Creative Director - Contract to Hire

Description

Creative Director — Smith & Connors

Location: Remote | Type: Contract

Initial contract hourly rate will start at $90/hour - $110/hour, depending on experience. If a fit, salary will be negotiated after trial period of 2-3 months.

Smith & Connors is seeking a Creative Director to lead, drive, and execute our agency’s creative vision for brand, marketing, websites, motion design and animation, campaigns, sales materials, and our own marketing. The role oversees project execution, mentoring our design team, and ensuring creative work aligns with client and business goals.

We specifically seek diverse perspectives and ideas among candidates. We are an inclusive studio committed to equity and diversity. This is an equal employment opportunity open to applicants within the United States.

How to Apply
If this role sounds like a great fit for you, please send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you’d be a great addition to the Smith & Connors team.

Key Responsibilities

This role will be hands-on in design execution about 15-20% of the time, while 75-80% of your focus will be on leading creative direction, managing internal and external design teams, refining processes, and supporting business development.

• Lead the creative vision for all client creative projects, from discovery through final delivery.
• Develop creative briefs, visual strategies, and design concepting in collaboration with our strategy team.
• Manage and mentor the design team, including direct 1:1s, goal setting, resource management, and professional development.
• Direct design execution across internal and external resources, ensuring high-quality, strategy-driven work.
• Own internal design processes, tools, and improvements to increase efficiency and team success.
• Support business development by assisting with proposals, project estimations, and client presentations.
• Continuously refine creative processes to align with Smith & Connors' evolving goals.

About You

• Have 10+ years of creative and website agency experience in design and creative, and at least 4 years as Creative Director.
• Are comfortable and excel at client-relations and sales.
• Are excited to support complex teams and projects.
• Are a fabulous, direct communicator.
• Proven experience leading creative teams and presenting to clients.
• Exceptional brand, digital, and print design skills across digital and print media.
• Motion design skills are a plus.
• Strong strategic thinking and ability to design storyboards and illustration.
• Strong project planning and process abilities.
• Compassionate, open-minded, enthusiastic leader with a growth mindset.
• Passionate about developing people, processes, and creative excellence.
• Are extremely organized, detail-oriented, and fastidious about QA.
• Love to work collaboratively, and are comfortable leaving your ego at the door and putting the work first.
• Take initiative and think beyond the checklist about the nuances of complex teams and projects.
• Are open to critique and feedback, and learning from the team

Requirements

You must show demonstrated creative and digital agency experience in a Creative Director role for brand and website agency.

You also must submit a cover letter including the following:

• Tell us about yourself, your experience, and why you’re interested in applying for this position.
• Let us know if you have specific compensation requirements.

Benefits

We are a brand-focused strategy, design, and website development studio. Our work encompasses brand identity, graphics, websites, branded environments, and communications. The Partners / Directors work directly with clients across disciplines to produce exceptional strategies and assets for our purpose-driven organizations and businesses. We have extremely high standards, employ a collaborative design approach, and run a fast-paced environment. Our ethos: humanity, honesty, directness, clarity, betterment, and quality.

We are a fully remote team and are open to all US locations.