Location: The Americas (Remote)
Timezone: West coast is preferred; East coast acceptable if west coast hours can be observed when needed and travel is feasible
Reports to: CEO
The Role
Active Theory is seeking an outward-facing, growth-minded Executive Creative Director (ECD) to help drive the business into its next chapter. We are looking for an entrepreneurial storyteller, a natural pitcher, and a relationship-builder who is driven to win high-level US clients.
In this role, you will lean confidently on a world-class internal engine of craft and execution led by established peer leadership and our highly talented production team. We want a growth partner, not a status-quo manager. You have a burning ambition to elevate Active Theory 's presence in the US and want a true stake in that future. You excel at finding and inspiring bold brands that want to take risks, leveraging our world-class internal capabilities to deliver experiences that redefine what we can produce.
Core Responsibilities
Company-Level Responsibilities
- Partner with peer leadership to shape and evolve Active Theory ’s creative vision and marketpositioning.
- Maintain a high bar for creative quality across all projects you pitch and win
- Provide creative oversight and feedback to designers across multiple teams
- Participate in internal reviews, critiques, and creative forums
- Ensure pitch visions are translated smoothly to production
- Contribute to studio-wide creative initiatives, experimentation, and thought leadership
Project-Level Responsibilities
- Serve as Executive Creative Director and project lead on assigned client work, setting the vision from concept through pitch, and guiding key milestones through to launch
- Own the overarching creative vision, narrative, and strategic direction across projects, ensuring work is visually striking, conceptually rigorous, and technically sound.
- Lead creative discovery, ideation, initial design direction, and reviews
- Be hands-on when needed, contributing directly to design, motion, or visual systems during critical pitch phases to maintain momentum
- Present work and creative rationale clearly charismatically and confidently to senior client stakeholders inspiring them to take creative risks
- Partner closely with internal production and development leads to balance creative ambition with scope, timelines, and budget
Client & Account Leadership
- Act as the primary outward-facing Creative Lead for Clients, developing deep understanding of the brand, creative standards, and long-term vision
- Establish trusted client relationships through strong creative leadership, business acumen, and relationship-building
- Lead pitches, concept presentations, and creative strategy discussions to actively win and secure high-level US accounts.
- Provide creative leadership and client management in partnership with production and account leads
Leadership, Mentorship & Growth
- Mentor Creative department members through consistent project feedback, constructive craft-oriented guidance, and development of career-relevant skills and qualities
- Participate in hiring by reviewing portfolios, interviewing candidates, and helping define role expectations
- Inspire and align the North American Creative Team around growth and bold creative standards.
- Represent Active Theory externally through public speaking, events, talks, and industry presence
Required Experience & Skills
- 15+ years of experience in digital design/creative production, ideally within a creative or digital agency or as an independent studio founder/consultant.
- Proven experience leading large-scale, highly interactive projects from concept to launch
- Strong conceptual thinking paired with excellent visual and design craft
- Strong design sensibility to direct the work; familiarity with modern design tools (like Figma) is expected for tactical agility, but deep hands-on execution in animation/3