Creative Director, AIX Creative Studio
About The Position
We're looking for a Creative Director to lead creative for AIX at Microsoft: someone who can set a visual and narrative point of view for how people experience AI, and drive a team capable of bringing that vision to life across every surface: product, marketing, campaigns, and physical/live moments. This is a rare hybrid role. You'll need the taste and craft of a world-class art director, the instincts of a storyteller, the leadership of someone who's run creative teams before, and a real, lived connection to culture — music, entertainment, fashion, internet culture — so the work feels of-the-moment rather than corporate. You should be equally comfortable critiquing a typeface choice, sharpening a product screen, and briefing a launch campaign that spans a keynote stage, a product surface, and a social feed. We're specifically looking for someone who is still a maker, not just a manager. The best creative directors we've worked with never stopped making things themselves. They can jump into the work, sketch a direction, or push pixels when it matters, and then step back into setting vision, building teams, and partnering with executives. That range is a defining trait we're hiring for, not a nice-to-have.
Requirements
- Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 7+ years experience working in product or service design OR Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 9+ years experience working in product or service design OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
- 5+ years people management experience.
Nice To Haves
- 15+ years in design and art direction, including significant time as a creative leader (Creative Director, Executive Creative Director, or equivalent) at an agency, in-house studio, or brand
- A distinctive visual point of view — a portfolio that shows range across brand identity, digital product, campaign, and (ideally) physical/experiential work
- The ability to operate at both ends of the spectrum — equally credible sketching in a notebook or a design tool as you are setting strategy in a room with senior executives, and able to move fluidly between the two in the same day
- Have exceptional presentation skills and the gravitas to champion bold creative ideas with senior leadership
- A strong sensibility for story and language, even if writing isn't your primary craft, you know a good line when you see one and can push a narrative to be sharper
- Experience leading and growing creative teams, including hiring, mentoring, and managing multidisciplinary talent (designers, writers, art directors, producers)
- Comfort spanning product and marketing — you don't see "brand" and "product design" as separate disciplines, and you have experience (or a strong point of view) on both
- Real cultural fluency — active engagement with music, entertainment, fashion, or adjacent creative communities, ideally evidenced by projects, collaborations, or ventures outside of a traditional day job
- A track record of shipping ambitious creative work at scale, ideally including work that's been publicly recognized (awards, press, cultural impact)
- Comfort operating in a large, matrixed organization while still protecting the integrity of the creative vision
- Experience directing creative for AI or emerging-technology products specifically
- A personal creative practice, project, or venture (label, publication, gallery, studio) that signals genuine cultural engagement beyond the day job
- Experience directing physical/experiential work, installations, events, retail, or spatial design
Responsibilities
- Set the creative vision for AI Experiences — the visual language, tone, and narrative point of view that shows up consistently across product, brand, and marketing
- Art direct at the highest level — reviewing, shaping, and elevating design work across visual identity, motion, typography, and UI, with an eye that can tell the difference between "good" and genuinely distinctive
- Stay hands-on with the craft — personally jumping in to sketch a direction, design a key visual, or push a concept forward when the moment calls for it, rather than directing exclusively from a distance
- Lead and grow a visually-focused creative team — hiring, mentoring, and directing creative designers and art directors, and fostering an environment where world-class visual work thrives
- Shape story and language alongside the visuals — partnering closely with the Creative Strategy and Brand Writing leads so that strategy, words, and images are developed together as equal parts of one idea
- Build and leverage relationships with top-tier creative agencies, production partners, and creative talent
- Bridge product and marketing — ensuring the creative thread is unbroken from the first-run product experience to the campaign that introduces it to the world
- Design across digital and physical — from in-product moments and digital campaigns to launch events, physical installations, and experiential brand moments
- Partner cross-functionally with product, engineering, research, and marketing leadership to make sure creative ambition and product reality stay in sync
- Represent the creative studio internally and externally — presenting work, building conviction, and advocating for craft at every level of the organization
Benefits
- Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
