What are the responsibilities and job description for the Associate Creative Director position at Creative Ave Co.?
APPLICANTS WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED BY FILLING OUT THIS LINK: https://forms.gle/fNLgsdatEc3hguP86
We're looking for an Associate Creative Director to join us at Creative Ave ⬇️
Associate Creative Director | Contractor-to-hire | Columbus, OH (Hybrid)
We’re a fast-growing Columbus-based social-media-first creative agency working with lifestyle, CPG, hospitality, wellness, food, fashion, podcasts, and experiential brands. We build storytelling-driven content, signature series, campaign concepts, and scroll-stopping shoots that make brands unforgettable online.
If you eat, sleep, breathe social…
If you see a TikTok trend before it becomes one…
If you think in hooks, story arcs, pacing, textures, and narrative…
You might be our person.
The Role
We’re looking for an Associate Creative Director to help lead Creative Ave’s creative output across campaigns, shoots, concepts, and social content formats.
This role transforms strategy into storytelling, ideas into content engines, and shoots into high-performing assets. You’ll guide the creative team, elevate concepts, direct shoots, refine aesthetics, and ensure everything we produce feels intentional, cinematic, and uniquely Creative Ave.
You won’t just make content — you’ll shape the creative direction behind dozens of brands and help lead the next era of Creative Ave.
What You’ll DoCampaign Creative Direction
- Turn client goals and Ali’s vision into briefs, concepts, and content series
- Lead brainstorms and develop hooks, scripts, formats, and narrative angles
- Build moodboards, storyboards, and visual direction for shoots campaigns
- Maintain and evolve Creative Ave’s creative identity and standards
- Approve concepts before production and before client presentation
Shoot Leadership
- Lead creative direction on set
- Guide framing, tone, pacing, talent, and emotional energy
- Ensure shotlists translate into high-volume, high-performance content
- Make real-time creative calls that elevate storytelling
- Conduct post-shoot debriefs and editing priorities
Team Creative Elevation
- Mentor SMMs, editors, and creators in storytelling taste
- Set creative priorities and guide execution across clients
- Provide feedback that improves quality without slowing workflow
- Lead “Creative Labs” to introduce trends, AI workflows, and new techniques
Cross-Team Collaboration
- Partner with our operations team to keep creative aligned with timelines, resourcing future creative hires
- Work with our design team to evolve templates, video edits, graphics, and motion styles
- Align with the CEO on Creative Ave messaging campaign strategy
Creative Quality Performance
- Uphold Creative Ave’s quality standards
- Analyze content data to evolve creative direction
- Help ensure clients always have a strong pipeline of approved content
Who You Are
✅ You live on social — trends, storytelling, formats, pacing
✅ You think in campaigns, not random one-off posts
✅ You have taste — you know why something works
✅ You’re confident directing talent giving feedback
✅ You love leading AND still being hands-on
✅ You thrive in a fast-moving creative environment
✅ You’re collaborative, energized, and obsessed with elevating ideas
✅ You want to grow into a full Creative Director role
Experience We’re Looking For
- 4–6 years in social-first creative roles such as:
- Senior Content Creator
- Social Creative Strategist
- Art Director (Social)
- Associate Creative Lead
- Junior Creative Director
- Experience directing shoots (brand, lifestyle, product, or UGC-style)
- Demonstrated ability to concept and execute social campaigns
- Portfolio that shows storytelling, not just “pretty content”
Bonus Skills (not required but exciting)
✨ Motion / Reels editing
✨ Copywriting for hooks captions
✨ Campaign naming theme development
✨ Experience across CPG, wellness, food, fashion, hospitality, or lifestyle
Why Creative Ave
- Work with exciting brands across multiple industries
- Creative-first culture — storytelling > basic posting
- Fast-growing agency with room to rise
- A team that is collaborative, driven, funny, and wildly passionate
- Travel opportunities for shoots events (passport required!)
- Chance to build signature series and campaigns seen by millions
- Your ideas don’t sit in a deck — they get made
The Details
-Contractor-to-hire (35-40 hrs/week)
-Based near or in Columbus, OH
-Paid monthly retainer or hourly (based on experience)
-Must provide a portfolio custom video submission to apply by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/rFNSd48EkAMfMxTW7
⏳ Deadline to apply: Wednesday 12/3 — but we’re reviewing on a rolling basis!
✨ If you’ve got the creative spark, love fast-paced content, and thrive in a collaborative agency vibe, we want to meet you.
Please fill out this form to be considered: https://forms.gle/fNLgsdatEc3hguP86
