Creative Director

CRUX KC LLC•Kansas City, MO

About The Position

So, what is Crux? It’s the nitty gritty, the heart of the matter. We know the traditional agency model isn’t a fit for everyone, so we take a different approach. Think of us as the “un-agency.” When you join Crux, you become part of an entrepreneurial team committed to elevating brands and amplifying missions. We’re trusting, accountable and unrelenting driven to help each other and our clients succeed. We are seeking a strategic, hands-on Creative Director to lead the vision, quality, and execution of creative work across the organization. This role is responsible for ensuring that everything we produce is clear, compelling, and aligned to business outcomes. The CD also ensures our creative is built for modern marketing across digital, social, video, and emerging platforms. In this role, you'll help evolve how we approach creative in a performance-driven, multi-channel environment. This person sets the standard for creative at Crux. You will guide teams, shape ideas, and stay close to the work to ensure it performs in the real world. You are both a thinker and a builder, someone who can elevate concepts while ensuring disciplined execution. This role requires a leader who brings clarity to ambiguity, pushes for simplicity over noise, and holds a high bar for both craft and performance. You are a partner to strategy, a mentor to creatives, and a trusted voice with clients. You are someone who: Models Team Crux values with a thoughtful, accountable, and team-first approach Sets a high creative standard and holds teams to it with clarity and respect Thinks strategically about how creative drives business outcomes Communicates ideas clearly, both internally and with clients Gives direct, actionable feedback that improves the work Balances vision with execution and stays close enough to ensure quality Thrives in fast-moving environments and brings structure where needed• Collaborates naturally across strategy, account, and channel teams Pushes for simplicity, clarity, and impact in everything you create Takes ownership of outcomes, not just output Stays ahead of trends across platforms, formats and technologies (AI, social, video, emerging media) Understands how creative behaves across channels and adapts ideas accordingly Brings a test-and-learn mindset, using performance data to evolve creative over time Thinks in systems (campaigns, content engines, modular creative), not just one-off deliverables

Requirements

10+ years of experience in creative roles with increasing leadership responsibility
Proven experience leading and developing creative teams across multiple clients in fast-paced, high-accountability environments
Experience leading creative across digital ecosystems (social, paid media, web, video, content)• Strong understanding of platform-specific creative best practices (e.g., Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube)
Familiarity with AI-powered creative tools and modern production workflows
Ability to translate strategy into effective, high-performing creative work
Strong portfolio demonstrating both conceptual thinking and execution
High standards for quality with a bias toward action and ownership
Confidence presenting and defending work with clients and senior stakeholders
Previous experience in a marketing agency or a creative leadership role required

Responsibilities

Creative Leadership and Direction
Own and define the creative standard across all client work
Lead concept development across campaigns, brand initiatives, and key deliverables
Translate business objectives and strategy into clear creative direction
Ensure consistency, quality, and clarity across all outputs
Execution and Output Quality
Stay close to the work by reviewing, refining, and elevating creative deliverables
Ensure work is not only strong creatively but drives measurable performance in the market
Use performance data and insights to refine and improve creative over time
Balance speed with quality in a fast-paced environment
Push teams toward clear, simple, and impactful solutions
Team Leadership and Development
Lead, mentor, and develop designers, writers, and creative contributors
Provide consistent, actionable feedback to improve craft and performance
Build a culture of ownership, accountability, and pride in the work
Support hiring and scaling of the creative team as needed
Cross Functional Collaboration
Partner with Strategy to ensure creative is grounded in insight and objectives
Work closely with Client CMOs to align on expectations and direction
Collaborate with channel teams to ensure creative is optimized, tested and iterated for performance• Present work clearly and confidently to both internal teams and clients
Partner closely with fractional CMOs to align creative with broader business and marketing priorities
Creative Operations and Process
Establish efficient workflows for concepting, reviews, and approvals
Ensure deadlines are met without compromising quality
Identify gaps in process and implement solutions
Contribute to building scalable creative systems as Crux continues to grow
Creative Innovation and Channel Excellence
Lead development of platform-native creative across digital, social, video and emerging channels
Ensure ideas translate effectively across paid, owned and earned environments
Partner with channel teams to optimize creative for performance, testing and iteration
Identify and integrate new tools, technologies and formats (including AI) to improve output and efficiency