[Hiring] Associate Director, Creative Strategy @Dept

Role Description

We’re looking for an Associate Director of Creative Strategy who is equal parts storyteller and strategist—someone who can translate complex inputs into clear, emotionally resonant creative platforms that drive real business impact. You understand how brand and performance work together, and you bring a point of view that elevates creative thinking across teams.

You’re comfortable operating in ambiguity, navigating senior client conversations, and shaping creative strategy across global markets. You have a strong grasp of paid media platforms (Google, Meta, TikTok, Snap, programmatic) and know how to use performance learnings to inform brand-forward storytelling. You’re also a natural mentor—excited to grow and develop a team of strategists while raising the bar for excellence.

This role sits at the intersection of insight, creativity, and leadership. You’ll be the strategic partner clients rely on and the internal advocate who defines what great looks like.

What You’ll Do

• Strategic Leadership
  • Lead creative strategy from insight to brief, translating audience, category, and cultural signals into compelling storytelling opportunities.
  • Translate data, research, and performance learnings into clear, actionable messaging and creative direction for performance creative.
  • Own and elevate strategic brief development, setting the narrative, insight, and messaging foundation for all creative work.
  • Mentor and manage a team of Creative Strategists and Senior Creative Strategists, fostering craft excellence, consistency, and strategic thinking.
  • Shape team-wide standards and frameworks that scale across global campaigns.
  • Develop integrated creative platforms and messaging architectures that align to brand objectives while driving measurable performance.
  • Stay ahead of emerging trends in culture, digital storytelling, and creator-driven content to inform innovation.
  • Partner with research teams to interpret market, audience, and category insights to uncover the “why” behind consumer behavior for creative application.
  • Review creative work with a high bar for narrative clarity, craft, and platform resonance.
  • Contribute to thought leadership through internal frameworks, case studies, POVs, and client presentations.
  • Represent the Creative Strategy discipline in senior-level client conversations and inter-agency forums.
• Crossfunctional Collaboration
  • Serving as the primary strategic point of contact for clients across all creative work.
  • Anticipate client needs, proactively identifying opportunities, gaps, and next steps in partnership with account and internal leadership.
  • Partner closely with Analytics, Media, and other Associate Directors to align creative testing roadmaps and ensure strategy is grounded in proof points.
  • Guide creative teams through ideation, ensuring concepts ladder directly to audience insights and strategic intent.
  • Partner with Creative Operations to manage resourcing, workflow, and prioritization across workstreams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in creative strategy, brand strategy, content/comms strategy, or performance marketing (agency experience preferred).
• 2-3+ years of experience managing a team.
• Strong storytelling skills, with the ability to translate insights into sharp, inspiring creative narratives and messaging frameworks.
• Exceptional client-facing communication skills—clear, confident, and compelling in both written and verbal presentations.
• Deep understanding of paid media platforms, and how creative shapes performance, across Google, Meta, TikTok, Snap, and programmatic environments.
• Experience shaping global campaigns and navigating complexity across multiple markets.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and bringing clarity, structure, and POV to incomplete inputs.
• A proven track record of cross-functional leadership, team mentorship, and raising the bar for strategic craft.

Benefits

• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401k plan, plus matching
• PTO
• Paid Company Holidays
• Parental Leave

Company Description

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Coach, eBay, and OpenAI.