Design Director, Creator Ad Partnerships

The Creative Studio is entering its second year, and we're building the narrative and design foundation that defines how Creator Ad Partnerships presents what we sell and how you buy it. We're looking for a Creator Partnerships Design Director to own the visual design and storytelling that elevates our sponsorship narratives, ad product presentations, content calendars, and show collateral. Beyond this scaled portfolio work, you will also deliver bespoke creative for marquee client pitches that demand senior-level design craft and 1:1 visual storytelling to win our highest-priority deals.

This role is critical to how we outpace competitors in the marketplace. You are the design leader and the senior practitioner, building the visual identity of a business that's moving faster than anyone else in the space. You'll define the design language for Creator Ad Partnerships branded content, develop scalable design mechanisms (component libraries, sales-ready templates, quality assurance frameworks) that force-multiply team output, and influence Creative Strategy, Production, and Sales leadership on visual direction and brand expression. You'll identify emerging design trends and tools, advocate for adoption, and ensure the Studio stays at the leading edge of visual craft. This is not a role where you inherit a mature org with layers of specialists. You are hands-on in the work while simultaneously building the systems, standards, and frameworks that allow the Studio to scale.

This role requires exceptional design taste, the ability to flex between strategic systems thinking and pixel-level execution, experience crafting integrated marketing solutions for complex brand partnerships, strong presentation skills to articulate design rationale to internal and external stakeholders, and the leadership mindset to build a design culture from the ground up. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments, has experience building or scaling design functions, and holds a high bar for visual excellence.

Key job responsibilities

• Create design toolkits for the most complex branded content campaigns - modular, scalable systems that maintain visual consistency across all monetization formats and channels (social, video, podcast, live events, retail)
• Deliver bespoke, 1:1 design execution for marquee client pitches that demand elevated storytelling, from conceptual visual direction to hero visuals and pitch deck design
• Build scaled templates and design systems that serve the broader pipeline - enabling consistent, high-quality visual output across campaigns that don't require hands-on senior execution
• Establish and maintain the visual identity system for Creator Ad Partnerships branded content - defining the design language, component libraries, and brand expression standards the Studio operates from
• Own the visual storytelling for new creator show collateral and ad product narratives - crafting the design story that brings new creators, shows, and ad products to life for Sales and clients, partnering with Ads Partnerships Leads, Integrated Marketing, and Branded Content Creative Strategists on these materials
• Collect, analyze, and apply Voice of Customer feedback on design materials - using client and seller input to identify patterns, inform design system evolution, and continuously raise the bar on collateral effectiveness and visual impact
• Lead the visual design and creative direction for annual upfront narratives - developing the design systems, hero visuals, and scalable templates that define how Creator Ad Partnerships presents its portfolio, ad products, and creator slate to the market at the highest-visibility moment of the year
• Align with partner teams (Sales, Integrated Marketing, Creator Services, Events, Production) to streamline design handoffs and ensure visual quality is maintained in executions once or twice removed from the Studio's direct control
• Flex between design tools (Figma, Adobe Creative Suite) to deliver design systems that integrate into partner team workflows and production pipelines
• Identify key design trends, compelling visual narratives, emerging tools, and visual innovations - introducing them to the team and influencing adoption to keep the Studio at the leading edge of visual craft
• Articulate design decisions and rationale through well-developed presentation and communication skills
• Define and implement design quality assurance mechanisms - handoff standards, review processes, and templated systems that ensure error-free, polished output at scale

A day in the life

Design Systems & Toolkit Development: Morning starts in Figma - you're building the component library for a new multi-format campaign, stress-testing whether the system holds across podcast, social, and live event applications without breaking.

Hands-On Design Execution for Marquee Pitches: A marquee pitch is due Thursday - you're deep in the hero visuals, crafting the narrative arc of the deck so the creative concept lands visually before anyone reads a word.

Design Quality Assurance & Bar-Raising: A Creative Strategist shares client feedback that a recent narrative "didn't feel premium enough." You review the pitch deck, identify where the design system's spacing, typography, and image guidelines weren't followed, and build a one-page visual reference card that makes the standard unmissable going forward.

Show, Ad Product, and Annual Narrative Development: You're on a working session with an Ads Partnerships Lead and a Creative Strategist, shaping the visual story for a newly signed creator - while reviewing seller feedback on last quarter's collateral to inform what you update next.

Design Trend Identification & Tool Innovation: You've spotted a visual trend in competitive branded content that's worth adapting - you document the approach, test it against your system, and bring a recommendation to the team.

Partner Team Alignment & Design Handoffs: Sales needs assets for a client meeting tomorrow - you check that the templates they're pulling from the shared library are current, and flag a version control issue before it reaches the client.

Strategic Design Planning & Business Documentation: You're drafting the design section of a QBR doc, pulling narrative adoption metrics and revenue data to make the case for where the Studio should invest next quarter.

AI Fluency: You're testing a new AI tool for rapid mood board generation - evaluating whether it meaningfully accelerates concept exploration without compromising the craft standard you've set.

About the team

Qualifications

• Knowledge of InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, InVision, Sketch, and PowerPoint
• Reference: ECNJOBID-75-108-135-169 in the application