Creative Director

co: is a creative and strategic transformation partner for purpose-led organizations.

We believe todays most successful organizations are driven by an underlying purpose one that is so central to their identity it influences everything they do from capital investment to social media.

Ultimately these brands are defined by what they do not by what they say. For them purpose becomes business strategy and storytelling becomes StoryDoing.

At co:collective we design brands experiences and content that transform businesses: who they are how they act and how they show up in the world so that more businesses can be driven by their purpose from the inside out.

The role

This isnt a traditional Creative Director role. There are no campaign briefs. No handing off to a media buyer.

What there is: a direct line between the creative work you lead and the future of a business. Youll sit across the table from CEOs and CMOs who are trying to figure out what their company stands for and where its going and youll use creativity to help them get there.

At co: creative direction means holding the standard for how an idea feels how a strategy is expressed and whether the work we make is genuinely moving people.

Who you are

• You crave impact: You came up as a writer or conceptual creative. But somewhere along the way you realized you were less interested in making ads and more interested in making change. You want your work to matter at the level of business strategy not just brand expression.

• You craft worlds: You view creativity as a tool for delivering large systemic ideas. You are ready to step out of the execution lane and into the conceptual drivers seat generating big actionable solutions that transform a business.

• You think differently: You dont just think big you think interestingly. You are driven to find unique unexpected and culturally relevant solutions that unlock new growth and impact for our purpose-led clients.

• You want impact: You are eager to apply your creativity to changing the world through business and brand transformation rather than traditional campaign cycles.

• Youre strategy fluent: You are comfortable articulate and impactful in strategic conversations capable of challenging assumptions and bringing a creative perspective that informs and elevates the overall business approach.

• Youre in it: You are an interesting person with broad cultural fluency constantly absorbing trends and identifying the white space where culture humanity and brand purpose intersect.

• Youre a doer and a leader. You can draft a compelling story that brings strategy to life and inspire teams to take their work to the next level. Youre comfortable overseeing work thats both verbal and visual.

What youll do

You will be a creative engine focused on shaping brands from the inside out. From crafting a brands story to finding the right ways to bring it to life your work will touch every part of the process.

• Solve business problems with creative thinking. Youre not here to execute a brief youre here to help define it. Youll work alongside strategists and clients to figure out what a business actually needs then lead the creative thinking that gets them there.

• Be in the room. Youll present ideas to C-suite leaders shape high-stakes conversations and build the kind of client trust that turns a single engagement into a long-term relationship. Your creative perspective will influence decisions that go well beyond a brands visual identity or tagline.

• Write and concept at the highest level. Manifestos vision papers purpose frameworks scripts narrative platforms youll produce the work that sets the creative standard and youll know the difference between copy that sounds good and copy that actually does something.

• Make strategy feel like something. Youll partner with our strategists to ensure insights arent just smart theyre expressed in a way that creates a genuine emotional and intellectual response. The brief doesnt end at the strategy deck. It ends when someone feels it.

• Lead and develop creative talent. Youll manage and form a team of writers art directors and creative thinkers coaching them to think bigger. You model the standard as much as you set it.

What youve done

• 810 years in creative roles with meaningful time in brand purpose or transformation work not primarily in advertising campaign production

• A portfolio that proves you think at the level of business problems not just executions brand stories manifestos platform ideas vision frameworks

• Direct client-facing experience: presenting shaping conversations building trust at the leadership level

• A track record of genuine collaboration with strategists not just receiving briefs from them

Caring for our community

The co: community is deeply committed to continuing to build a diverse and inclusive workplace for all to thrive. We value and honor those with different backgrounds unique perspectives and believe that inclusive organizations build better teams and produce better work. We are a people-centered business that seeks to create safe spaces lead by example and make a positive impact on the world.

co: is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer and we value a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate based upon race religion color national origin gender (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) sexual orientation gender identity gender expression age socioeconomic status status as a protected veteran status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Our working model

We support different modes of working be it hybrid remote first or otherwise and we are constantly experimenting with new approaches to ensure that the model we are working within is fulfilling to our teams and clients.

For those based in New York we have two anchor days per week. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we ask that everyone comes to the office. For those that do not live in NYC we ask that they come to New York for one week per quarter and travel for client meetings.

Salary range: $150000-$180000