Creative Director

Bullish•New York, NY

24d•$228,000 - $255,000

About The Position

CoinDesk is the most trusted media, events, indices and data company for the global crypto economy. Since 2013, CoinDesk Media has led the story of the future of money and investing, illuminating the transformation in society and culture that comes with it. Our award-winning team of journalists delivers news and unparalleled insights that bring transparency, comprehension and context. CoinDesk Events gathers the global crypto, blockchain and Web3 communities at annual events such as Consensus, the world’s largest and longest-running crypto festival. CoinDesk Indices offers expertise in digital asset indices, data and research to educate and empower investors. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. We are seeking a visionary Creative Director to lead the next chapter of brand and creative expression for Bullish and CoinDesk. This is a hands-on, high-impact role that pairs creative vision with disciplined craft, set against the backdrop of an ecosystem of brands operating at the frontier of crypto-finance and media. As Creative Director, you will steward our brand systems as they mature, expand, and split into new audience layers — translating raw ideas into bold visual language that moves people. You bring an injection of inspiration to the team: a deep curiosity for emerging tools, an active practice with AI-assisted workflows, and an instinct for where craft, storytelling, and technology meet. Steering the work and raising the ceiling of what the team believes is possible.

Requirements

10+ years of professional experience leading brand and digital creative work at a leading studio, agency, or in-house team — with a portfolio that sets a high bar for visual ambition.
Demonstrated ability to build and evolve brand systems that scale across audiences, products, and touchpoints — not just campaigns, or UI.
A point of view on craft, culture, and where design is going. You bring inspiration into the room and raise the team's ambition by example.
Strong intuition for motion language, timing, and animation principles. Comfortable directing motion work — and ideally hands-on with After Effects, Rive, Lottie, or similar — to shape how the brand moves and behaves.
Mastery of Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, and modern design workflows.
Comfort moving between strategic direction and direct execution as the work demands, and openness to evolving your toolkit as new technologies emerge.
Strong understanding of how a brand expresses itself across digital surfaces — typography, layout, motion, interaction.
Comfortable collaborating with web and engineering partners; familiarity with code-adjacent tools is a plus.
Proven ability to direct designers at the project level and work with stakeholders at the program level; give sharp critique, develop talent, and steer towards solutions.
Outstanding presentation and storytelling skills. Comfortable articulating creative rationale to executives and partnering across Marketing, Product, Content, and Sales.
Production discipline, file etiquette, and an eye for scalability. You model the workflow you want the team to adopt.
A collaborative, open-minded approach that prioritizes craft, end-users, and the work over personal authorship.
Comfortable working across teams in NYC, Cayman, London, and Hong Kong.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing for crypto, financial services, or media products.
Experience leading or contributing to brand refreshes and multi-brand portfolios.
Familiarity with editorial and research-driven content environments.
Hands-on experience with AI-assisted design workflows, generative imagery, or prompt-based tooling.
Familiarity with 3D tools and AI-powered design platforms such as Framer, Midjourney, or WebGL.
Proficiency with project management tools for project and program management.

Responsibilities

Lead the creative expression for Bullish and CoinDesk across marketing, events, business, editorial, web, and media surfaces — setting a clear, ambitious bar for craft and originality.
Steward and evolve the brand systems of both Bullish and CoinDesk as they mature: deepening visual language across touch points, supporting the brands with new audiences and products, and rewiring for the AI era.
Develop and direct brand motion language — establishing how our brands move, transition, and behave across film, social, product, events, and digital surfaces. Treat motion as a primary expression of brand, not a finishing layer.
Direct creative output at the project and program level — guiding designers and marketing partners through briefing, ideation, critique, and delivery.
Champion a modern, exploratory creative practice — actively tinkering with tools, mediums, AI workflows, and emerging design technologies; bringing the team along on the journey together.
Keep the brand system moving — adapting, extending, and rolling out the assets and guides that scale: brand portals, agency guidelines, LLM- and connector-ready brand inputs, corporate templates, and partner-facing systems.
Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, Product, Content, Events, Business, and Executive leadership to ensure creative work solves the right problems with aesthetic ambition.
Own brand expression for the audiences across our ecosystem — digital and product marketing, campaigns, sales collateral, event identity, research reports, social, multimedia, product lines and launches.
Shape the strategy for custom imagery — asset management, AI-generated visuals, and visual differentiation across our brands, content lines, and tech stacks.
Oversee creative for group-level operations — such as office branding, internal comms, swag drops, and creative services for the company.
Present and articulate creative direction to senior leadership and stakeholders with clarity, conviction, and storytelling craft.
Inspire and elevate the team — modeling rigorous refinement, low ego, and accountable execution; embedding a culture where curiosity and craft are the standard.