Creative Director

Adelphi Group•Los Angeles, CA

9d•$175,000 - $230,000•Hybrid

About The Position

At Critical Mass, the Creative Director - Copy sets the bar. You're the sharpest point of view in the room, and you have the standards to prove it. You push work until it's original enough to matter. You sell it with conviction, and you don't back down when it's worth defending. That instinct extends everywhere — the work, the culture, the brief that needs to be challenged. Your taste is deep, built from a genuine curiosity about art, culture, and the world. Craft isn't a checkbox for you; it's close to an obsession, and it shows in everything you touch.

Requirements

6+ years of creative leadership experience, ideally in an agency or equivalent environment
A portfolio that shows strong conceptual thinking and craft across brand and campaign work
A sharp, informed aesthetic sensibility, shaped by deep engagement with culture, art, fashion, film, music, and the world
Experience leading and mentoring multidisciplinary creative teams
Proven experience presenting, selling, and defending creative work to senior clients and stakeholders
Hands-on experience with AI creative tools, with the ability to teach and guide others in using them well
Experience leading or contributing significantly to new business pitches
A genuine passion for the craft, and the relentlessness to protect it

Responsibilities

Lead the creative vision for your accounts, setting a point of view that's original, unexpected, and impossible to ignore
Actively use and teach AI tools across your team, ensuring they elevate craft rather than replace it
Lead and inspire multidisciplinary teams, guiding creatives, strategists, and account partners toward a single, cohesive vision
Challenge stakeholders — clients and internal teams alike — when the work or the thinking deserves better
Oversee high-visibility projects from concept through delivery, protecting the idea at every stage
Be the creative voice on your accounts. Present, defend, and sell ideas with clarity and conviction, and have the confidence to challenge senior stakeholders when the work demands it
Lead new business efforts, pitching ideas that win and set the tone for future work
Set and protect the creative standard across every account you touch, ensuring nothing ships that isn't up to it
Own final creative quality across brand and campaign work, from big idea to finished execution
Bring storytelling instincts to every brief, understanding how to build narratives that connect emotionally and culturally
Serve as point of escalation for both clients and internal teams. Find the right path forward without compromising the work
Balance ambition with pragmatism, knowing when to push and when to protect timelines and budgets
Inspire a culture of ambition and craft, where good is never good enough
Mentor creatives at every level, developing the next generation of creative leaders
Represent Critical Mass in the industry — through award recognition, speaking opportunities, and creative reputation