Creative Director, Visual Storytelling

Abbott • Chicago, IL

18h

About The Position

Abbott is seeking a Creative Director to lead its internal visual storytelling team across video, motion graphics, and photography. The role owns creative quality and storytelling standards, directs priority productions, and builds the team and workflows needed to deliver agency-level work at internal speed. The stories focus on real people and technologies that affect their lives, and must be told with craft and honesty across relevant platforms.

The Creative Director sets the creative vision, reviews treatments, edits, and final work, and advises Abbott brand teams on the appropriate use of film, motion, and photography. The position personally crafts, directs, and shoots important productions, including patient stories, brand films, and executive content, while guiding work through editing, color, sound, and motion design.

The role leads motion graphics and photography teams, establishes a consistent visual language across formats, and coaches editors, animators, and photographers. It ensures platform-native storytelling by designing edits for each platform from the treatment stage and setting standards for vertical and sound-off viewing. The Creative Director partners with social and digital teams, develops efficient production models, mentors team members, builds workflows for high-volume work, manages budgets, freelancers, vendors, and equipment, and evaluates AI production tools where they can improve quality or speed.

Requirements

• Experience running an in-house video studio for a major healthcare brand, including leading a team, setting standards, and delivering high volume across business lines; portfolio required.
• 15+ years as a working director and cinematographer.
• Experience founding and running a production company for national brands.
• Deep documentary craft, including interviewing real people, finding authentic moments, and building emotion without a script.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary creative teams, including editors, motion designers, and photographers.
• Experience creating platform-specific edits and working with social teams on content built for the feed.
• Comfort working within regulated healthcare review.
• Strong presentation skills and ability to sell creative work to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Own the creative vision and storytelling standards for video, motion, and photography produced by the team.
• Review treatments, edits, and final work, maintaining the quality standard for all published work.
• Serve as the senior creative voice on visual storytelling across Abbott and advise brand teams on the use of film, motion, and photography.
• Craft, direct, and shoot priority productions, including patient stories, brand films, and executive content.
• Lead productions and model documentary interviewing and cinematography craft for the team.
• Guide post-production through editing, color, sound, and motion design.
• Lead motion graphics and photography teams and establish a consistent visual language across film, motion, and still photography.
• Coach and develop editors, animators, and photographers.
• Design platform-specific edits at the treatment stage rather than adapting them after production.
• Set craft standards for vertical and sound-off viewing, including how stories open in the first two seconds.
• Build faster, lighter production models for social content alongside flagship films.
• Partner with social and digital teams and use content performance to inform creative decisions.
• Mentor and develop the team through hands-on coaching and creative feedback.
• Build workflows and intake processes that enable a small team to manage high volume without sacrificing quality.
• Manage budgets, freelancers, vendors, and equipment; scale crews for large productions while maintaining a small documentary footprint when appropriate.
• Adopt AI production tools when they genuinely improve quality or speed, and avoid them when they do not.
• Present and sell creative work to senior leadership.

Benefits

• Free medical coverage for employees through the Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO.
• Retirement savings plan with high employer contribution.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Freedom 2 Save student debt program.
• FreeU education benefit, an affordable and convenient path to earning a bachelor’s degree.
• Career development opportunities with an international company.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed