Associate Creative Director, Copy

Daniel J. Edelman•New York, NY

About The Position

We are in relentless pursuit of an equitable and inspiring workplace that is respectful of all, reflects and represents the world in which we live, and fosters trust, collaboration and belonging. Consistent with this approach, we hire the best qualified candidates for all positions. We're an earned-first creative agency, which means we build our ideas around what we want the world to talk about, not around a media plan. In fact, there's almost never a plan at all, so we doitlive.gif, and that's half the fun. Your week will change constantly: a reactive TikTok shot in your backyard on Monday, an exhausting 37-page deck on Wednesday, and on Friday a big, complex 360 launch with PR, influencer, digital, and a brand film that makes international news. We need an ACD team that's comfortable doing all of it, often at the same time.

Requirements

6+ years in a creative role, with a track record of ideas that made it into the wild
Comfort managing details and pivots, with an entrepreneurial streak
A portfolio link! Applications without one won't be considered
A bachelor's degree, or equivalent experience that's weird and/or interesting
AI fluency, and a very strong opinion on the difference between smart AI use and workslop

Nice To Haves

Work that's actually out in the world. Yes, we want to see your portfolio, but what we're really interested in is what shipped. One awesome thing you actually launched, however small, weird, or far outside your day job (we love side projects!), beats a deck of beautiful spec that "the clients were just not smart enough to understand."
Internet fluency, not trend-chasing. Anyone can read a trend report with the right stolen login. We want people who actually live online: a Reddit account older than some of our interns, a strong opinion on why Geese is or is not a psyop, deep-fried memes from Discords we've never heard of. We're looking for interesting taste and weird insight, not regurgitated TikTok formats.
Capital-P Purpose that goes way deeper than optics. We care about what our work does out in the world for real. Not in the performative, hand-wavy way. We love win-win ideas that aren't a drain on anyone. You don't have to be a hippie, but we do want you to be conscious of what the work does to the world around you.
Ego-free ambition. Yeah yeah, we all have cat statues, and yes, you'll need to help us win a few more to keep us all employed. But we want you here because you love the game, not just the ticket to France.

Responsibilities

Concept and sell integrated campaigns: social, digital, video, experiential, content, whatever the idea needs. Sometimes (but not always) with an ACD, Art partner
Think up brilliant ideas that earn attention on their own merit, then build the endless decks it takes to get them through client approval.
Own the words, obviously. But at the ACD level, the words are the least of it. We want someone with real opinions on the cast, the cut, the track, the type, the thumbnail, the way it feeeeeeels, man, when you're scrolling past it at 2am.
Know which of those opinions to say out loud, and when, while never losing sight of the character count limits.
Work shoulder to shoulder with account, strategy, influencer, and production, ensuring that your work consistently adheres to Earned Acceleration Principals.
Juggle several projects at once, giving direction to the jr. team around you while managing up to a handful of creative leaders across who won't always agree, and are rarely in the same room
Keep the idea sharp through the twists and turns of production, comms planning, launch, and no less than two client freakouts
Take a long weekend on a quiet lake somewhere, then come back and get straight to work on the case study while it's all still fresh, so everyone knows how brilliant your idea was and how well it worked