Creative Director
THE PACKAGE
- Salary: Circa £80,000 base
- Bonus: Attractive performance-related bonus
- Benefits: Full details provided to shortlisted candidates
- Location: Bristol, hybrid working (3 days in office) with some global travel
- Contract: Permanent
THE OPPORTUNITY
If you're a Creative Director on the rise, someone who leads from the front, builds teams that punch above their weight and thrives when the pace is high, you'll love this role.
We're looking for a Creative Director who combines strong creative craft with genuine commercial instinct, someone who can move fluidly between ambitious concept work and the practical demands of client-facing leadership, and who gets real energy from building a team around them.
The business is a global full-service marketing agency with serious momentum. The new business pipeline is strong and growing, which means the work is varied, ambitious and never standing still. The UK team is established and highly capable, and what they need now is the right leader to take it to the next level; someone who sees building and inspiring a team as one of the best parts of the job, not a distraction from it.
You'll report directly to the Global Creative Director, a high-calibre, hands-on creative leader who sets a high bar, backs bold thinking and offers the kind of direct exposure and creative challenge that genuinely accelerates careers. For the right person, this relationship alone is a reason to take the role seriously.
The UK office focuses primarily on UK clients with some European work. You'll lead across the full creative spectrum: brand campaigns, rebranding, content and digital experiences, with the mental agility to move between strategic concept work and hands-on creative direction without losing momentum on either. You'll also be on location, leading shoots, running client workshops, travelling for productions; which means the role has real variety and energy built into it from day one.
This is not a role for someone who wants to stay in one lane. Commercial awareness matters here as much as creative excellence, and you'll be expected to contribute to new business, build lasting client relationships and help foster a culture where the team does the best work of their careers.
WHAT YOU'LL DO as Creative Director
- Lead the development of creative concepts across brand campaigns, rebranding projects, content and digital experiences
- Direct multidisciplinary teams spanning design, film, photography and digital, maintaining creative quality and coherence across large-scale rollouts
- Translate strategic insights into compelling, original creative ideas
- Contribute creative thinking to new business pitches, proposals and tenders
- Support the development and guardianship of the agency's own brand and internal creative output
- Present and confidently articulate creative work to clients, responding to feedback and evolving ideas in real time
- Facilitate creative workshops and ideation sessions with clients
- Act as a trusted long-term creative partner to clients, building relationships that go beyond individual projects
- Work closely with Client Services to ensure effective prioritisation and project planning
- Lead, mentor and develop an established, highly capable creative team, fostering a culture of trust, creative ambition and constructive critique, supporting the team in navigating creative challenges on fast-moving projects
- Travel regularly for client meetings, workshops and production shoots in the UK and sometimes globally, leading on-site creative direction for photography and film productions, bringing the creative vision to life in the room
WHAT YOU'LL BRING
- A strong background in graphic design, visual communication and brand systems, with proven experience leading creative campaigns from concept through to delivery
- Experience art directing photography and video production
- The ability to pivot between rebrand and concept projects, adapting thinking and approach to the demands of each
- Confident presenting creative work to senior stakeholders, with the ability to articulate ideas clearly and respond to feedback constructively
- A natural team builder, someone who invests in the people around them and creates an environment where great work happens
- A genuine commitment to building client relationships and a track record of acting as a trusted long-term creative partner
- Workshop facilitation experience
- An appreciation of the commercial side of creative work: new business, client retention and the link between great creative output and business growth
A background in UX/UI, digital experience design or brand strategy would be a bonus, as would experience working with complex or multi-stakeholder organisations. More than anything, we're looking for someone with the ambition, energy and leadership instinct to make the most of a rare opportunity.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, please submit your CV via LinkedIn.
Suzie Walker Executive Search is a firm of specialist headhunters with an expert team recruiting senior interim and permanent senior leaders for B2B and B2C marketing and digital/tech roles in FTSE 350 and private equity-backed companies.
www.suziewalkerexecutivesearch.co.uk