Freelance Creative Director, Design

VSA Partners

About The Position

VSA is seeking a strategic Creative Director to join its campaign design team. The role creates visually compelling work across a range of campaigns, from digital- and social-first efforts to integrated 360 campaigns, helping clients stand out through impactful design. The Creative Director establishes visual direction, guides creative teams from ideation through execution, and collaborates with clients and internal partners to translate briefs, business goals, and strategy into campaign deliverables. The role also presents creative work, supports client relationships and new business efforts, oversees projects and production quality, and mentors junior staff. The position calls for extensive design experience, a strong integrated-campaign portfolio, team leadership experience, strategic thinking, excellent communication and project management skills, and advanced proficiency with design software.

Requirements

10+ years of design experience.
Strong command of design principles, typography, layout, and color theory.
A robust portfolio of integrated campaign work spanning print, digital, and experiential for B2B and B2C brands.
3+ years of experience managing teams.
Proven ability to lead and inspire creative teams, provide direction and feedback, and foster collaboration.
Ability to synthesize client briefs, strategic objectives, and market insights into innovative campaign executions.
Strong verbal and written communication skills for client presentations, team coordination, and internal collaboration.
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, with strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Advanced skills in design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite and Figma.
Familiarity with project management and collaboration tools such as Slack, Google Suite, and Workamajig.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute high-impact, visually compelling concepts for integrated campaigns.
Bring deep production experience to campaign work.
Apply knowledge of full-funnel digital marketing, including social media, paid search, video advertising, and influencer marketing.
Establish and maintain art direction and a consistent visual language across client projects.
Lead creative teams through ideation, design, and execution.
Collaborate with copywriters, designers, strategists, project managers, and production teams to deliver cohesive creative work aligned with briefs.
Lead brainstorming sessions and provide constructive feedback.
Facilitate communication and idea flow between the creative team and internal stakeholders.
Understand clients’ visions, business goals, products, and services, and translate them into compelling creative deliverables.
Present creative concepts and campaigns to clients and internal teams, explaining design decisions and strategic rationale.
Identify account growth opportunities and work with client-facing teams to develop client relationships.
Represent the creative team in new-business presentations and pitches.
Help identify new business opportunities and contribute to agency growth strategy.
Coordinate across teams to meet deadlines and production quality standards.
Oversee multiple campaigns and maintain consistent, high-quality execution across platforms and media.
Mentor and provide feedback to junior staff as needed.
Identify tools, resources, and processes that improve creative efficiency and team performance.