Creative Director - Key Art

Mach27•Culver City, CA

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

MACH27 is a Los Angeles-based creative and design agency providing services in entertainment creative, multi-platform design packages, digital advertising strategy, key art design, print, out-of-home, photo and video content production, brand campaign ideation, and production. We are high-volume, fast-paced, and have an open mentoring culture with great industry leaders. With your expertise, esprit-de-corps, and passion, you will play a critical role in generating world-class art with a diverse, hard-working, and eclectic crew. We are proud and honored to collaborate with some of the best world-class partners including Disney, Hallmark Media, Max, IMAX, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Pluto TV, Snap, and Sony. The Creative Director is MACH27's primary day-to-day creative leader. This role is responsible for creative quality across all agency output, client relationship management, team development, and the operational efficiency of the creative department. The CD generates ideas, leads pitches, sets standards, and holds the team accountable to them. This is a true blend of a leadership and creative role.

Requirements

13+ years of experience as a creative leader with key art expertise
A portfolio that demonstrates a career-long track record of creative excellence, conceptual leadership, and the ability to produce award-caliber work across formats, genres, and campaign types
Expert knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite, with the ability to engage meaningfully at a production level to provide technically informed creative direction at all times
Strategic command of project management tools and agency operations — able to use data from tools like Asana or Monday.com to make informed decisions about team structure, resourcing, and creative output across the full agency portfolio
Deep expertise in key art, entertainment marketing, and multi-platform campaign development across theatrical, streaming, gaming, music, live events, and emerging formats
Proven ability to develop and implement creative methodologies, brand standards, and agency-wide processes that improve quality, consistency, and team performance over time
Strong photography technical skills (compositing, problem-solving, color grading, light and shadow) are at the level where they inform how others are directed, not what is done personally
Expert knowledge of the business side of design — understands budgeting, scoping, profitability, client economics, and revenue accountability; can read the departmental P&L and the team's time reports with the same fluency brought to a creative brief; and brings the same rigor to client retention as to client acquisition
Proven track record managing and mentoring a team of diverse creative talent and making them measurably better
Strong client-facing presence; a trusted creative and operational partner, not just a vendor
Able to shift fluidly between creative vision and operational execution, both maker and manager, without using one as an excuse to neglect the other
An exceptional communicator with clients, leadership, and the team; delivers feedback, both positive and constructive, with clarity, consistency, and care; the team always knows where they stand and what they need to do to grow
Highly organized and proactive in managing the department’s time and capacity; anticipates gaps, prepares internal work in advance, and ensures the team is always productive, engaged, and moving forward
Strategic about talent: understands the strengths and limitations of the team, develops people deliberately, and speaks up early when a gap threatens the agency's ability to deliver; does not wait for a missed deadline to raise the alarm
Culturally attuned and forward-looking — sees trends before they peak, follows what's happening in entertainment, design, technology, and culture, and positions MACH27 to lead
Establishes and evolves agency-wide standards for AI tool usage across the creative team: evaluates emerging tools with a strategic lens, makes informed adoption decisions, and ensures AI enhances creative quality and operational efficiency without substituting for original thinking
Growth mindset; invests in the team's development as much as their own
Executive-level fluency in Google Suite — able to build, lead, and adapt high-stakes presentations for clients, prospects, and internal leadership in real time

Responsibilities

Set and uphold the creative standard for the entire agency; define what excellence looks like in every type of work the agency produces, communicate that standard clearly and consistently, and hold yourself and the team accountable to it on every project regardless of size, budget, or timeline
Pitch, ideate, and develop bold, culturally resonant campaigns that elevate client brands and break through in a cluttered, competitive landscape
Lead the creative team through every phase of a project from kickoff to post-mortem — provide clear, decisive creative direction at each stage, make confident calls when the team is at an impasse, and guide the work toward an outcome that is both creatively exceptional and strategically sound
Drive creative strategy using qualitative and quantitative data — bring audience insights, performance data, and market intelligence into the concepting process, communicate these findings to leadership regularly, and use them to continuously sharpen the agency's creative approach and competitive positioning
Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with clients; serve as their primary creative partner, develop a deep understanding of their business, their audience, and their brand, and show up to every interaction as someone who is as invested in their success as they are
Develop and grow the creative team through active mentorship, structured development planning, and a culture that consistently rewards curiosity, craft, and creative courage; assess the strengths and gaps on the team honestly and continuously — develop talent in those gaps where possible, and communicate proactively to leadership when the team is not positioned to deliver at the level clients expect; MACH27 should never learn about a resourcing or skills gap through an underdelivered project
Own all aspects of the agency's brand standards (visual identity, creative style, tone of voice) ensuring consistency, integrity, and freshness across every client account and every piece of work that carries the agency's name
Partner with the CEO and business development team to lead the agency's own promotional and marketing efforts across social channels, pitch documents, and RFP proposals, including generating estimates and defining scope of work
Work with the CEO to develop, refine, and evolve agency-wide creative methodologies and processes — identify what's working, what isn't, and what the team needs to operate at a higher level, and build systems that improve quality, efficiency, and team satisfaction over time
Foster a creative culture that attracts and retains exceptional talent — be the kind of leader people want to work for, the kind of Creative Director whose team produces the best work of their careers, and the kind of voice that shapes how the agency thinks about creativity, culture, and what it means to do this work well
Establish and evolve agency-wide standards for how AI tools are integrated into the creative workflow; evaluate emerging tools strategically, make informed adoption decisions, and ensure the team is using AI to enhance creative quality and operational efficiency, not to replace original thinking
Advise PMs on timeline, resourcing, and scope — be a senior operational partner in the health and velocity of the work
Lead client and leadership conversations about campaign strategy and creative solutions with the fluency of someone who has thought three steps ahead — know the questions that are coming, have the answers ready, and shift from presenting to problem-solving in real time without losing the room; build relationships with new business prospects with the same intentionality brought to existing clients
Model and cultivate a feedback culture across the creative team — deliver specific, actionable positive and constructive criticism consistently, not just in formal reviews, but as a daily practice
Own the team's time as deliberately as own time — when client work is light, have internal projects organized, queued, and ready to assign; the team should never be idle
Maintain a firm grasp on the financial health of the department — understand the P&L, monitor how the team's time is being booked across projects, and flag proactively when hours are trending over or resources are being misallocated
Identify and manage freelance and vendor talent like photographers, retouchers, and outside creative resources, ensuring outside work meets MACH27's standards and projects remain within budget
Partner with HR to recruit, hire, and onboard creative talent — building a team that reflects MACH27's standards, creative ambitions, and long-term capacity needs
Push creative limits; set new standards for excellence while bringing strategy, insights, and cultural awareness into the heart of every creative conversation
Do work that earns recognition — MACH27 has won Clio Gold and Silver awards and expects CDs to bring that level of ambition to every brief
Other duties as assigned

Benefits

Full benefits package (health/dental/vision/HSA)
$50,000 fully company-paid life insurance policy
401(k) with a 4% match (and no vesting period)
25 Days of Paid Time Off (PTO), plus twelve national holidays off and additional early release days
Yearly performance, compensation, and inflation adjustment
Potential year-end bonus
Employee wellness benefits and mental health support
Flexible location and hours policy
Yearly employee development fund
Transparent Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and culture initiatives
Regular employee engagement events
Mentorship focused development
Creative office space near downtown Culver City