective clients.
• Translate complex products, services, and business challenges into clear, distinctive, emotionally resonant creative.
• Partner closely with strategy, lifecycle, performance, and technology teams to develop solutions that solve real business problems.
• Connect creative work to business impact, with understanding of how creative drives acquisition, engagement, conversion, retention, loyalty, and growth.
• Apply deep fluency in digital customer journeys, CRM, personalization, and omnichannel experiences.
• Balance ambitious breakthrough thinking with commercial realities, ensuring ideas are executable and measurable.
• Think beyond individual campaigns to create connected experiences that deliver lasting brand value.
• Help establish the creative standard, culture, and ambition of a growing team.
• Move fluidly between creative direction and hands-on design, concepting, and execution.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, external partners, and freelance talent to deliver high-quality work.
• Present creative thinking confidently and persuasively to internal leadership, prospective clients, and senior stakeholders.
• Contribute proactive ideas and concepts that strengthen Thesis’s positioning, marketing, and go-to-market efforts.
• Champion experimentation, emerging technologies, AI-enabled workflows, and new ways of working without sacrificing creative quality.
• Use AI and contemporary design tools to explore and prototype rapidly, accelerating learning.
• Partner with multidisciplinary leads to explore modern ways of making and bringing pitch ideas to life.
• Collaborate with and direct multidisciplinary project teams across design, copy, motion, and freelance creative talent on pitch and growth initiatives.

Requirements

• 6–8 years of experience in creative, design, or art direction, ideally within a digitally focused agency or dynamic environment.
• An outstanding portfolio showing exceptional craft, original thinking, and design excellence across both B2C and B2B brands.
• Deep expertise in digital-first creative, including integrated campaigns, lifecycle marketing, CRM, email, digital experiences, and social platforms.
• A strong foundation in art direction, typography, design systems, visual storytelling, and brand expression.
• A rare combination of visionary judgment and hands-on making ability to build the work yourself.
• Proven ability to turn an open brief, blank page, or ambiguous business challenge into clear creative direction.
• Strong storytelling and presentation skills for high-stakes pitches and client collaborations.
• Comfort with contemporary design tools and curiosity about emerging AI-powered creative workflows.
• Optimistic, competitive, low-ego, collaborative, and motivated to elevate the team.

Technologies

• AI
• CRM
• Personalization
• Omnichannel experiences
• Digital customer journeys
• Email

Reporting and collaboration

• Reports to: Head of Accounts
• Internal partners: Strategy, Lifecycle, Performance, Technology, and Client Leadership leads across new business and growth workstreams
• External partners: Prospective client leadership, external creative collaborators, production vendors, and freelance specialists

Work environment

• Location: Portland, OR (hybrid)
• Hybrid schedule: In-office collaboration Tuesday through Thursday; remote work Mondays and Fridays
• Office focus: Thesis prioritizes candidates in the Portland Metro area to support a hybrid setup in NW Portland
• Travel: Up to 25% of the time
• Physical demands: Use of standard office equipment; extended periods of sitting, keyboarding, and mouse use; bending, reaching, and lifting/pushing/pulling up to 25 pounds

Compensation and inclusion

• Salary: USD 105,000 - 135,000 per year
• Encouraged to apply even if you do not meet 100% of qualifications.
• Thesis is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to full inclusion of qualified individuals.
• Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process; contact Human Resources at [email protected].
• Thesis does not request or consider applicants’ salary history for hiring decisions.