Associate Director, Creative

IPG Mediabrands•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Associate Director, Influencer Creative is a senior creative leadership role responsible for bringing creator-led ideas to life across influencer and social platforms. This role partners closely with the Creative Director to translate brand strategy into social-first, culturally fluent creator content, ensuring creative quality and consistency from concept through execution. The Associate Director is both a hands-on creative leader and a team mentor, guiding day-to-day creative development while collaborating cross-functionally with Creator Activation, Strategy, Account, and Production teams. This role plays a critical part in maintaining Creo’s creative standards across always-on and tentpole influencer programs.

Requirements

6–8+ years of experience in creative roles within social or influencer environments.
Strong understanding of:
Influencer and creator ecosystems
Social platforms and content formats
Cultural trends and audience behavior
Proven experience developing creative ideas for social-first AND creator-led campaigns.
Ability to balance creative ambition with executional realities.
Strong communication and presentation skills, with comfort presenting and pitching work internally and to clients to achieve buy-in.
Collaborative mindset and comfort working in a highly integrated, fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

Lead day-to-day creative development for influencer and creator led campaigns, from brief through delivery.
Translate creative direction and brand priorities into:
Creator briefs
Content concepts
Platform native executions
Ensure creative output is:
Social first
Culturally relevant
Platform appropriate
Oversee creative quality across concepts, content drafts, revisions, and final deliverables.
Partner with Creator Activation to ensure creative ideas are executable within creator constraints and timelines.
Support creator briefing sessions by:
Clarifying creative intent
Providing examples and inspiration
Guiding tone, narrative, and format
Review creator content to ensure alignment with creative vision, brand guidelines, and platform best practices prior to launch.
Work closely with:
Creative Director on vision and direction
Creator Activation on creative development, execution and delivery
Account and Strategy teams on alignment to client objectives
Collaborate with production partners to bring ideas to life efficiently and at scale.
Participate in internal and client facing reviews, clearly articulating creative rationale and recommendations.
Help uphold Creo’s creative standards across influencer content.
Ensure influencer work ladders into broader brand platforms and maintains consistency across channels.
Support the development of creative examples, best practices, and case study materials as needed.