Associate Creative Director (Freelance to Full-Time)

Fanatics•Irvine, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Fanatics is seeking an Associate Creative Director (Art-based) focused on organic social, sports fashion, and e-Commerce. This position will be freelance to full-time. What You'll Do: You'll lead the creative charge for one of the most culturally active brands in the world — using social as your canvas and fandom as your fuel. Set the creative vision across our commerce-first everyday social and campaigns - including product drops, launches, brand and athlete collaborations and championship merch. Develop ideas that flex across platforms — while also driving best-in-class performance within platform-specific behaviors on Meta, TikTok, X, and more. Lead and elevate a team. Mentor a dynamic group of designers, writers, editors, and creators, building a high-performing culture obsessed with sports, creativity, and craft. Blend storytelling + fashion. Make product releases feel like entertainment — building hype, shaping demand, and driving conversation. Partner closely with strategy, production, marketing, and e-comm teams to deliver work that drives relevance and social KPIs. Bring a strong creative POV grounded in experience of how fashion brands best show up on social media. Push Fanatics into new creative territories — new formats, new aesthetics, new ways of earning attention. Champion creative standards across the org: conceptual rigor, impeccable taste, and scroll-stopping craft. Who You Are: A builder. A taste-maker. A creative leader who sees around corners.

Requirements

Minimum of 8 years of creative experience in advertising, social, content and specific expertise in fashion and sports — with at least 4 years leading teams.
A conceptual thinker with an art/design background.
A self-driven leader who can independently move projects from concept to execution while keeping partners aligned.
Highly hands-on with the practical skills to execute an idea from scratch when needed — from concept to design to finished social-ready execution.
Deep understanding of social media, fashion moments, and e-commerce storytelling.
A portfolio full of ideas that have resonated in culture, that showcase your socially native thinking, and are beautifully crafted.
Comfortable collaborating with talent, athletes, creators, and cross-functional partners.
A leader who raises the bar, pushes teams, and builds environments where ideas can go from cool to cultural.
Highly skilled at using Adobe Creative Suite to deliver highly crafted post-ready assets.

Nice To Haves

Recommended Bachelor's degree in a related field (e.g. communications, arts, graphic design).
Knowledge of, and passion for AI creative tools
Industry recognized / Awarded work

Responsibilities

Lead the creative charge for one of the most culturally active brands in the world — using social as your canvas and fandom as your fuel.
Set the creative vision across our commerce-first everyday social and campaigns - including product drops, launches, brand and athlete collaborations and championship merch.
Develop ideas that flex across platforms — while also driving best-in-class performance within platform-specific behaviors on Meta, TikTok, X, and more.
Lead and elevate a team.
Mentor a dynamic group of designers, writers, editors, and creators, building a high-performing culture obsessed with sports, creativity, and craft.
Blend storytelling + fashion.
Make product releases feel like entertainment — building hype, shaping demand, and driving conversation.
Partner closely with strategy, production, marketing, and e-comm teams to deliver work that drives relevance and social KPIs.
Bring a strong creative POV grounded in experience of how fashion brands best show up on social media.
Push Fanatics into new creative territories — new formats, new aesthetics, new ways of earning attention.
Champion creative standards across the org: conceptual rigor, impeccable taste, and scroll-stopping craft.